
Contents
-
-
-
-
-
-
The Bride of the Desert? The Bride of the Desert?
-
Location and Historical Terminology Location and Historical Terminology
-
Geography, Vegetation, and Fauna Geography, Vegetation, and Fauna
-
Communication Communication
-
Climate Climate
-
Drainage, Water, and Subsistence Drainage, Water, and Subsistence
-
Conclusion Conclusion
-
Abbreviations Abbreviations
-
Bibliography Bibliography
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
2 Climate and Environment of Palmyra and the Syrian Desert
Get accessEivind Heldaas Seland is Professor of Ancient History and Premodern Global History at the University of Bergen. His research interest is in the interaction between environment, economy, ideology, and political power in shaping complex societies and early states in the ancient world. He has worked extensively within the Indian Ocean/Red Sea region and the Near East, but is also interested in the Mediterranean and Central Asia. Seland is the author of Ships of the Desert and Ships of the Sea: Palmyra in the World Trade of the First Three Centuries CE (Harrassowitz, 2016).
-
Published:23 January 2024
Cite
Abstract
A significant part of Palmyra’s claim to fame both in antiquity and today rests on the apparent contradiction of a flourishing city located deep in the remote and arid region known as the Syrian Desert. In fact, the possibilities and restraints imposed by Palmyra’s geographical situation provide parts of the key to understanding other aspects of Palmyrene history, including the city’s rise to importance in the trade between the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean and the hybrid sociopolitical organization argued by many scholars. This chapter addresses the natural environment of Palmyra and the surrounding region from a historical perspective, including climate and landforms, with brief discussions of their implications for subsistence, trade, and communication.
Sign in
Personal account
- Sign in with email/username & password
- Get email alerts
- Save searches
- Purchase content
- Activate your purchase/trial code
- Add your ORCID iD
Purchase
Our books are available by subscription or purchase to libraries and institutions.
Purchasing informationMonth: | Total Views: |
---|---|
January 2024 | 2 |
February 2024 | 17 |
March 2024 | 13 |
April 2024 | 15 |
May 2024 | 7 |
June 2024 | 7 |
July 2024 | 5 |
August 2024 | 4 |
September 2024 | 1 |
October 2024 | 8 |
November 2024 | 3 |
December 2024 | 2 |
January 2025 | 37 |
February 2025 | 7 |
March 2025 | 19 |
April 2025 | 11 |
Get help with access
Institutional access
Access to content on Oxford Academic is often provided through institutional subscriptions and purchases. If you are a member of an institution with an active account, you may be able to access content in one of the following ways:
IP based access
Typically, access is provided across an institutional network to a range of IP addresses. This authentication occurs automatically, and it is not possible to sign out of an IP authenticated account.
Sign in through your institution
Choose this option to get remote access when outside your institution. Shibboleth/Open Athens technology is used to provide single sign-on between your institution’s website and Oxford Academic.
If your institution is not listed or you cannot sign in to your institution’s website, please contact your librarian or administrator.
Sign in with a library card
Enter your library card number to sign in. If you cannot sign in, please contact your librarian.
Society Members
Society member access to a journal is achieved in one of the following ways:
Sign in through society site
Many societies offer single sign-on between the society website and Oxford Academic. If you see ‘Sign in through society site’ in the sign in pane within a journal:
If you do not have a society account or have forgotten your username or password, please contact your society.
Sign in using a personal account
Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members. See below.
Personal account
A personal account can be used to get email alerts, save searches, purchase content, and activate subscriptions.
Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members.
Viewing your signed in accounts
Click the account icon in the top right to:
Signed in but can't access content
Oxford Academic is home to a wide variety of products. The institutional subscription may not cover the content that you are trying to access. If you believe you should have access to that content, please contact your librarian.
Institutional account management
For librarians and administrators, your personal account also provides access to institutional account management. Here you will find options to view and activate subscriptions, manage institutional settings and access options, access usage statistics, and more.