The Ingholt Archive

For a period of over 50 years, from his first visit to Palmyra in the 1920s until the late 1970s, Danish archaeologist Harald Ingholt carefully collected and curated a detailed archive of Palmyrene sculpture, architecture, and epigraphy. Containing approximately 2000 images, each archive sheet contains handwritten annotations on Palmyrene funerary art, transcribes and translates inscriptions, includes detailed observations on object style and dating, and provides bibliographical information for each sculpture. As such, this archive is a treasure trove of information on Palmyrene sculpture, architecture, and epigraphy. Moreover, Ingholt’s notes go beyond shedding light on the creation of these sculptures, and also provide rich information about their more recent histories: object biographies offer details on provenance, collection history, and excavation photography. In doing so, they offer unique insights into twentieth-century excavation, conservation, and collection practices. Since 1983, Ingholt’s archive has been housed at the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek in Copenhagen, Denmark, and then, from 2012 onwards, the archive took digital shape within the framework of the Palmyra Portrait Project at Aarhus University. Now available in print for the first time, the Ingholt Archive is here presented in its entirety as a lavishly illustrated four-volume set. The authors have transcribed and commented upon each sheet in the archive, provided new translations of the inscriptions that accompany the sculptures, and compiled an updated bibliography for each item. This unique set is published together with a detailed introduction, thirteen concordances, and a bibliography, making it an invaluable resource for researchers in the field.