Tower of Elahbel

The Tower of Elahbel (also known as Tower 13 or Kubbet el 'Arus) was a four-storey sandstone tower tomb near the ancient city of Palmyra in Syria [1]. The tower was one of several built outside the city walls of Palmyra, in an area known as the Valley of the Tombs [1]. The tower was important in the history of textiles: fragments of very early Chinese silk yarns, dated to the 1st century AD, were discovered in the tombs at the tower [1]. The tower was completed in AD103 by a Palmyrene aristocrat Marcus Ulpius Elahbelus and his three brothers, Manai, Shakaiei, and Malku; they were all sons of Wahballat [1].