The first appearance of Palmyra is very striking. Its innumerable columns and other ruins, extending nearly a mile and a half in length, and unobstructed by modern buildings, contrast by their snow-white appearance with the yellowish sand of the desert. But, examined separately, few of these remains can be called beautiful as works of art. The largest columns do not exceed 4 feet in diameter and 40 feet in height. There is a great sameness in the architecture, all the columns being Corinthian, with the exception of those which surround the Temple of the Sun, which are Ionic and fluted. (Irby and Mangles, ' Travels in Syria, &c. in 1817-18.') The most interesting remains of Palmyra are perhaps its sepulchres, which are outside of the walla of the ancient city, and are built in the shape of square towers, from three to five stories high, each forming a sepulchral chamber, with recesses divided into four or five compartments for the reception of the dead bodies. Some of the chambers are ornamented with sculptures and fluted Corinthian pilasters, and the walls are stuccoed white. The ceiling, on which the paint is still perfect, is ornamented like that of the peristyle of the Temple of the Sun at Bealbec, with the heads of various deities disposed in diamond-shaped divisions. Remains of mummies and mummy-cloths are found resem
bling those of Egypt. The lines of the streets and the foundations of the houses are distinguishable in some places. Small rows of columns denote the areas of the open courts of private houses, as at Pompeii.
The inscriptions found at Palmyra are either Greek or Palmyrene, with the exception of one in Hebrew, aud one or two in Latin. On the inscriptions of Palmyra see the work Inscriptiones Grmem Pal myrenorum cum Anuotationibus Edw. Bernardi et Thomas Smithi,' Utrecht, 1698, end that of the orientalist Father Giorgi, Do Inscrip tionibus Palmyrenia core in 31usteo Capitoline adservautur interpret andis F.pistolit,' Rome, 1782. Giorgi makes out a Palmyrene alphabet, which Barthdldmy had attempted to do before him, but not success fully. The ancient commerce of Palmyra has been discussed by Heeren. Wood and Dawkins visited Palmyra about the middle of tho last century, and published a description of its remains, with plates, folio, Loudon, 1758. Since that time Volney, Cassas, Bankea, Irby, and other travellers have visited the same.