Valley of the Tombs

The Valley of the Tombs lies west of the main ruins — a necropolis stretching along a desert wadi, filled with the distinctive tower tombs that made Palmyra's funerary architecture unlike anything else in the ancient world. The towers rose to four or five storeys, their facades decorated with carved reliefs, their interiors lined with burial niches from floor to ceiling. Dozens of these towers once stood; a handful survive.

Many tower tombs were destroyed or badly damaged by ISIS, who used some of them as gun positions and blew up others. The Tomb of Elahbel, the Tomb of the Three Brothers (famous for its painted interior), and parts of the hypogeum system beneath the valley floor partially survived. The site is still haunting — the scattered sarcophagi, broken relief fragments, and remaining towers scattered across the desert floor tell the story of a wealthy, cosmopolitan city that organised itself even in death with extraordinary ambition.

things to do sight
A story
The tower tombs of Palmyra were family mausoleums that functioned like apartment buildings for the dead — each floor held the remains of one generation, stacked upward in the desert air. The Elahbel Tower, built in 103 AD, originally stood four stories high and contained over 300 burial niches. Inside, the walls were decorated with carved portraits of the deceased, each face unique, preserving the faces of Palmyrenes who died nearly two thousand years ago.