Location and Excavation

Hypogeum no. 9 lies in the southeastern necropolis of Palmyra. It was excavated in 1958 by Obeid Taha and Nazmi Kheir of the Syrian Directorate General of Antiquities and Museums, then reconstructed in situ.

The tomb forms part of a group of three hypogea—nos. 9, 10, and 11—entered through a shared vestibule.

Architecture

The three tombs form an inverted T. Hypogeum no. 9 constitutes its long north–south arm, while tombs 10 and 11 extend to either side of the entrance. Tomb 9 is oriented east–west and consists of a single gallery ending in a semicircular exedra.

Burial bays line both sides of the gallery, while five further bays radiate from the exedra. Architectural decoration structured the interior, which was constructed and decorated as a single phase.

Two funerary beds were built into opposite gallery walls, beneath the ceiling, in the space between the front and rear sections of the tomb.

Funerary Bust of Barîkî, Son of Zebîdâ was probably the founder of Hypogeum no. 9

The Family

The tomb was used by a family descending from Barîkî Šokaibel, through the branches of Barîkî, son of Zebîdâ, and his probably younger brother Lišamš. Barîkî, son of Zebîdâ, is identified as the tomb’s founder. His armless, Roman-cut bust was placed opposite the entrance.

His wife, Aqmê, and their children Wahballat, Hagegû, Tema, and Taimaršu were represented among the tomb’s portraits. The family group also included relatives of Lišamš and persons connected to the family through marriage or household ties, including Ami, the nurse of a grandson of the founder.

Date and Use

No foundation inscription or dated inscription survives from the hypogeum. Its construction is placed between AD 90 and 110, in relation to the neighbouring tombs: Hypogeum no. 10, founded in AD 94, and Hypogeum no. 11, founded in AD 109.

The tomb remained in use for about a century, over four generations. Its earliest preserved portrait is dated about AD 120–140; later portraits and the two funerary beds belong to the 2nd century CE. Use of the hypogeum ceased after the beginning of the 3rd century.

Sculptures and Later History

The tomb contained seventeen funerary sculptures: fifteen portrait busts and two funerary beds of slab-klinē-and-banquet type. The fifteen busts carry M.P. inventory records; the two built-in beds do not.

The hypogeum was robbed in 1979, when fifteen funerary busts were removed. They were subsequently recovered, but without their inscriptions.

Funerary Bust of Abnebû, Son of Nûmenûs (PLM.0613)

Among the removed busts, Abnebû, son of Nûmenûs (PLM.0613), was cited in a 1982–83 exhibition catalogue associated with the Bernisches Historisches Museum, Bern, and was recorded as being in Switzerland in 1994. Its later history and present location require further documentation.