Arab Women in Ancient Palmyra
This is how the attire of the finest Arab women of northern Arabia looked like centuries before Islam
This is a Palmyrene funerary relief of an Arab woman from Palmyra in Syria, who died in 148 AD, that is, in the middle of the second century. Her image is engraved in its most splendid form, according to the standards of that era, because her husband loved her so much that he immortalized her beauty in a statue, for people to see it forever. She is an ordinary woman, neither a queen nor a princess nor a saint.
The relief depicts the upper part of a woman’s body wearing a wrapped garment. Her hair is covered with a headscarf resembling a headband, and she wears a veil underneath that covers her forehead. Curly strands of hair can be seen at her temples, held by the veil, while long wavy locks dangle on either side of her neck, reaching her shoulders. She wears a long robe that covers her head and left arm, leaving only the hand exposed. Her right arm is bare, and the hand grasps a fold of the veil across her chest from the left side. Her small mouth with thin lips is surrounded by broad cheeks, indicating a woman in her forties.
I asked artificial intelligence to create a realistic image of the statue, and it slightly adjusted the clothing and completely hid her hair, but the result is very close to reality. It allows us to see the Palmyrene Arab features from 1,800 years ago. We can simply imagine the characteristics of her wavy Arab hair.
Practically, we find that the attire worn by the deceased Palmyrene woman is similar to the traditional Hauranian and southern Levantine dress, like this example popular in the heritage of As-Salt and Irbid in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.
Engraved on the relief in Imperial Aramaic script:
𐡇𐡁𐡋 𐡕𐡃𐡌𐡓 𐡀𐡕𐡕 𐡌𐡒𐡉𐡌𐡅 𐡁𐡓 𐡍𐡅𐡓𐡁𐡋 𐡀𐡌𐡍𐡀 𐡌𐡉𐡕𐡕 𐡉𐡅𐡌 𐡒𐡄 𐡁𐡔𐡉𐡅𐡍 𐡔𐡍𐡕 𐡂𐡓𐡕
ḥbl tdmr ʾtt mqymw br nwrbl ʾmnʾ mytt yw!m 20+5+4 bsyw!n šnt 4.[100]+40+10+5+2
The translation is: Alas! Tadmur, wife of Mokimu, son of Nurbel, the craftsman. Died the 29th day of Siwan, in the year 459.
The months of the Palmyrene calendar were based on the older Babylonian lunar calendar, as long as Palmyra and Babylon shared the same religion. These are the same months of the Hebrew calendar. Meanwhile, the years were counted according to the Seleucid era, which began its first year in what we know today as 312 BC.
The most famous months of the Babylonian Arab lunar calendar are: 1. Nisan (נִיסָן). 2. Iyyar (אִיָּר). 3. Sivan (סִיוָן). 4. Tammuz (תַּמּוּז). 5. Av (אָב). 6. Elul (אֱלוּל). 7. Tishrei (תִּשׁרֵי). 8. Heshvan (חֶשְׁוָן). 9. Kislev (כִּסְלֵו). 10. Tevet (טֵבֵת). 11. Shevat (שְׁבָט). 12. Adar (אֲדָר).
In those days, Palmyra followed the religion of Baal, who is Marduk (the Sumerian Amarutuq) 𒀭𒀫𒌓, the solar calf, the golden calf, which Babylon began to sanctify in the 18th century BC. Later, the religion in Babylon itself transformed into Judaism by unifying worship to Marduk alone, without associating him with the worship of others, and changing his name to Baal. These beliefs were enshrined throughout the Babylonian kingdom during the Seleucid era, during the same period when the Phoenician religion in Baalbek was transformed into the unification of Baal Shamim 𐤁𐤏𐤋 𐤔𐤌𐤌 alone, with no partner. This colossal temple stands near the city of Baalbek in Lebanon.
As for the stage of Baal in Palmyra, it was a period when Palmyra theologically separated itself from Babylon and Baalbek, maintaining the ancient worship of Marduk while incorporating other deities. These deities are known as The sacred Palmyrene Trinity: Baal Shamim 𐡁𐡏𐡋 𐡔𐡌𐡉𐡌:
Bêl (Baal) 𐡁𐡏𐡋, Karb Eil.
Aglibol 𐡀𐡂𐡋𐡉𐡁𐡋, the Lord of the Moon.
Malakbel 𐡌𐡋𐡊𐡁𐡋, the Lady of the Sun.
During this period of history, women’s lives in Palmyra were characterized by greater freedom and independence compared to women in other regions of the ancient Middle East. This was the primary distinction in doctrinal differences between Palmyra and Babylon, which emphasized the masculinity of society and deprived women of most social rights. It was also the cause of the social dispute between Palmyra and Rome, which at the time refused to grant women the right of citizenship. Roman law considered women as a man’s property, with no right to vote or own property. According to Roman law, women could be inherited but could not inherit.
Palmyra was a significant trade center between the Roman Empire, the Eastern Empire, and other civilizations, which contributed to the development of a diverse and tolerant culture within the city. We see multiple examples of this, such as the history of the city of Dura-Europos, Raqqa, Homs, and others. In addition, Palmyra inherited ancient Babylonian traditions and customs that preceded Babylon’s transformation from Marduqism to Judaism.
Indeed, Palmyrene women possessed full economic rights, enabling them to own land, property, and manage businesses. Inscriptions and archaeological documents indicate that women participated in social, religious, and political life. They held important positions in temples and took part in religious rituals. Women in Palmyra worked in various fields of arts, handicrafts, agriculture, and played a role in educating and raising children in schools (Hadrāt). Overall, the available sources suggest that women in Palmyra enjoyed a considerable degree of freedom and independence in their economic, social, and religious lives compared to women in other parts of the ancient world.
As for the funerary relief we opened the post with, it was sold in 1902 to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York by a famous Arab antiquities' smuggler, a Lebanese man named Aziz Khayyat. Born in the city of Tyre in 1875, he worked as an amateur archaeologist. He excavated many sites in Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, and Greece, as long as he was a citizen of a state that united them all at that time in one country. However, in reality, he was a treasure hunter who made a fortune from non-academic excavations and bribed government officials to enable him to explore archaeological sites. Critics refer to him as a Tomb Raider and a thief who made a living from plundering important archaeological artifacts and selling them to wealthy collectors of antiquities worldwide.
