A Palmyra Ceiling in Lincoln

Abstract

In the best room of an otherwise unpretentious house in Lincoln is a ceiling ornamented with octagonal plaster coffering modelled on that of the first-century Temple of Bel, at Tadmor (the ancient Palmyra), in Syria. The most frequently copied antique coffering is composed of octagons whose cardinal sides are each adjacent to, and parallel with, the cardinal side of another octagon. The residual space between any four octagons in this arrangement is a small square. In the Palmyrene variant the octagons meet each other only at their angles. The residual space is a four-lobed star, which always (though not of necessity) inscribes a small square.

Remembering Roman Syria: Valuing Tadmor-Palmyra, From ‘Discovery’ to Destruction

“…On Borra more widely, see contributions in Dardanello 2013. On a house with a ‘Palmyra ceiling’ in Lincoln, see Hewlings 1988. On Borra’s use of Palmyra as inspiration, see Matta 2015: 258.…”