Vallis Sepulcrorum
About
West of Palmyra, a narrow valley filled with tower tombs rising four and five stories against the desert cliffs, the tallest funerary architecture anywhere in the Roman world. Wealthy Palmyrene families built these sandstone towers between roughly 9 BCE and 128 CE, packing each level with loculi for hundreds of family members across generations. Corinthian columns and painted coffered ceilings decorated the more elaborate interiors. Many of these towers stood until ISIL destroyed several with explosives in 2015.
What happened here
The dead are outside the walls because the law requires it, so the approach to every town is lined with them. Tombs face the road in rows, grand ones in front and simpler markers behind, all of them addressed to the passer-by. Burial clubs let ordinary people and slaves pay a monthly subscription for a place in a communal vault and a decent funeral; the alternative is a pit. Families come out on anniversaries and at the February festival, eat at the graveside, and pour wine into a pipe set into the ground. Undertakers, stonecutters and letter-cutters work nearby and compete on price. Ground is bought by the foot, and the frontage on the road costs the most.
Sources
Roman Maps shows the empire frozen at 11 August 117 CE, the day Trajan died — its moment of greatest territorial extent. Explore the full map →