Palmyra, was a city in southern Syria that flourished during the Roman Empire as a caravan oasis on the trade route linking the Mediterranean with West and Central Asia. It was incorporated into the Roman Empire by the end of the first century AD. The rich tombs of the Roman period, which were built outside the city, show a fascinating mix of local and Roman influences.
This is a limestone bust from a Palmyrene funerary relief. It decorated the end of a cubiculum or small compartment within a tomb, and represented the deceased. Many members of Palmyra's prosperous merchant class commissioned such funerary busts depicting fashionably dressed individuals. The style of this sculpture, with protruding ears and the pupil and iris of the eye represented as engraved concentric circles, shows that it belongs to an early phase in the sculpting of such images.
