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!!!Steet to Palmyra

[{Image src='sy743_Strasse_nach_Palmyra.jpg' caption='Street to Palmyra, May 2009, © [Gerhard Huber|Geography/About/Consortium/Huber,_Gerhard]' alt='Street to Palmyra' width='850' class='image_left' height='565'}] Palmyra  was an ancient Aramaic speaking city in central Syria. In antiquity, it was an 
important city located in an oasis 215 km  NE of Damascus and 180 km  SW of the Euphrates at Deir
 ez-Zur [{GoogleMap location='Palmyra, Syria; Damascus, Syria; Euphrates , Syria', zoom='19'}].
 \\

It had long been a vital caravan stop for travellers crossing the Syrian desert 
and was known as the Bride of the Desert. 

The earliest documented reference to the city by its 
Semitic name Tadmor, Tadmur or Tudmur (meaning"the town that repels" in Amorite and 
"the indomitable town" in Aramaic) is recorded in Babylonian tablets found in Mari.



Though the ancient site fell into disuse after the 16th century, 
it is still known as Tadmor in Arabic. 

There is a newer town of the same name next 
to the ruins. 

The Palmyrenes constructed a series of large-scale monuments containing 
e.g. limestone slabs with human shapess representing the deceased.

[{Metadata Suchbegriff='Strasse nach Palmyra'
  BilderGeo-Objekt='Strasse nach Palmyra'
  BilderGeo-Datum='1. Mai 2009'
}]
[{SET customtitle='Street to Palmyra'}]