Tadmor in Biblical History

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Schaff's Bible Dictionary

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What is Tadmor?
TAD'MOR
(Heb. Tamar-,"palms"), a city in the wilderness, built by Solomon. 1 Kgs 9:18; 2 Chr 8:4. There is no Temple of the Sun. Tadmor (Palmyra). Street of Columns. other Scripture mention of this city, and hence no other clue to its site or after-history. It has usually been identified with the famous city of Palmyra. Some critics, indeed, assert that there is little authority for the insertion of the letter d in the name mentioned in these passages, and would make the place built rather Tamar, on the south of the confines of Judah. Eze 47:19. Palmyra was within the extensive empire of Solomon, and it is most natural to identify Tadmor with it. Situation. - Palmyra occupied the most favorable position on the great caravan-route between the rich cities of the East and the ports of the Mediterranean. A spring of good water makes it a natural halting-place. It was 120 miles northeast of Damascus and 60 miles from the Euphrates, according to the Biblical Educator, but Baedeker's Handbook makes it a five days' journey with camels, in long. 38?? 30' E. and lat. 33?? 58' N. History. - Palmyra has no Scripture history, and hence only a brief sketch of it need be given here. It was mentioned by Pliny, Josephus, Jerome, and other early writers. About a.d. 200 it became famous in Roman history from Zenobia, "the Queen of the East," a woman of extraordinary ability. After the assassination of her husband, Odenathus, she ruled the realm, and under her Palmyra reached the height of its glory, extending its supremacy over Syria, Mesopotamia, and even parts of Egypt. She was subdued by the Roman emperor Aurelian, and led through the streets of Rome to grace the emperor's triumphal procession. The inhabitants of Palmyra afterward revolted, and were slain in great numbers by the Romans. Later, Palmyra was merely a frontier-town in the direction of the wilderness, fortified by Justinian. In 1173 the rabbi Benjamin of Tudela found a considerable colony of Jews there. It then fell into oblivion until visited by members of the English factory at Aleppo, in 1678. Since then the city has been explored and described by many travellers. Present Condition. - Porter says: "In describing the ruins of Palmyra, it would be almost impossible to exaggerate. There is nothing like them in the world. In no other spot in the world can we find such vast numbers of temples, palaces, colonnades, tombs, and monuments grouped together so as to be seen at a single glance. The ruins extend over a plain about 3 or 4 miles in circuit. The most noteworthy are, " 1. The Temple of the Sun. - This was dedicated to Baal. The edifice was enclosed by an outer wall, 256 yards in length and 50 feet high, flanked by pilasters 68 feet high. On the north side this wall is still tolerably preserved. Round the whole of the interior ran a double colonnade or cloister like that surrounding the court of the Gentiles in the temple at Jerusalem. The number of columns was three hundred and ninety. Near the centre of the court is the temple proper, 65 yards long and 34 yards wide, and still well preserved. In the great court is an Arab village of some fifty houses. "2. The Street of Columns.- This extends from the temple of the Sun westward across the plain, through the centre of the ancient city. It was 1240 yards in length, and consisted of rows of columns 55 feet high. Wood thought there were four rows of columns, making the original number about fifteen hundred. Baedeker supposes a double row having seven hundred and fifty columns. About one hundred and fifty of these are yet existing. "3. The Tombs. - Some of these are of great magnificence, and appear to have been intended for temples as well as tombs. The inscriptions show that these tombs mostly belong to the first three centuries of our era. The ancient name is still retained in the form of Thadmor."

Bibliography Information
Schaff, Philip, Dr. "Biblical Definition for 'tadmor' in Schaffs Bible Dictionary".
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