Palmyra and the Palmyrenes
Explores the history and culture of ancient Palmyra, covering its art, architecture, economy, religion, and foreign relations with the Roman and Sassanian Empires, as well as issues of identity and modern reception.
Summary
Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.80 GPA, 80.0% A/AB (n=5 letter grades).
What you’ll be able to do
Demonstrate knowledge of ancient Near Eastern societies and cultures.
Examine, Analyze, and Interpret ancient texts in translation and material culture.
Compare and Critique ancient Near Eastern societies and cultures to other societies and cultures.
Evaluate the reception of Roman-era Palmyra and Syria in the modern period.
Develop a deeper understanding of the historical context and social structures of Roman-period Syria, especially as instantiated in the city-state of Palmyra and its population (both inhabiting Palmyra and abroad).
Demonstrate familiarity with basic methodological approaches to archaeological, art historical, and textual study in reconstructing the history and society of ancient Palmyra.
Evaluate critically one's own historical and social circumstances with an eye towards understanding the means that Palmyrenes used to construct identity and maintain social boundaries in the context of the ancient Mediterranean world (including places as far-flung as Roman Britain and North Africa).
Develop an extended scholarly argument in written form, while also performing basic work in Palmyrene Aramaic.
Source: UW Guide
Grade history
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Prerequisites
Course mapJunior standing
- Junior standing
This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.
Prerequisite text tree
- Junior standing
Professors
Spring 2027No instructors recorded for this selection.
Historical instructors & teaching patterns
Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
Calendar & sections
Spring 2027Schedule loads here as you scroll.
| Section | Mode | Enrolled / capacity | Waitlist |
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Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections.
Meeting source records
No records available.
Student experience
the class
Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.80 GPA, 80.0% A/AB (n=5 letter grades).
difficulty & workload
No workload feedback recorded.
Topics
- Art, architecture, economy, religion, and foreign relations of the Palmyrene city-state, including interactions with the Roman and Sassanian Empires.
- Identity and integration of Palmyrenes serving in the Roman army.
- Modern cultural memory, political uses, and the impact of museum displays and academic publications on perceptions of ancient Palmyra.
- Historical context and social structures of Roman-period Syria, specifically within the city-state of Palmyra and its diaspora.
Skills
- Analyze and interpret ancient texts in translation and material culture using archaeological, art historical, and textual methods.
- Evaluate the modern reception of Roman-era Palmyra and Syria.
- Critically evaluate historical and social circumstances regarding Palmyrene identity construction and social boundaries.
- Develop extended scholarly arguments in written form and perform basic work in Palmyrene Aramaic.
Grades
Latest available · Spring 2025— not enough history to project Spring 2027.
Grade distribution · % of letter grades
More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data
Not enough comparable courses for Spring 2027 in UW–Madison.
Sources & history
Catalog & offerings
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Catalog observation history
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Raw records
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Grade history
Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.
Explore recorded gradesRecorded 2026-10-14
Model outputs & technical records
LLM outputs across runs
Full model traces
Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.
Model & dataset provenance
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