Pearl of the Desert: A History of Palmyra

by Rubina Raja

Palmyra has long attracted the attention of the world. Well before its rediscovery in the seventeenth century, the ancient city gained legendary status because of its Queen Zenobia, who in the third century CE rebelled against Rome and expanded Palmyra's territory into what is now modern Turkey and Egypt. Even though Zenobia's empire was a fairly short interlude and the Romans struck back hard, devastating the city, her path to imperial power was one which tells us much about Palmyrene identity in the period before the defeat. While Zenobia has gained renewed interest among both scholars and the press, and while she has served as a political symbol for Syria's president Assad--a statue of her was recently erected in Damascus--the time leading up to her reign still remains underexplored.Â

Pearl of the Desert is the most comprehensive history of this fabled ancient city in English. Assimilating the rich archaeological and literary evidence, Rubina Raja unfolds the story chronologically, from the earliest evidence of settlement in the Bronze Age to Palmyra's rise as an urban center in the late Hellenistic and Roman periods, its destruction by Rome in 273 CE, and its survival in the Byzantine and medieval Islamic periods. The book ends with a discussion of Palmyra's modern rediscovery and, more recently, its chaotic misfortunes during the Syrian civil war when it was used as a symbol of, alternately, the resistance of the rebels, the power of ISIS, and the supremacy of the Syrian state. After several years of destruction and looting, securing of the site has begun as well as planning for its restoration. At this turning point in Palmyra's long history, there is no better time to assess the past, present, and future of this remarkable city.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

248 pages, Hardcover

Published January 25, 2022

Reviews

[Henk · Rating 3 out of 5]

An informative book, at times a bit dry, on this ancient city between West and East. The ending, with the director of the museum of the site being executed by IS was heartbreaking

For a book about a dessert city Pearl of the Desert: A History of Palmyra is (no pun intended) a bit dry.
Rubina Raja tells the story of an oasis city on the connection point between the Roman and Persian spheres of influence.
The passages on queen Zenobia taking over the provinces Syria and Egypt, but also leading to the sack of the city, were the most interesting.
Only in the 17th century a rediscovery by European travellers of the city started.
Till now only 16 housed have been excavated, with most focus on funerary art and temples.
The grave culture of the city is the most defining character in the archeological record, with grave being called poetically "houses of eternity" in Palmyric Aramese.

Once the city was one of the endings of the silk road, and people buried in silk have been found.
After twice being sacked, and reduced from major trade hub to provincial barrack town, the city faded into forgetfulness. The capture and partial destruction of the ruins by Dash brings this book to a sad conclusion. An educating read, if a bit more academical than I expected upfront. Hopefully peace will come and protect the city from further damage.

[Augustus · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I visited the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek in Copenhagen last month, I was surprised with the number of artifacts from Palmyra, and I learned that a past exhibition on Palmyra had been curated in that museum by Rubina Raja. That led me to this book.

Since 2012, Ms. Raja has been the director of the Palmyra Portrait Project, and her bibliography lists almost 50 publications that demonstrate her expertise in the art and architecture of the ancient city.

This book concentrates more on archaeology than on history. It is well illustrated with more than 50 pictures of the ruins and the artifacts. Given her expertise, the author offers many illustrations of the fascinating funerary sculptures of which hundreds have been found in Palmyra. Some tombs were towers housing the bones of prominent families. There were also less conspicuous underground tombs, where more artifacts have been found. On the historical side, Ms. Raja highlights the 3rd Century family of Odaenathus and his widow Zenobia who famously led an unsuccessful rebellion against the Roman Empire.

In addition to highlighting Palmyra's past and its grand ruins, Ms. Raja also brings readers up to date on the damage done in recent years by looters and by ISIS militants who deliberately destroyed some of the remains.

The book is a good introduction to Palmyra and to what can be seen there. Political turmoil has made it difficult for many foreign tourists to visit Syria, but the author's work encourages us to visit there when circumstances permit.

[CJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to Pearl of the Desert at work while shelving and it was such an informative experience.

I didn't know much about Palmyra, other than it's existence before reading this book, and I think it does a great job of introducing the laymen to this fascinating city. The way the author describes all the funerary practices and relics was both educational and highly evocative. But I wanted a little bit more from this book. Maybe I've been spoiled recently by Paul Cooper's Fall of Civilizations podcast, that combines lost histories with stunning visual descriptions and engaging, beautiful prose.

Also, it's a bit nit-picky but the text refers to itself more often. I have a lot of sympathy for nonfiction writers. Not only do you have to relay the facts, you have to do it in an engaging way.

4/5 funerary portrait stars

[Peter Krivas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yeah, that was about all I could imagine needing to know about Palmyra. Right there in that Goldilocks zone of Palmyrene information. All Palmyra'd out, but I enjoyed my little ride on the Palmyra express.

[Nick McAfee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as exhaustive as I was hoping for, but a nice quick overview of the history and condition (as currently known) of the site.