a city built by Solomon, 1 Kings ix, 18, afterward called
Palmyra; situated in a wilderness of Syria, upon the borders of Arabia
Deserta, inclining toward the Euphrates. Josephus places it two days’
journey from the Euphrates, and six days’ journey from Babylon. He says
there is no water any where else in the wilderness, but in this place.
At the present day there are to be seen vast ruins of this city. There
was nothing more magnificent in the whole east. There are still found a
great number of inscriptions, the most of which are Greek, and the other
in the Palmyrenian character. Nothing relating to the Jews is seen in
the Greek inscriptions; and the Palmyrenian inscriptions are entirely
unknown, as well as the language and the character of that country. The
city of Tadmor preserved this name to the time of the conquest by
Alexander the Great: then it had the name of Palmyra given to it, which
it preserved for several ages. About the middle of the third century, it
became famous, because Odenatus and Zenobia, his queen, made it the seat
of their empire. When the Saracens became masters of the east, they
restored its ancient name of Tadmor to it again, which it has always
preserved since. It is surrounded by sandy deserts on all sides. It is
not known when, nor by whom, it was reduced to the ruinous condition in
which it is now found. It may be said to consist at present of a forest
of Corinthian pillars, erect and fallen. So numerous are these,
consisting of many thousands, that the spectator is at a loss to connect
or arrange them in any order or symmetry, or to conceive what purpose or
design they could have answered. “In the space covered by these ruins,”
says Volney, “we sometimes find a palace of which nothing remains but
the court and walls; sometimes a temple, whose peristyle is half thrown
down; and now a portico, a gallery, or triumphal arch. Here stand groups
of columns, whose symmetry is destroyed by the fall of many of them;
there we see them ranged in rows of such length, that, similar to rows
of trees, they deceive the sight, and assume the appearance of continued
walls. If from this striking scene we cast our eyes upon the ground,
another almost as varied presents itself On all sides we behold nothing
but subverted shafts, some whole, others shattered to pieces or
dislocated in their joints; and on which side soever we look, the earth
is strewed with vast stones half buried, with broken entablatures,
mutilated friezes, disfigured reliefs, effaced sculptures, violated
tombs, and altars defiled by dust.”
It is probable, says Mansford, that, although Tadmor is said to have
been built by Solomon, or, in other words, to have been erected by him
into a city, it was a watering station between Syria and Mesopotamia
before; with perhaps accommodations suited to the mode of travelling in
those times, as we read of palm-trees being found there, which are not
trees that come by chance in these desert regions. The mere circumstance
of wholesome water being afforded by any spot in such a country was
sufficient to give it importance, and to draw toward it the stream of
communication, for whatever purpose. This was probably the condition of
Tadmor long before it received its name and its honours from Solomon.
But, after all, what motive could there be to induce a peaceable king,
like Solomon, to undertake a work so distant, difficult, and dangerous?
There is but one which at all accords with his character, or the history
of the times,--commercial enterprise. Solomon was at great pains to
secure himself in the possession of the ports of Elath and Ezion-Geber
on the Red Sea, and to establish a navy for his Indian commerce, or
trade to Ophir,--in all ages the great source of wealth. The riches of
India, thus brought into Judea, were from thence disseminated over those
countries of the north and west at that time inhabited or known; while
the same country, Judea, became, for a season, like Tyre, the point of
return and exchange of the money and the commodities of those countries,
the centre of communication between the east and the west.
Palmyra; situated in a wilderness of Syria, upon the borders of Arabia
Deserta, inclining toward the Euphrates. Josephus places it two days’
journey from the Euphrates, and six days’ journey from Babylon. He says
there is no water any where else in the wilderness, but in this place.
At the present day there are to be seen vast ruins of this city. There
was nothing more magnificent in the whole east. There are still found a
great number of inscriptions, the most of which are Greek, and the other
in the Palmyrenian character. Nothing relating to the Jews is seen in
the Greek inscriptions; and the Palmyrenian inscriptions are entirely
unknown, as well as the language and the character of that country. The
city of Tadmor preserved this name to the time of the conquest by
Alexander the Great: then it had the name of Palmyra given to it, which
it preserved for several ages. About the middle of the third century, it
became famous, because Odenatus and Zenobia, his queen, made it the seat
of their empire. When the Saracens became masters of the east, they
restored its ancient name of Tadmor to it again, which it has always
preserved since. It is surrounded by sandy deserts on all sides. It is
not known when, nor by whom, it was reduced to the ruinous condition in
which it is now found. It may be said to consist at present of a forest
of Corinthian pillars, erect and fallen. So numerous are these,
consisting of many thousands, that the spectator is at a loss to connect
or arrange them in any order or symmetry, or to conceive what purpose or
design they could have answered. “In the space covered by these ruins,”
says Volney, “we sometimes find a palace of which nothing remains but
the court and walls; sometimes a temple, whose peristyle is half thrown
down; and now a portico, a gallery, or triumphal arch. Here stand groups
of columns, whose symmetry is destroyed by the fall of many of them;
there we see them ranged in rows of such length, that, similar to rows
of trees, they deceive the sight, and assume the appearance of continued
walls. If from this striking scene we cast our eyes upon the ground,
another almost as varied presents itself On all sides we behold nothing
but subverted shafts, some whole, others shattered to pieces or
dislocated in their joints; and on which side soever we look, the earth
is strewed with vast stones half buried, with broken entablatures,
mutilated friezes, disfigured reliefs, effaced sculptures, violated
tombs, and altars defiled by dust.”
It is probable, says Mansford, that, although Tadmor is said to have
been built by Solomon, or, in other words, to have been erected by him
into a city, it was a watering station between Syria and Mesopotamia
before; with perhaps accommodations suited to the mode of travelling in
those times, as we read of palm-trees being found there, which are not
trees that come by chance in these desert regions. The mere circumstance
of wholesome water being afforded by any spot in such a country was
sufficient to give it importance, and to draw toward it the stream of
communication, for whatever purpose. This was probably the condition of
Tadmor long before it received its name and its honours from Solomon.
But, after all, what motive could there be to induce a peaceable king,
like Solomon, to undertake a work so distant, difficult, and dangerous?
There is but one which at all accords with his character, or the history
of the times,--commercial enterprise. Solomon was at great pains to
secure himself in the possession of the ports of Elath and Ezion-Geber
on the Red Sea, and to establish a navy for his Indian commerce, or
trade to Ophir,--in all ages the great source of wealth. The riches of
India, thus brought into Judea, were from thence disseminated over those
countries of the north and west at that time inhabited or known; while
the same country, Judea, became, for a season, like Tyre, the point of
return and exchange of the money and the commodities of those countries,
the centre of communication between the east and the west.