Palmyra sits at an oasis - a place in the desert where underground water reaches the surface. Because of that water, the city became a famous stopping point for merchants crossing between the Mediterranean Sea and Mesopotamia (modern Iraq). Camel caravans loaded with silk, spices and glassware passed through here for hundreds of years.
At its height, Palmyra was home to around 200,000 people and ruled by its own queen, Zenobia, who was famous for her bravery and love of learning. The city was connected to Rome but kept its own art style - you can see it in the carved faces on ancient tombs, which have big, forward-looking eyes quite different from Roman art.
The Great Colonnade is one of the most famous sights: a wide street flanked by hundreds of tall columns, stretching for more than a kilometre. Imagine walking down your school corridor, but the walls are replaced by stone pillars taller than a house, and the ceiling is open sky and stars.
Artists and archaeologists have spent decades studying Palmyra's carvings, mosaics and stone inscriptions. The city's script - Palmyrene - mixed elements of Aramaic and Greek and is still being decoded by scholars today. Every carved stone is a message waiting to be read.