Zenobia: Shooting Star of Palmyra (Women in Antiquity)

Hailing from the Syrian city of Palmyra, a woman named Zenobia (and Bathzabbai) governed territory in the eastern Roman Empire from 268 to 272. She thus became the most famous Palmyrene who ever lived. But sources for her life and career are scarce. This book situates Zenobia in the social, economic, cultural, and material context of ancient Palmyra. By doing so, it aims to shed greater light on the experiences of Zenobia and Palmyrene women like her at various stages of their lives. Not limiting itself to the political aspects of her governance, it contemplates what inscriptions and material culture enable us to know about women and the practice of gender in Palmyra, and thus the world that Zenobia navigated. It also ponders Zenobia’s legacy in light of the contemporary human tragedy in Syria. Hailing from the Syrian city of Palmyra, a woman named Zenobia (also Bathzabbai) governed territory in the eastern Roman empire from 268 to 272. She thus became the most famous Palmyrene who ever lived. But sources for her life and career are scarce. This book situates Zenobia in the social, economic, cultural, and material context of her Palmyra. By doing so, it aims to shed greater light on the experiences of Zenobia and Palmyrene women like her at various stages of their lives. Not limiting itself to the political aspects of her governance, it contemplates what inscriptions and material culture at Palmyra enable us to know about women and the practice of gender there, and thus the world that Zenobia navigated. It reflects on her clothes, house, hygiene, property owning, gestures, religious practices, funerary practices, education, languages, social identities, marriage, and experiences motherhood, along with her meteoric rise to prominence and civil war. It also ponders Zenobia's legacy in light of the contemporary human tragedy in Syria. Cover 1 Half title 2 Series 3 Zenobia 4 Copyright page 5 Contents 8 Dedication 6 Preface 10 Acknowledgments 12 Abbreviations 16 1 Zenobia’s Likenesses 22 Part I Palmyra, Zenobia’s City 36 2 Urban Landscape 38 3 Social Landscape 54 Part II Embryonic Star 78 4 Social World 80 5 Coming of Age 110 Part III Rising Star 130 6 Marital Household 132 7 Widowhood 164 Part IV Shooting Star 184 8 Dynasty 186 9 Civil War 212 Part V Epilogue: Fallen Star 234 10 Legacy and Likenesses 236 Appendix 1: Palmyrene Monuments Mentioned 252 Appendix 2: Brief and Simple Guide to Palmyrenean Aramaic 254 Appendix 3: Inscriptions for Odainath’s Household 256 Bibliography 266 Index 300 Preface ix Acknowledgments xi Abbreviations xv 1 Zenobia’s Likenesses 1 Part I Palmyra, Zenobia’s City 2 Urban Landscape 17 3 Social Landscape 33 Part II Embryonic Star 4 Social World 59 5 Coming of Age 89 Part III Rising Star 6 Marital Household 111 7 Widowhood 143 Part IV Shooting Star 8 Dynasty 165 9 Civil War 191 Part V Epilogue: Fallen Star 10 Legacy and Likenesses 215 Appendix 1: Palmyrene Monuments Mentioned 231 Appendix 2: Brief and Simple Guide to Palmyrenean Aramaic 233 Appendix 3: Inscriptions for Odainath’s Household 235 Bibliography 245 Index 279 Hailing from the Syrian city of Palmyra, a woman named Zenobia (and Bathzabbai) governed territory in the eastern Roman Empire from 268 to 272. She thus became the most famous Palmyrene who ever lived. But sources for her life and career are scarce. This text situates Zenobia in the social, economic, cultural, and material context of ancient Palmyra