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5
BEYONDTHECOLONNADES:
DOMESTICARCHITECTUREINPALMYRA
*
PalmyraisoneofthebestpreservedurbansitesintheRomanworld.Becausethecityexpanded
rapidlyasaresultofitsroleinlucrativecaravantradeandthendeclinedsuddenlyafterthe
demiseofZenobiain272C.E.,theruinsofprosperoustimesremaindominantinthelandscape
tothisday(Fig.1).ForearlytravellersPalmyrawasaRomancity,andsoitstillappearsto
visitorstoday.ThegreatsanctuaryofBel,clearedofvillagehousinginthe1930s,theGreat
Colonnade,enhancedbyrestoration,andtheexcavatedpublicbuildingssuchastheagora,the-
ater,baths,andthesanctuaryofBaalshaminallbearwitnesstotherapiddevelopmentofthe
firstthreecenturiesC.E.Allthesemonumentswereclearedandrestored,partlyasaresultof
theirvalueastouristattractions.Mostofthelaterremainsfoundduringexcavationwerecon-
sideredsquatteroccupationandweresummarilyremoved.
Untilrecently,notmuchattentionwaspaidtotheresidentialquartersoftheancientcity.
Althoughseveralparallelstreetsareclearlyvisibleonthesurfaceinthewesternpartofthecity,
oneithersideoftheGreatColonnade,onlyrudimentarydocumentationwasmade.Theruins
ofadozenhousesweremeasuredin1925andsketchplansofthreewerepublishedbyAlbert
Gabriel(Fig.1:24–27).1Muchearlier,DanielKrenckerrecordedthreecontiguousperistyles
andtheiradjacentrooms(Figs.2–3).2Onlytwohouses,bothwithinthemoderngardenseast
oftheBelsanctuary(Fig.1:35),werepartlyexcavatedfrom1939to1941sothattheirmosaic
floors
(AchillesonScyros
and
Cassiopea,
bothdisplayednowinthePalmyraMuseumanddated
tothelate3rdcentury)couldberecovered.Thearchitecturalrecords,however,werelaterlost.
AcarefulstudyofallextantdomesticarchitectureinPalmyrabyEdmondFrézoulsin1976
presentedtheavailableevidence,3includingnewplansofthehousesofAchillesandCassiopea
(Fig.4),4andofonemorehouse,notentirelycleared,nearthetheater(Fig.5:8),alsodated
tothe3rdcentury.Asystematicexcavationofahousewasnotundertakenuntil1988(right
behindtheGreatColonnade).Sevenyearslater,thewholeblockwasexcavatedbyaPolish
mission(Fig.1:21).5
Since1998,aGermanteamunderthedirectionofAndreasSchmidt-Colinethasbeeninves-
tigatingtheareasouthwestofthemonumentalruins,calledtheKHellenisticcity”(Fig.1:34).
Whilesomeearlymaterialhasbeenidentifiedthere,thestructuressofarexcavatedappearto
*BeyondtheColonnades:TheDomesticArchitectureinPalmyra,in:C.Galor,T.Waliszewski(eds),FromAntioch
toAlexandria.RecentStudiesinDomesticArchitecture,Warsaw2008,pp.79–93.
1
A.Gabriel,KRecherchesarchéologiquesàPalmyre”,in:Syria7(1926),pp.84–87(housesmarkedasnos.38,
39,45).
2
D.Krencker,in:Th.Wiegand(ed.),Palmyra(1932),pl.19(correspondingtonos.39and40ofGabriel,but
recordedin1902).
3
E.Frézouls,“Àproposdel)architecturedomestiqueàPalmyre”,Ktema1(1976),pp.29–52.
4
Asummarydescriptionisavailablein:H.Stern,Lesmosaïquesdesmaisonsd’AchilleetdeCassiopéeàPalmyre
(1977).
5
M.Gawlikowski,KL)habitatàPalmyredel)AntiquitéauMoyenAge”,in:C.Castel,M.al-MaqdissietF.Villeneuve
(éds.),LesmaisonsdanslaSyrieantiqueduIII
e
millénaireauxdébutsdel’islam.Pratiquesetreprésentationsde
l’espacedomestique(colloqueIFAPODamas,1992)(1997),pp.161–166;Syria70(1993),pp.561–567;Polish
ArchaeologyintheMediterranean(PAM)7(1996),pp.139–146.
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