View from The Valley of the Tombs with Mamluk era Fakhr al-Din abn Ma'ani Citadel visible in the background, Palmyra.The Valley of the Tombs, beyond the Camp if Diocletian to the west of the city, contains a large number of tomb towers, each built for a specific family. As many as 400 people were interred within a single tower, each contained within a burial slot, sealed (in most cases) with a limestone portrait bust of the deceased.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.