Palmyrene funerary relief busts were first produced in Palmyra in the middle of the first century CE as decorative slabs closing the burial niches inside the tombs. The reliefs were carved into square pieces of limestone and depicted figures in a direct frontal pose cut off at mid-torso. Arms and hands were portrayed in various gestures and poses. Most busts display a solitary figure; scenes. Names and lineage of the deceased are engraved in Aramaic above the shoulders, and in some cases, with Greek or Syriac.
The individual loculus relief sculptures present a rich range of iconographic information about the people of Palmyra. They are formatted as portrait reliefs and depict their subjects intimately, often with symbols of their status and social position. The reliefs also demonstrate the degree to which Palmyra existed in a multicultural and multilingual landscape, one in which the traits, trends, styles, and languages of the Graeco-Roman world and the Near Eastern world not only overlapped but intertwined, producing new, unique cultural objects. This is an important realization, one that remind us of the degree to which the ancient world was diverse and varied and that a great deal of the material culture of the ancient world resulted from shared cultural influence and hybridization. The tombs of Palmyra evoke this climate of cultural diversity. Male figures are depicted wearing a himation and chiton. The arm is often wrapped in the himation with the hand placed on the chest. The left hand holds an attribute, often a scroll or leaf. Female busts are depicted wearing a tunic, cloak and veil. The hand is often raised to the chin or cheek, sometimes holding the veil.
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