{"id":724,"date":"2026-02-07T10:49:38","date_gmt":"2026-02-07T09:49:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/archeologiamedievale.unimi.it\/?page_id=724"},"modified":"2026-02-10T12:00:37","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T11:00:37","slug":"the-pal-m-a-i-s-archive","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/archeologiamedievale.unimi.it\/en\/other-projects\/the-pal-m-a-i-s-archive\/","title":{"rendered":"The PAL.M.A.I.S. archive"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The PAL.M.A.I.S. project (Palmira Missione Archeologica Congiunta Italo\u2011Siriana<\/em>) was launched in 2007 in collaboration with the Directorate General of Antiquities and Museums of Syria (DGAM) and directed by Prof. Maria Teresa Grassi (University of Milan) and Waleed al\u2011As\u2018ad (Palmyra Museum). The aim of the project was to explore the southwestern quarter of Palmyra, a central sector of the ancient city that had never before been the subject of systematic excavation. The area, covering approximately 114,000 m\u00b2, is bounded by the Agora, the Diocletian Walls, the Transverse Colonnaded Street, and the Great Colonnaded Street.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first campaign, conducted between November and December 2007, focused on a detailed survey of the area, the reassessment of test trenches previously carried out by the DGAM, and the creation of a general plan of the quarter. Between 2007 and 2010, the mission concentrated its efforts on the excavation of a building identified during the survey: the Peristyle Building, located next to the city walls. The excavations uncovered part of a large private residential complex featuring a central courtyard with peristyle and rooms arranged along multiple sides, allowing the reconstruction of its transformation from the Roman period to the early Islamic period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Field activities came to a halt in 2011 due to the war in Syria, but research continued through the study of the excavated materials and the documentation produced. The results of the mission are now preserved in a dedicated archive within the Archaeology Section of the Department of Cultural and Environmental Heritage at the University of Milan, where they continue to be studied by members of the project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The work of revising and studying the archival material led to the publication of the volume The PAL.M.A.I.S. Syro\u2011Italian Joint Project. Selected essays on the southwest quarter and the Peristyle Building in memory of Prof. Maria Teresa Grassi<\/em>, in the series Brepols Studies in Palmyrene Archaeology and History<\/em> (https:\/\/www.brepols.net\/products\/IS-9782503607238-1<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Visit the website of Project PAL.M.A.I.S. <\/a>(last update: 2021).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Publications<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Intagliata, E.E.\u00a02025.\u00a0“What\u2019s\u00a0new in Palmyra? Notes on housing, society, and the role of the city after the 3rd\u00a0century AD crisis”, in E.H. Seland, R. Raja (eds). Palmyra, the Roman Empire, and the Third Century Crisis. Zooming in and\u00a0Scaling\u00a0up from the Evidence<\/em>\u00a0(Oriens\u00a0et\u00a0Occidens, 46).\u00a0Stuttgart: Frank Steiner Verlag, 298\u2013316.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Intagliata, E.E. (ed.) 2025. The PAL.M.A.I.S. Syro-Italian Joint Project. Selected essays on the southwest quarter and the Peristyle Building in memory of Prof. Maria Teresa Grassi<\/em> (Studies in Palmyrene Archaeology and History 12). Turnhout: Brepols.<\/p>\n\n\n\n