Palmyra: legendary trading centre for Bedouins, ancient trading and cultural centre for merchants and their caravans - that was the oasis city in present-day Syria. In his lecture "Palmyra. City on the Silk Road. Old and new archaeological research in Syria", Prof. Dr Andreas Schmidt-Colinet will provide insights into current research.
The lecture will take place on Thursday, 13 June at 7 p.m. in the auditorium of the Altes Gymnasium. The event is organised by the Institute of History at the University of Oldenburg and the Altes Gymnasium Oldenburg.
Prof Dr Andreas Schmidt-Colinet is a classical archaeologist and has been conducting research in the desert city since 1980. In his lecture, he will focus on Palmyra's key position in the exchange of goods and culture between East and West. Due to its geopolitically privileged location between the harbours of the Mediterranean and the connection to the Silk Road, the oasis city played a key role in the Roman Empire. Excavations show that global trade relations already existed here in the Hellenistic period in the 3rd century BC. There is also evidence of caravan construction in Palmyra during the late Hellenistic and Imperial periods.
Schmidt-Colinet studied Classical Archaeology in Cologne. Teaching and research stays took him to the German Archaeological Institute in Damascus, among other places. In 1990, he habilitated at the University of Bern and continued his research in Palmyra. From 2000 to 2010, Schmidt-Colinet was Professor of Classical Archaeology at the Institute of Classical Archaeology at the University of Vienna.