Palmyra:
Palmyra lies 150 km into the barren desert where one can see into the future. We are again the only campers in a Bedouin (desert dwellers) run campsite. Everything is quiet, but all the evidence is there that this becomes a bustling paradise during the summer. We pitch our tent under the shade of olive and pomegranate trees next to the imposing side wall of the Bel Temple. It is wonderful to arrive early at a campsite and to have time to perform some maintenance and cleaning tasks.
Palmyra, set on the edge of an oasis, was an Assyrian caravan city for 1000+ years. It was taken over by the Greeks, and then annexed by Rome when it became a centre of unsurpassed wealth. The city’s most famous character was Zenobia, the half-Greek, half-Arab queen who claimed descent from Cleopatra. She became ruler of Palmyra after the suspicious death of her husband. The city was torched by a Roman emperor and finally completely destroyed by an earthquake in 1089.
Bel (Baal) was the most important of the gods and the Temple of Bel is the most complete and impressive part of the ruins. We walk over to the Palmyra ruins as the sun starts to draw water. The ruins are fully integrated into the daily life of the Palmyra locals which I find fascinating. The photos will do a much better job than me grasping for words trying to describe this vast, stretched-out complex of well-preserved ruins.
Palmyra lies 150 km into the barren desert where one can see into the future. We are again the only campers in a Bedouin (desert dwellers) run campsite. Everything is quiet, but all the evidence is there that this becomes a bustling paradise during the summer. We pitch our tent under the shade of olive and pomegranate trees next to the imposing side wall of the Bel Temple. It is wonderful to arrive early at a campsite and to have time to perform some maintenance and cleaning tasks.
Palmyra, set on the edge of an oasis, was an Assyrian caravan city for 1000+ years. It was taken over by the Greeks, and then annexed by Rome when it became a centre of unsurpassed wealth. The city’s most famous character was Zenobia, the half-Greek, half-Arab queen who claimed descent from Cleopatra. She became ruler of Palmyra after the suspicious death of her husband. The city was torched by a Roman emperor and finally completely destroyed by an earthquake in 1089.
Bel (Baal) was the most important of the gods and the Temple of Bel is the most complete and impressive part of the ruins. We walk over to the Palmyra ruins as the sun starts to draw water. The ruins are fully integrated into the daily life of the Palmyra locals which I find fascinating. The photos will do a much better job than me grasping for words trying to describe this vast, stretched-out complex of well-preserved ruins.
We join Achmed, the Bedouin camp guard for probably 5 glasses of tea; he gives us dates and olives from his ‘Mama’ in the desert and also shows us the inside of a traditional Bedouin home.
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