Abstract
In the 1920s and 1930s, the Danish archaeologist Harald Kai Ingholt (called Harald Ingholt, 1896–1985) excavated in Palmyra, Syria. During his field campaigns of the Southwest necropolis in 1924, 1925, and 1928 he kept diaries—six in total. These have been digitized, translated, and commented on within the framework of the Palmyra Portrait Project, and have been published in print for the first time. Through the documentation of the excavations and Palmyrene material culture in the form of annotations and drawings, these diaries offer unique insight into Ingholt’s work on the Palmyrene graves and their sculptural and epigraphic evidence. Ingholt’s documentation of ground-plans, inscriptions, and finds are supplemented by his notes on the daily (excavation) life, thus offering pictures of early twentieth century excavation practices and the local environment that can now be explored as an open data resource, since we with this article make them available through figshare.
Highlights
CONTEXT Ancient Tadmor, today known as Palmyra, Syria, has been of scholarly interest for centuries
The often vast hypogea, were of particular interest to the Danish archaeologist Harald Ingholt [3, 4, 5], a leading scholar of the ancient Near East in his time, who focused his excavations on these hypogea in the southwest necropolis during his fieldwork in 1924, 1925, and 1928 (Figure 1)
The diaries had not been studied until the Palmyra Portrait Project (2012–2020) included them in its research programme [6] as they had not been made accessible to the public or researchers
Summary
Harald Ingholt’s excavation diaries are in the collection of the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek in Copenhagen, Denmark since 1983, together with a large paper archive that holds photos of the Palmyrene funerary portraits and graves [7, 8, 9]. As the diaries hold information on the graves, their layouts, inscriptions, and findings, it is possible to recontextualize objects that have been removed from the graves and entered museums and private collections. Many of the portraits described in the diaries have not been connected to pieces that have since been exhibited or stored in museums or private collections, but the availability of the excavation information will hopefully help to recontextualize more of the objects in the future. Another outcome of the work on the diaries is an updated map of the southwest necropolis. Both are available online for further research that will enhance our understanding of Palmyra’s archaeology and history and, at the same time, showcases the high potential that lies in the (re)evaluation of archival materials
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
