There are three main types of funerary architecture in Palmyra: tower, hypogeum, and house/temple-tomb structures. Evidence of tower tombs begins 9 BC and lasts until AD 128 (Alcock, 161).  Built independently or constructed in conjunction with hypogea; they contain decorated slabs and relief sculpture, usually busts, Corinthian order pilaster interiors with painted coffer ceilings.

Detail from Tower Tomb of Elahbel. Sean
Leatherbury/Manar al-Athar

Tower Tomb of Elahbel. Judith McKenzie/Manar al-Athar

The tower form has traceable ties to Zoroastrian towers in Iran and to tower structures in Dura-Europos and the hypogeum to contemporary Egyptian examples (Colledge, 61) though any conclusive determination remains unknown.

Hypogeum of the Three Brothers. Sean Leatherbury/Manar al-Athar

The second classification of tomb structure in Palmyra, the hypogeum style, provides further indication of Roman influence in architecture and decoration (Browning, 193).  Hypogea, begin appearing in Palmyra around AD 81/2 (Colledge, 60). Constructed as underground burial complexes, they are intended for multiple individuals; the galleries are often decorated with painted surfaces either imitating architectural elements or traditionally ‘Roman’ symbolic funerary scenes and elaborately carved sarcophagi  (Alcock, 163). Initially associated with tower tombs, hypogea only later becoming independent constructions as popularity (and probably expense) of tower tomb wanes.

Funerary Temple. Sean Leatherbury/Manar al-Athar

The third category of burial structure, the temple tomb, borrows directly from preceding Hellenistic religious temple architecture. In Palmyra, the temple tombs appear around AD 143 and last until AD 253 (Alcock, 165). Their construction represents a unique melding of Hellenistic architectural design (temple schematic), with a funerary function (inclusion of loculi) and thus represent a wholly unique design pioneered in Palmyra.