Palmyra, the antique city in the desert of Syria, was severely damaged by the so called IS last year. The antique theatre of Palmyra was even used to stage real executions. Since then, western media, scientific debates and public discussion have made Palmyra prominent in a way it never has been before. The following essay wants to argue that this new presence of Palmyra in western thought should not make us forget what Palmyra was in the days before the IS existed. What kind of motives and what sort of remembrance of antiquity were dominant when Palmyra became a better or even well-known place on the maps of the western world? The essay tries to demonstrate why Palmyra could be understood as a hybrid, crossing over oriental and occidental traditions in a fascinating manner – fascinating for scientific research as well as for poetry.