As the sun set on James Henry Breasted’s single day of field work at Dura-Europos in 1920 he and ... more As the sun set on James Henry Breasted’s single day of field work at Dura-Europos in 1920 he and his team stood in front of the north wall of the pronaos of the Temple of the Palmyrene Gods, Although paintings covered the entire extant wall, they had only one film plate left and chose to photograph the painting of Julius Terentius with his troops, on the right hand side of the wall (pl. 37). When Franz Cumont returned in the season of 1922 through 1923, he re-exposed the decoration on the north wall, took pictures, made illustrations, and noted graffiti. Cumont also had a protective wall built in front of the paintings. This wall was dismantled eight years later, when most of the paintings adorning the temple were removed and transported to the National Museum in Damascus and the Yale University Art Gallery." Although scholars who work at Dura-Europos know when the paintings were removed and, generally, where they went, the current location of the remainder of the north wall of...
The abundance of female funerary portraits from Palmyra makes them a tempting source for assessin... more The abundance of female funerary portraits from Palmyra makes them a tempting source for assessing the roles of women in ancient Palmyrene society. These bust-length portraits created in the first several centuries CE provide a wealth of detail on dress, adornment, family, and, in some cases, domestic activities. Although it has long been acknowledged that the portraits are not faithful renditions of the actual features and appearance of the deceased, the variability of gesture, dress, attributes, among other characteristics, suggests that the Palmyrenes did have some choice in the way in which they, or their family members, were represented. The correlation between these portraits and any kind of reliable indication of women’s roles in society is unlikely, however, since representations of women in the funerary sphere in general are normative, presenting an ideal to be achieved or societal priorities. Interpretation of the portraiture is further complicated by the political situati...
Palmyra, ancient Tadmor, was in the first three centuries CE a flourishing trade node in the Roma... more Palmyra, ancient Tadmor, was in the first three centuries CE a flourishing trade node in the Roman Empire. Situated as the last stop on the Silk Road, camel caravans were reloaded onto donkey caravans, and then went on to the areas west of Palmyra. Although having been under Hellenistic influence for centuries, the region displays little tangible evidence of exactly how such influence impacted the societies in the region. With Pompey's conquest in the 60s BCE, the region came under firm Roman control, and local societies responded to this interaction. This contribution looks at the material evidence from Palmyra from the period between the 1st century CE and the late 3rd century CE in order to gauge the way in which Palmyrene men were represented in the Palmyrene art. Most evidence stems from the funerary sphere, since the public and religious statuary largely has disappeared over the centuries. This paper considers the ways in which local and foreign clothing traditions impacted Palmyrene society and shaped the expression of male identities in this oasis city.
Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research
Three Palmyrene funerary busts are part of the collections of the Harvard Semitic Museum. This ar... more Three Palmyrene funerary busts are part of the collections of the Harvard Semitic Museum. This article discusses the epitaphs, the portraits, and their stylistic features, summarizes the funerary busts' documented history of possession, and offers a palaeographic analysis of the inscriptions.
Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research
Three Palmyrene funerary busts are part of the collections of the Harvard Semitic Museum. This ar... more Three Palmyrene funerary busts are part of the collections of the Harvard Semitic Museum. This article discusses the epitaphs, the portraits, and their stylistic features, summarizes the funerary busts' documented history of possession, and offers a palaeographic analysis of the inscriptions.
The recent acquisition of a Palmyrene funerary bust by the Minneapolis Institute of Arts (hereaft... more The recent acquisition of a Palmyrene funerary bust by the Minneapolis Institute of Arts (hereafter, MIA) provides a suitable occasion for a recollation of the inscription most recently catalogued as PAT 738. 1 The inscription received its initial publication by sébastien Ronzevalle in 1910, with a sketchily-drawn autograph, and was subsequently catalogued as RÉS 990 and CIS 4379. 2 subsequent to its initial publication, this * A word-processer format file of PAT containing complete English translations of all inscriptions published in PAT and of additional Palmyrene inscriptions, created by D. R. hillers and E. cussini, was used in the compilation of this corpus. Additionally, a research grant generously provided by the Graduate school Research committee of the University of Wisconsin-Madison has made this study possible. The authors would like to thank the members of the committee, foremost among them susan c. cook, Associate Dean for Arts and humanities. We would also like to express our appreciation to corine A. Wegener, Associate curator for Decorative Arts, Textiles, and sculpture, at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, for her help in organizing the photographic session and providing additional information concerning the acquisition of the object on which the inscription occurs. Melinda schmidt, an intern at the MIA, was very gracious in her quick responses and diligent research. Finally, several individuals (Ms. catherine bonesho, Dr. charles häberl, and Dr. yuhan s.-D. Vevaina) have helpfully contributed their expertise in various aspects of this study; their contributions are acknowledged in the notes below.
As the sun set on James Henry Breasted’s single day of field work at Dura-Europos in 1920 he and ... more As the sun set on James Henry Breasted’s single day of field work at Dura-Europos in 1920 he and his team stood in front of the north wall of the pronaos of the Temple of the Palmyrene Gods, Although paintings covered the entire extant wall, they had only one film plate left and chose to photograph the painting of Julius Terentius with his troops, on the right hand side of the wall (pl. 37). When Franz Cumont returned in the season of 1922 through 1923, he re-exposed the decoration on the north wall, took pictures, made illustrations, and noted graffiti. Cumont also had a protective wall built in front of the paintings. This wall was dismantled eight years later, when most of the paintings adorning the temple were removed and transported to the National Museum in Damascus and the Yale University Art Gallery." Although scholars who work at Dura-Europos know when the paintings were removed and, generally, where they went, the current location of the remainder of the north wall of...
The abundance of female funerary portraits from Palmyra makes them a tempting source for assessin... more The abundance of female funerary portraits from Palmyra makes them a tempting source for assessing the roles of women in ancient Palmyrene society. These bust-length portraits created in the first several centuries CE provide a wealth of detail on dress, adornment, family, and, in some cases, domestic activities. Although it has long been acknowledged that the portraits are not faithful renditions of the actual features and appearance of the deceased, the variability of gesture, dress, attributes, among other characteristics, suggests that the Palmyrenes did have some choice in the way in which they, or their family members, were represented. The correlation between these portraits and any kind of reliable indication of women’s roles in society is unlikely, however, since representations of women in the funerary sphere in general are normative, presenting an ideal to be achieved or societal priorities. Interpretation of the portraiture is further complicated by the political situati...
Palmyra, ancient Tadmor, was in the first three centuries CE a flourishing trade node in the Roma... more Palmyra, ancient Tadmor, was in the first three centuries CE a flourishing trade node in the Roman Empire. Situated as the last stop on the Silk Road, camel caravans were reloaded onto donkey caravans, and then went on to the areas west of Palmyra. Although having been under Hellenistic influence for centuries, the region displays little tangible evidence of exactly how such influence impacted the societies in the region. With Pompey's conquest in the 60s BCE, the region came under firm Roman control, and local societies responded to this interaction. This contribution looks at the material evidence from Palmyra from the period between the 1st century CE and the late 3rd century CE in order to gauge the way in which Palmyrene men were represented in the Palmyrene art. Most evidence stems from the funerary sphere, since the public and religious statuary largely has disappeared over the centuries. This paper considers the ways in which local and foreign clothing traditions impacted Palmyrene society and shaped the expression of male identities in this oasis city.
Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research
Three Palmyrene funerary busts are part of the collections of the Harvard Semitic Museum. This ar... more Three Palmyrene funerary busts are part of the collections of the Harvard Semitic Museum. This article discusses the epitaphs, the portraits, and their stylistic features, summarizes the funerary busts' documented history of possession, and offers a palaeographic analysis of the inscriptions.
Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research
Three Palmyrene funerary busts are part of the collections of the Harvard Semitic Museum. This ar... more Three Palmyrene funerary busts are part of the collections of the Harvard Semitic Museum. This article discusses the epitaphs, the portraits, and their stylistic features, summarizes the funerary busts' documented history of possession, and offers a palaeographic analysis of the inscriptions.
The recent acquisition of a Palmyrene funerary bust by the Minneapolis Institute of Arts (hereaft... more The recent acquisition of a Palmyrene funerary bust by the Minneapolis Institute of Arts (hereafter, MIA) provides a suitable occasion for a recollation of the inscription most recently catalogued as PAT 738. 1 The inscription received its initial publication by sébastien Ronzevalle in 1910, with a sketchily-drawn autograph, and was subsequently catalogued as RÉS 990 and CIS 4379. 2 subsequent to its initial publication, this * A word-processer format file of PAT containing complete English translations of all inscriptions published in PAT and of additional Palmyrene inscriptions, created by D. R. hillers and E. cussini, was used in the compilation of this corpus. Additionally, a research grant generously provided by the Graduate school Research committee of the University of Wisconsin-Madison has made this study possible. The authors would like to thank the members of the committee, foremost among them susan c. cook, Associate Dean for Arts and humanities. We would also like to express our appreciation to corine A. Wegener, Associate curator for Decorative Arts, Textiles, and sculpture, at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, for her help in organizing the photographic session and providing additional information concerning the acquisition of the object on which the inscription occurs. Melinda schmidt, an intern at the MIA, was very gracious in her quick responses and diligent research. Finally, several individuals (Ms. catherine bonesho, Dr. charles häberl, and Dr. yuhan s.-D. Vevaina) have helpfully contributed their expertise in various aspects of this study; their contributions are acknowledged in the notes below.
Dress plays an essential role in the iterative performance of gender in antiquity, subtly shaping... more Dress plays an essential role in the iterative performance of gender in antiquity, subtly shaping bodies, modifying movements, and providing templates for sanctioned identities. Papers in this session present different theoretical and methodological strategies for the interpretation of the roles of dress in construction and negotiation of gendered identity.
in: Heyn, M. K. & Raja, R. 2021. Individualizing the Dead: Attributes in Palmyrene Funerary Sculpture, Studies in Palmyrene Archaeology and History 3 (Turnhout: Brepols), 1-11, 2021
Cifarelli, Megan (ed.). 2019. Fashioned Selves: Dress and Identity in Antiquity (Oxford: Oxbow), pp. 41-53, 2019
Palmyra, ancient Tadmor, was in the first three centuries CE a flourishing trade node in the Roma... more Palmyra, ancient Tadmor, was in the first three centuries CE a flourishing trade node in the Roman Empire. Situated as the last stop on the Silk Road, camel caravans were reloaded onto donkey caravans, and then went on to the areas west of Palmyra. Although having been under Hellenistic influence for centuries, the region displays little tangible evidence of exactly how such influence impacted the societies in the region. With Pompey's conquest in the 60s BCE, the region came under firm Roman control, and local societies responded to this interaction. This contribution looks at the material evidence from Palmyra from the period between the 1st century CE and the late 3rd century CE in order to gauge the way in which Palmyrene men were represented in the Palmyrene art. Most evidence stems from the funerary sphere, since the public and religious statuary largely has disappeared over the centuries. This paper considers the ways in which local and foreign clothing traditions impacted Palmyrene society and shapes the expression of the male identities in the oasis city.
Heyn, M. K. & Raja, R. (eds.) 2021. Individualizing the Dead: Attributes in Palmyrene Funerary Sculpture, Studies in Palmyrene Archaeology and History 3 (Turnhout: Brepols), 2021
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