Images Camels in the desert The agora of Palmyra Bedouins Interior of a Bedouin tent

Palmyra earned money by collecting the taxes that all the caravans entering Palmyra needed to pay in order to buy, sell or exchange goods. The famous "Tariff Code" tablets, in Greek and Aramaic, described the goods and the sums to be paid. The tablets were huge and must have been placed in the agora, so that everyone could see how much to pay. The code is now at the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg. Taxes could be paid by cash, by leaving slaves or with part of the goods. For us, it is difficult to understand how merchants coming from countries or regions with different currencies could use the local currency. However, the tax and monetary issues were well organized, even if in a different way than nowadays.