A kinship network analysis of Palmyrene genealogies

Abstract

In this proof-of-concept study we investigate the potential and challenges of a formal network approach for the examination of 1st to 3rd century CE kinship networks in ancient Palmyra (in present-day Syria). The recent availability of a large, digitised archaeological dataset allows for a thorough reassessment of previously studied genealogies. By applying network and genealogical formal methods to these for the first time we can re-evaluate the genealogical completeness and gender bias in our sources, and scientifically explore the tendency for intermarriage within an extended Palmyrene family. We combine archaeological information from funerary portraits in the exhaustive database created by the Palmyra Portrait Project with textual sources from funerary and public inscriptions, and critically evaluate the differences and limits of these sources for genealogical studies. Applying formal network and genealogical techniques to these datasets, as well as comparing five different case studies, allows us to draw attention to four key points: (1) our sources confirm a high degree of genealogical incompleteness and gender bias, which was already known from studies of Palmyrene society; (2) to evaluate whether the relinking index can enhance debates on endogamy and exogamy practices in Palmyra; (3) funerary and public inscriptions are highly complementary and reveal different genealogical structures; and (4) to assess the assumptions behind creating uncertain relationships in funerary cases and their effects on our results. This paper demonstrates a number of quantitative and qualitative approaches for understanding the limits of fragmentary archaeological and historical sources in this process, and it lays the foundation for formulating highly specified hypotheses about the structure of ancient Palmyrene kinship networks in future work.

Keywords

• palmyra
• portraits
• archaeology
• genealogy
• kinship