The Tower of Elahbel

It was a four-storey sandstone tower tomb, finished in AD 103 for Marcus Ulpius Elahbelus and his three brothers. Of the dozens of towers in the Valley of the Tombs it was the only one open to visitors. A stair took you up four floors, each lined with burial niches. Every niche was closed by a carved portrait of the person inside. It was blown up in August 2015.

What is there now

The tower is not standing. In its place is a heap of dressed stone blocks; the line of the footings and the threshold of the door can still be read. You come here not to see a building but to grasp its size on the ground — some of the neighbouring towers survive, and Elahbel stood higher than all of them.

Getting there

West of the ruins, inside the Valley of the Tombs. It lies below the Umm al-Bilqis hill, about 500 metres west of the towers of Iamblichus. It is not walking distance; you need a vehicle.

How long it takes

20 minutes. This page covers one building; the valley as a whole and the other towers are in the Valley of the Tombs entry. The two belong to the same trip.

Why it is remembered

Fragments of first century Chinese silk were found inside the tower, among the most concrete evidence of where Palmyra sat on the silk route. After Gertrude Bell visited in 1900 the tower was partly rebuilt and its internal stair reopened all the way to the roof. The portrait slabs that could be moved were taken to safety before the demolition; others were already in museums.