Forms of brooches and their development in the Palmyrene Jewellery and adornments through studying female funerary busts during the Roman era

Abstract

This article studies the forms of brooches that appear in the female funerary busts in Palmyra and their development in the framework of Palmyrene jewellery and adornments Which witnessed significant growth since the mid of second century AD. The research is based on more than 200 funerary busts dated between 50 -273 AD, from the museums of Damascus, Palmyra, louvre, British Museum, Ny Carlsberg, and other international museums, to classify the forms accurately and know their popularity among the Palmyrene ladies during the roman era, in addition to studying its appearance and disappearance in the sculptures over three Centuries. Through this research, seven main forms were classified by several variations for each form, and many uncommon forms were displayed, some of it was imported from outside Palmyra. In addition, study the development of the forms and their effect on the style of the female representation in funerary sculpture.