Mystery of Lost Roman City Solved: Ancients Greened the Desert?
Posted by Xeno on July 20, 2012 Today it’s a mirage-like expanse
of monumental ruins. But under the Roman Empire, Palmyra was a
trading metropolis, according to historical and archaeological
evidence. Despite nearly a century of research, though, a key
question remains unanswered: How did this city of 200,000 thrive
in the middle of an infertile Syrian desert? Once a required
stop on caravan routes that brought Asian goods west to eager
Romans, Palmyra (map) has “always been conceived as an oasis in
the middle of the desert, but it’s never been quite clear what
it was living from,” said Michal Gawlikowski, the retired head
of the University of Warsaw’s Polish Mission at Palmyra. And
what an oasis: Among the ruins are grand avenues lined with
columns, triumphal arches, and the remains of an ancient market
where traders once haggled over silk, silver, spices, and dyes
from India and China. (Download Palmyra wallpaper.) To find out
what made it all