Il “progetto Palmira” : I nuovi scavi dell’Università nell’Oriente Romano (campagne 2007-2008)

Palmyra (Tadmor, Syrian Arab Republic), located in a Syrian desert oasis halfway between the Mediterranean Sea and the Euphrates, experienced an important development during the Roman Imperial age as a crucial trading centre between the East and the West. The new archaeological research project led to the creation of an Italian-Syrian joint Mission (PAL.M.A.I.S.) by the University of Milan and the General Directorate of Antiquities and Museums in Damascus. It originates from the need to conduct a systematic study of a wide and at the time totally unexplored quarter, the SW quarter, located at the southern limit of the W part of the Great Colonnade Street, and still considered a residential area without any certain evidence. The excavation of the Peristyle Building of the SW quarter clearly shows a long period of development, from the 2nd-3rd century AD at least until the 6th-7th century AD, as it can be seen from the first results obtained from the study of the archaeological finds.