Urban Religion in the Desert

Abstract

Palmyra was the Greek and Latin name of the famous oasis city in the northern Syrian desert (Fig. 1). 1 The settlement is in fact more properly referred to by its Semitic name, Tadmor, as this latter toponym is attested throughout its history in the archaeological, epigraphic, and textual records. However, Palmyra is the site's well-known and established name, as well as the one most commonly used in present-day scholarship. The city was famed for its