All these pictures were taken looking at, being inside or looking around from the Tower of Elahbel, the one tower in the Valley of the Tombs that is open to visitors. The idea of a tower tomb comes from Hellenistic Alexandria. In the late Hellenistic period it was successfully introduced in Roman Syria. Inside you can climb four floors, each one containing rows of niches that would house a corps each, with a portrait of the deceased to close it off. For lots of such portraits see my Damascus National Museum pictures or - even better - switch to my Istanbul Archaeological Museum pictures.

After ISIL/ISIS destroyed parts of the temples of Baalshamin and Bel later in 2015, the Tower of Elahbel and several other less well preserved tower tombs were reportedly blown up in August 2015, including the Tower of Iamblichus.