Funerary Towers of Valley of Tombs

The Valley of Tombs, located west of the walls of Palmyra, contains about 200 funerary towers built between 50 BCE and 128 CE as part of royal burial rituals that blended Aramaic and Roman traditions. The five-story square tower is the typical design. Inside, burial niches are arranged on radial platforms and sealed with basalt slabs carved with portraits of the deceased in embroidered Palmyrene clothing. The richest of these was the Tower of Elahbel, marked with an Aramaic inscription dating its construction to 103 CE, and the Tower of Banae, where a charcoal drawing was found, representing a fusion of Egyptian (Fayum) portrait style and Syrian art.