Columns with Mamluk era Fakhr al-Din abn Ma'ani Citadel visible in the background, Palmyra. Palmyra's correct name is actually Tadmor, a Semitic word still in use and apparently meaning 'to protect'. The city is referred as Palmyra in Greco-Latin sources, probably because of the large number of date palms in the area. The first two centuries of the Christian era were the period of Palmyra's greatest prosperity.