Only the keenest of archaeologists would benefit from a visit to Palmyra's modest museum. With its poor labelling, it adds little to the experience of Palmyra. There are a few highlights, however, including a large-scale model of the Temple of Bel that gives a good impression of how the complex would have looked in its original state, and some fascinating friezes depicting camel trains and cargo ships, attesting to the importance trade played in the wealth of Palmyra.

There are some dynamic mosaics found in nobles' houses east of the Temple of Bel, including one representing a scene from the Iliad in which Ulysses discovers Achilles disguised in women's clothes, concealed among the daughters of the king of Scyros (this scene is also portrayed in a fresco in the Hypogeum of the Three Brothers.

Other notable exhibits include a collection of coins depicting Zenobia and her son, discovered in 1991 and countless busts and reliefs that formed part of the panels used to seal the loculi in Palmyra's many funerary towers and hypogea (to see exactly how this worked, visit the Japanese Tomb). The most outstanding piece in the collection is a 3m-high statue of the goddess Allat, associated with the Greek Athena, discovered in 1975 by Polish archaeologists.