Life in Palmyra, Life for Palmyra

The contributors to this publication met in Warsaw in 2016 to remember Khaled al-As'ad, a mutual friend whose tragic demise the year before in his native Palmyra, in front of the Museum that he had directed for forty years, became a tragic testimonial to fanaticism and a barbaric destruction of civilization. The conference Life in Palmyra, Life for Palmyra, which brought together an international group of more than thirty scholars, and the publication, which is the result of this meeting, became a tribute to Khaled al-As?ad and his life's work. The papers offered here cover a wide range of topics related to Palmyra and its vicinity, spanning a period from the Paleolithic to the Byzantine. Supplementing the volume are some personal messages and reflections, and the score and a recording of Tadmor, a sonata for viola and violoncello composed specially for this occasion. Also included in this volume is the text of the Warsaw Declaration, passed unanimously by members of a round table organized ad hoc at the conference, which coincided with the liberation of Palmyra from ISIS in March 2016. In this document scholars formulated the convictions of the research community regarding the restoration priorities to be implemented in the near future at this important and unique archaeological site.