Street Scene In Palmyra

Although Poul Anderson's The Boat Of A Million Years (London, 1991) was not serialized, its Chapter III had been previously published in Analog, June 1988 (see image). Its Chapter IV presents yet another of Anderson's exhaustive list-descriptions. This one is of the agora in Tadmor/Palmyra in 641 AD, marked out by the Colonnade with arches at either end and statues of citizens who have been famous over several centuries.

Buildings
shops
trading offices
chapels
joyhouses

Smells
smoke
sweat
dung
perfume
spices
oils
fruits

Sounds
footfalls
hoofbeats
wheel-creak
hammer-clang
chant
shout
speech
flute
drum
song

Languages
local Aramaic
Greek
Persian
Arabic
others from further away

Colors
cloak
robe
veil
headdress
lance pennon
ornament
charm

Tradesmen
rug seller
wine vendor
copper-smith

Traffic
oxcart with dates
camel with silks
Persian horsemen and trumpeter
litters bearing a merchant and a courtesan
Christian priest
magus
drovers