ANCIENT PALMYRA (TADMOR) in northern Syria is being excavated by a French expedition. According to the Syrian Arab News Agency (via Archaeologica News), "The French archeological team working in defensive walls in Palmyra on Saturday discovered a traditional sacrifice alter on which inscribed a text in Palmyran Language expressing a sacrifice deriving God Malkabl�s blessing." The Palmyrene language was a dialect of ancient Aramaic.