Relief of the Divine Triad of Palmyra
Unknown · Roman Imperial, first century AD
Three gods stand shoulder to shoulder in military dress: tunic, belted cuirass with lappets, cloak fastened by a round brooch, and a sword held at the side. The bearded god in the centre wears a tall cylindrical hat and trousers; he is Baalshamin, lord of the heavens. To his right stands Aglibol, the moon god, and to his left Malakbel, the sun god, both bare-legged and crowned with a radiate halo. The slab is seventy-two centimetres long and cut in high relief. Look at the fine scale armour and the frontal, staring eyes typical of Palmyrene art.
The relief was found not in Palmyra itself but in the desert to the north-west, at Wadi Miyah near Bir Wereb, on the caravan routes that made the city rich in the first century of our era. Its worshippers scratched prayers into the stone, five in Palmyrene, one in Greek and one in Safaitic, the script of the nomads. The Louvre purchased the relief in nineteen forty-five, and it remains a key document for the religion of the caravan city.
Did You Know? Passing worshippers scratched their names on the relief in Palmyrene, Greek and Safaitic, three languages of the desert routes, asking to be remembered in good.
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