Palmyra (/ˌpɑːl-maɪrə/; Arabic: تَدْمُر, romanized: Tadmur; Palmyrene: 𐡶𐡣𐡬𐡥𐡴 Tadmor) is a city in central Syria, administratively part of the Homs Governorate.

The ruins of ancient Palmyra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, are situated about 500 metres (1⁄3 mile) southwest of the modern city centre.

[5][6] During the Syrian Civil War, the city's population significantly increased due to the influx of internally displaced refugees from other parts of the country.

[8] The etymology of "Tadmur" is vague; Albert Schultens considered it to be derived from the Semitic word for dates ("Tamar"),[note 1][10] in reference to the palm trees that surround the city.

[note 2][11] 13th century Syrian geographer Yaqut al-Hamawi states Tadmur was the name of the daughter of one of Noah's distant descendants and that she was buried in the city.

[8] Michael Patrick O'Connor argued for a Hurrian origin of both "Palmyra" and "Tadmur",[8] citing the incapability of explaining the alterations to the theorized roots of both names, which are represented in the adding of a -d- to "Tamar" and a -ra- to "palame".

[15] There is a Syriac etymology for Tadmor, referring to dmr "to wonder", and Tedmurtā (Aramaic: ܬܕܡܘܪܬܐ) "Miracle"; thus Tadmūra means "object of wonder", most recently affirmed by Franz Altheim and Ruth Altheim-Stiehl (1973), but rejected by Jean Starcky (1960) and Michał Gawlikowski (1974).

[19] On 13 May 2015, the militant terrorist organization the Islamic State (IS) launched an attack on the modern town, raising fears that the iconoclastic group would destroy the historic city.

Ten days prior to the tombs' destruction, ISIL destroyed a number of tombstones at a local cemetery for Palmyra's residents.

[26] In March 2016 a large-scale offensive by the SAA (supported by Hezbollah and Russian airstrikes) initially regained the areas south and west of the city.