Civ: Palmyrenes

[Nicolaus_von_Kues]

On 28/09/2026 at 8:38 PM, Thalatta said:

Well these are the most interesting.

The first are, from left to right, Athena, Hera, Aphrodite, Paris (with a Phrygian hat) and Hermes (with the Caduceus, or staff of Hermes, which many pharmacists use instead of the Rod of Asclepius as their symbol, tragicomically indicating commerce instead of medicine). The orb in that case is just the golden apple he gives to Aphrodite to declare her the fairest goddess (she promised him the most beautiful mortal, and we all know how that ended).

The second is Mithras grabbing Helios crown. Both are solar deities, Mithras coming from the East, and I don't know much about this situation in particular, but it does seem like he's taking rulership over the Sun. Apparently this image comes from a Mithraeum, underground temples dedicated to him (I remember seeing at least one, in Ostia Antica). In principle everything was chill between these deities after that, somehow.

They are seen interacting with the moon god in some reliefs.

With the jars I try to imitate colors and artistic style.

I really like this one.

What colors did they paint with? There wasn't a way to make many colors back then.

Egyptian blue, for example, I understand was lost, I don't know how many centuries ago.

https://historia.nationalgeographic.com.es/antiguo-egipto/cientificos-recrean-pigmento-azul-egipcio-hace-5000-anos_23801

 

[Nicolaus_von_Kues]

Other things I want to do and need advice from historians for are: What would all the archer levels look like, from basic to elite?

 

[Thalatta]

33 minutes ago, Nicolaus_von_Kues said:

Other things I want to do and need advice from historians for are: What would all the archer levels look like, from basic to elite?

As I mentioned, maybe try your luck with the sources listed at the end of Chapter 12 (Palmyra and the Military, From the Roman Period to the Islamic Conquest) of The Oxford Handbook of Palmyra (if not illustrations, maybe descriptions). Possibly even the military roles I described before are more fleshed out in some of those.