Palmyrene was among the first ancient scripts recovered in the modern period, and it was recovered quickly. An eighteenth century expedition published accurate engravings of inscriptions from the ruins, and within a short time of that publication scholars working from the bilingual texts had established the values of the letters, one of them reportedly in a matter of days. The alphabet was small, the language was a known one, and the Greek stood beside it. What the inscriptions then revealed was a religious life that no literary source describes. They name Bel, Baalshamin, Malakbel, Yarhibol, Aglibol and others, record the dedication of altars and the endowment of banquets, and are the principal evidence for how the city's cults were organised and funded.
One feature has attracted particular attention. A large number of small altars are dedicated not to a named deity but to one described as he whose name is blessed for ever, with the dedicator's name and thanks recorded but the god left unnamed. Explanations offered include a taboo on the name, a deliberately inclusive formula, and a specific god known to everyone locally, and the question is not settled. The atlas records the formula and the range of explanations rather than adopting one.