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The inscriptions provide very incomplete evidence of Palmyra's trade routes. Amongst the surviving inscriptions, there is mention of only one caravan route, from Spasinou Charax, in the Persian Gulf up the Euphrates through Vologesias and then overland to Palmyra. There are two cases of ships owned by a Palmyrene that arrived from Scythia, referring to the Indus estuary area in northwest India. There is some question about the role of the desert nomads in this trade - they may well have profited from this, supplying camels and receiving payments. But there is also mention in several inscriptions of attacks on merchants being averted by armed forces sent from Palmyra.
At its height during the reign of Zenobia, Palmyra had more than 200,000 residents. Its earliest known inhabitants were the Amorites in the early second millennium BC, and by the end of the second millennium, Arameans were mentioned as inhabiting the area. Arabs arrived in the city in the late first millennium BC.
By the time of Nero Palmyra had four tribes, each residing in an area of the city bearing its name. Three of the tribes were the Komare, Mattabol and Ma’zin; the fourth tribe is uncertain, but was probably the Mita. In time, the four tribes became highly civic and tribal lines blurred; by the second-century clan identity lost its importance, and it disappeared during the third century instead, aristocrats played the decisive role in the city’s social organization
By the first century BC (Read More …)
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The organization of societyBisher2021-10-15T19:13:08+00:00
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