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The Dura-Europos synagogue (or "Dura Europas", "Dura Europos" etc.) was an ancient
synagogue A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of wors ...
uncovered at
Dura-Europos Dura-Europos, ; la, Dūra Eurōpus, ( el, Δούρα Ευρωπός, Doúra Evropós, ) was a Hellenistic, Parthian, and Roman border city built on an escarpment above the southwestern bank of the Euphrates river. It is located near the vil ...
,
Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
, in 1932. The synagogue contains a forecourt and house of assembly with painted walls depicting people and animals, and a
Torah The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the s ...
shrine in the western wall facing
Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
. It was built backing on to the city wall, which was important in its survival. The last phase of construction was dated by an
Aramaic The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated in ...
inscription to 244 CE, making it one of the
oldest synagogues in the world Historic synagogues include synagogues that date back to ancient times and synagogues that represent the earliest Jewish presence in cities around the world. Some synagogues were destroyed and rebuilt several times on the same site. Others wer ...
. It was unique among the many ancient synagogues that have emerged from archaeological excavations as the structure was preserved virtually intact, and it had extensive figurative wall-paintings, which came as a considerable surprise to scholars. These paintings are now displayed in the National Museum of Damascus. Dura-Europos was a small garrison and trading city on the river Euphrates, and usually on the frontier between the
Eastern Roman Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantino ...
and the Parthian and finally the
Sassanid Empire The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Name ...
s of
Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmen ...
. It changed hands at various points but was Roman from 165 AD. Before the final Persian destruction of the town in 256-257 AD, parts of the synagogue which abutted the main city wall were apparently requisitioned and filled with sand as a defensive measure. The city was abandoned after its fall and never resettled, and the lower walls of the rooms remained buried and largely intact until excavated. The short measure of time during which it was used ensured that it would have limited impact upon Judeo-Christian art. The excavations also discovered very important wall-paintings from places of worship of Christianity at the
Dura-Europos church The Dura-Europos church (or Dura-Europos house church) is the earliest identified Christian house church. It was located in Dura-Europos, Syria, and one of the earliest known Christian churches. It is believed to have been an ordinary house th ...
. In addition, there were wall paintings edifying
Mithraism Mithraism, also known as the Mithraic mysteries or the Cult of Mithras, was a Roman mystery religion centered on the god Mithras. Although inspired by Iranian worship of the Zoroastrian divinity ('' yazata'') Mithra, the Roman Mithras is lin ...
, and fragmentary Christian texts in
Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
. In the Syrian Civil War, the site was occupied by
ISIL An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic term ...
, and what was left of the synagogue and a number of other buildings there appear to have been destroyed.


Torah Shrine

The decoration of the
Torah shrine A Torah ark (also known as the ''Heikhal'', or the ''Aron Kodesh'') refers to an ornamental chamber in the synagogue that houses the Torah scrolls. History The ark, also known as the ''ark of law'', or in Hebrew the ''Aron Kodesh'' or ''aron ha- ...
consists of two elements. The first one includes, "the uppermost step of the niche-block, the columns of the facade, and the intrados of the archivolt. " The second one involves important religious scenes, objects and pictures of Jewish worship. The interior of the niche consists of three parts: the conch had a light-blue color that faded all at once after the excavation. The outer surface of the shell is a rich green color. The column and the bottom of the niche are made of marbles. The bottom of the niche consists of five rectangular panels that are framed on top and bottom by pink bands, and there are red vertical bands to separate them from each other. Out of the five panels, one and five are a pair and two and four are another pair: they are all designed by the same fashion. For the first and the fifth panel, the artists used black diagonal lines to divide triangular patterned designs. Opposing triangles on the top and the bottom of the panel has red stripes and are inscribed with peltae. Opposing triangles on the sides of the panels are decorates with brown-lined irregular concentric shapes, with a green dot in the middle of each. On the second and the fourth panels, the outer frame is decorated with red and pink bands, and alternating red dots and strokes against the white background, with bead-and-reel designs on the corners. On the corners of the strips, there are three-petal like strokes. Inside the frame, there are wavy green and dark green curvy lines of different thickness drawn from the top left and right corners of the panel towards the middle. The central panel of the niche consists of a veined black diamond with a yellow circle in the middle. The diamond is framed with the same bead-and-reel design that surrounded the second and the fourth panels. The four triangles that are on the side of the diamond are decorated in brown colors. There are three other things to be concerned about when discussing the decoration of the niche. The most important design of the Torah shrine is the front face of the arch. The spandrels formed a rectangle that is 1.47m wide and 1.06m high, which framed by a pink border that is 0.04m-0.05m wide.


Wall-paintings

The paintings cover the walls of the main "Assembly Room", using three levels of pictures over a dado frieze of symbols in most places, reaching a height of about 7 metres. Stylistically they are provincial versions of contemporary
Graeco-Roman The Greco-Roman civilization (; also Greco-Roman culture; spelled Graeco-Roman in the Commonwealth), as understood by modern scholars and writers, includes the geographical regions and countries that culturally—and so historically—were dir ...
style and technique; several different artists seem to have worked on them. Technically they are not
fresco Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of Mural, mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the ...
(paint fused into wet plaster) but
tempera Tempera (), also known as egg tempera, is a permanent, fast-drying painting medium consisting of colored pigments mixed with a water-soluble binder medium, usually glutinous material such as egg yolk. Tempera also refers to the paintings done ...
over plaster. Earlier parts of the building have decorative painting with no figures. Some of the paintings have figures whose eyes have been scratched out, especially those in Persian costume.


Iconography

Scholars cannot agree on the subjects of some scenes, because of damage, or the lack of comparative examples. The scenes depicted are drawn from the
Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' Binding of Isaac The Binding of Isaac ( he, , ), or simply "The Binding" (, ), is a story from Genesis 22 of the Hebrew Bible. In the biblical narrative, God tells Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac, on Moriah. As Abraham begins to comply, having bound Isa ...
'' and other Genesis stories,
Moses Moses hbo, מֹשֶׁה, Mōše; also known as Moshe or Moshe Rabbeinu ( Mishnaic Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ, ); syr, ܡܘܫܐ, Mūše; ar, موسى, Mūsā; grc, Mωϋσῆς, Mōÿsēs () is considered the most important pr ...
receiving the Tablets of the Law, Moses leading the
Hebrews The terms ''Hebrews'' (Hebrew: / , Modern: ' / ', Tiberian: ' / '; ISO 259-3: ' / ') and ''Hebrew people'' are mostly considered synonymous with the Semitic-speaking Israelites, especially in the pre- monarchic period when they were stil ...
out of
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medite ...
, the visions of
Ezekiel Ezekiel (; he, יְחֶזְקֵאל ''Yəḥezqēʾl'' ; in the Septuagint written in grc-koi, Ἰεζεκιήλ ) is the central protagonist of the Book of Ezekiel in the Hebrew Bible. In Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, Ezekiel is ackno ...
, and many others. The Hand of God motif is used to represent divine intervention or approval in several paintings. There have been scholarly debates questioning the wall paintings' influence over later
Judeo-Christian The term Judeo-Christian is used to group Christianity and Judaism together, either in reference to Christianity's derivation from Judaism, Christianity's borrowing of Jewish Scripture to constitute the "Old Testament" of the Christian Bible, o ...
iconography, which have been held due to the relevance of such early depictions of the biblical narrative. Depictions of
Moses Moses hbo, מֹשֶׁה, Mōše; also known as Moshe or Moshe Rabbeinu ( Mishnaic Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ, ); syr, ܡܘܫܐ, Mūše; ar, موسى, Mūsā; grc, Mωϋσῆς, Mōÿsēs () is considered the most important pr ...
and the
Book of Exodus The Book of Exodus (from grc, Ἔξοδος, translit=Éxodos; he, שְׁמוֹת ''Šəmōṯ'', "Names") is the second book of the Bible. It narrates the story of the Exodus, in which the Israelites leave slavery in Biblical Egypt throug ...
occupy significant swathes of space in the paintings on the Western Wall of the synagogue - of the 12 discrete paintings identified in the Hopkins schematic, 3 center on the narrative of Moses' life, with a total of 7 depictions of Moses across the western wall. Some paintings contain multiple representations of Moses within one distinct scene. The painting of Moses leading the
Israelites The Israelites (; , , ) were a group of Semitic-speaking tribes in the ancient Near East who, during the Iron Age, inhabited a part of Canaan. The earliest recorded evidence of a people by the name of Israel appears in the Merneptah Stele ...
out of Egypt features multiple Moses figures, much like the painting labeled ''WC4''. Between the first Moses's legs is an inscription in
Aramaic The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated in ...
reading, "Moses, when he went out from Egypt and cleft the sea." This inscription firmly identifies the murals as depicting the story of Moses leading the Israelites across the Red Sea from the Book of Exodus. First (on the right) Moses is seen raising a club-like staff and facing to the left, leading an army of Israelites behind him. Second, Moses is seen lowering his staff over the Red Sea, causing its parted waters to close and engulf the pursuing Egyptian army. Here he is facing to the right of the painting. And finally, Moses is seen looking to the left at his safely absconded Israelites, holding his staff at his side, pointed downward. The synagogue paintings' portrayal of Moses and the Israelites each contain influences from the concurrent Roman military culture. Moses is portrayed as the leader of the Israelites who are shown not as civilians or slaves, but as an armed military force. In this context, Moses' powerful stance and comparatively large size present him as the military leader of the Israelites. His long club-like rod or staff and bearded visage have been compared to a relief of
Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the Gr ...
from the 2nd-century Durene temple of Zeus, built during the 114 CE Roman occupation of the city. The mass of Israelites positioned to his left carry shields and spears. Their shields are layered and overlapped over one another to form a physical barrier, much like the Roman shield wall formations of the
phalanx The phalanx ( grc, φάλαγξ; plural phalanxes or phalanges, , ) was a rectangular mass military formation, usually composed entirely of heavy infantry armed with spears, pikes, sarissas, or similar pole weapons. The term is particularly ...
and the testudo. Behind the Israelite soldiers stand figures representing the twelve Elders of Israel, each holding a pole with a square banner or flag, resembling the Roman
vexillum The ''vexillum'' (; plural ''vexilla'') was a flag-like object used as a military standard by units in the Ancient Roman army. Use in Roman army The word ''vexillum'' is a derivative of the Latin word, ''velum'', meaning a sail, which con ...
, the military standards of the
Roman army The Roman army (Latin: ) was the armed forces deployed by the Romans throughout the duration of Ancient Rome, from the Roman Kingdom (c. 500 BC) to the Roman Republic (500–31 BC) and the Roman Empire (31 BC–395 AD), and its medieval contin ...
. Below the painting of Moses and the Israelites is a painting of a temple, portrayed explicitly as a contemporary Roman-style temple. The temple's pediment is low and is decorated with a rinceau design, often and originally found in Roman buildings. The temple also features Corinthian columns, characteristic of both earlier Hellenistic and contemporary
Roman architecture Ancient Roman architecture adopted the external language of classical Greek architecture for the purposes of the ancient Romans, but was different from Greek buildings, becoming a new architectural style. The two styles are often considered one ...
. At either end of each of the temple's two pediments are
acroteria An acroterion, acroterium, or akroteria is an architectural ornament placed on a flat pedestal called the ''acroter'' or plinth, and mounted at the apex or corner of the pediment of a building in the classical style. An acroterion placed at th ...
in the form of winged victory or
Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine give ...
figures. Both the architectural ornament of the acroteria and the Nike symbol stem are characteristic of
Hellenistic In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in 3 ...
and contemporary Roman architecture.


Consecration of the Tabernacle mural

Located on the western wall of the synagogue, just left of the
Torah The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the s ...
niche Niche may refer to: Science * Developmental niche, a concept for understanding the cultural context of child development *Ecological niche, a term describing the relational position of an organism's species * Niche differentiation, in ecology, th ...
, is a mural depicting the Tabernacle. The artist did not follow the biblical description of the Tabernacle as a tent, but rather was inspired by Roman temples, and includes a
cella A cella (from Latin for small chamber) or naos (from the Greek ναός, "temple") is the inner chamber of an ancient Greek or Roman temple in classical antiquity. Its enclosure within walls has given rise to extended meanings, of a hermit's or ...
, pediment and capitals of the
Corinthian order The Corinthian order ( Greek: Κορινθιακός ρυθμός, Latin: ''Ordo Corinthius'') is the last developed of the three principal classical orders of Ancient Greek architecture and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric orde ...
. The local Jewish population did not mind illustrating the Tabernacle based on Roman civil architecture for unknown reasons. Coins showing similar structures were found in Dura-Europos, and the painter might have used them as models. In this particular work,
Aaron According to Abrahamic religions, Aaron ''′aharon'', ar, هارون, Hārūn, Greek (Septuagint): Ἀαρών; often called Aaron the priest ()., group="note" ( or ; ''’Ahărōn'') was a prophet, a high priest, and the elder brother of ...
is depicted standing just to the right of the door of the tent of meeting, denoted by the
Greek alphabet The Greek alphabet has been used to write the Greek language since the late 9th or early 8th century BCE. It is derived from the earlier Phoenician alphabet, and was the earliest known alphabetic script to have distinct letters for vowels as ...
inscription ("ARON"). He is dressed in contemporary Persian or Sassanid style, but with the same colors mentioned in the Book of Exodus: gold, blue, and purple. The
Ephod An ephod ( he, אֵפוֹד ''ʾēfōḏ''; or ) was a type of apron, which according to the Hebrew Bible, was worn by the Jewish high priest the kohen gadol, an artifact and an object to be revered in ancient Israelite culture, and was closel ...
worn by the high priest as described in the Bible is not shown. To the bottom left, there is a young priest leading a cow, which is the special sacrificial red heifer. A dorsal band decorates its body. The two animals just to the left of Aaron, a bull and a ram, are atonement sacrifices for Aaron to be made on
Yom Kippur Yom Kippur (; he, יוֹם כִּפּוּר, , , ) is the holiest day in Judaism and Samaritanism. It occurs annually on the 10th of Tishrei, the first month of the Hebrew calendar. Primarily centered on atonement and repentance, the day's ...
.


Ceiling of the Dura-Europos synagogue

The ceiling was believed to have been created between 244 CE and 245 CE; it was part of the retransformation from which the Dura-Europos synagogue derived. It was around 7m tall and had dimensions of 13.65m x 7.68m, like the assembly hall. It was later found out that the previous synagogue was also decorated similarly, including tiles decorated with fruits, shapes, and flowers. However, the Dura-Europos synagogue's ceiling was made up of even smaller tiles than the previous ceiling; it occupied a larger space and had a wider variety of tile inscriptions. The synagogue's ceiling is made up of repeated tiles and inscriptions. The ceiling is often compared to aerial mosaics, similar to coffered ceilings that supported the tiles, which were already discovered in western societies, such as Roman and Hellenistic cities. The original placement of the tiles, between 244 CE and 245 CE, has not been clearly stated, but each tile was around 0.37 to 0.42 m2 and about 0.045 m in depth. They were formed out of terracotta, which was heated, then decorated and plastered to the above ceiling. Imprints of brick and wooden beams were located on the ceiling tile at the time of the synagogue's build and made the tiles' placement clearer. The tiles are consistent with either pictorial images or inscriptions being displayed. There were about 20 different pictorial tiles that were repeated across the ceiling. They varied from sea animals, land animals, grains, and vegetation to faces and females. Often displayed are female faces, which have been counted to recur 23 times on the ceiling and usually follow a particular pattern. The available prototypes are considered goddesses such as "Flora" or "Demeter-Persephone." Female faces were among the most popular pictorial tiles. Other popular pictorial types include vegetation, which consists of about 41 roses/flowers, a centaur, and pinecones, among others. Other tiles have a goat's head attached to a fishtail, which is often classified as a sea-goat; others are thought to represent Capricorn and Pisces. Another theme was the evil eye; an example is a tile featuring a double-lidded eye with a snake on either side. The same tile also had a scab, which was thought to be a scorpion, and three nails above the eye, with the inscription "IAO". Several tiles, both inscribed and pictorials, had mystical and symbolic meanings. Even though it is debated, some scholars claim that the entirety of the ceiling symbolizes heaven and enteral immortality. However, some uncertainty remains due to the paint not being recognizable on the tile after sun exposure. A total of 234 tiles were discovered and brought back at the time of discovery. However, there may be more that were destroyed and different designs that had not been discovered.   The inscribed tiles were written in Greek or Aramaic and followed a specific prototype. The tiles saved were mainly in Greek; the prototype was the tile painted black, with a black and red leafy wreath on it, where text was confined. One of the first tiles discovered, in Greek, reads "(Samuel onof Yedaya, elder of the Jews founded
he building He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...
", naming Archisynagogue Samuel as the 'founder' in 245 AD. Often names were mentioned, and it suggested that they were donors or people involved in the creation, reconstruction, or decoration of the synagogue; it is not clear what their roles were, but their involvement is evident.


Cultural context and purpose of the murals

Because of the paintings adorning the walls, the synagogue was at first mistaken for a Greek temple, though this was quickly corrected by the vice-director of excavations Robert du Mesnil du Buisson in ''Les peintures de la synagogue de Doura-Europos'' (Rome, 1939). Mesnil also made detailed comparisons of the
frieze In architecture, the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor ...
s from the Dura synagogue with those of the
mithraeum A Mithraeum , sometimes spelled Mithreum and Mithraion ( grc, Μιθραίον), is a Mithraic temple, erected in classical antiquity by the worshippers of Mithras. Most Mithraea can be dated between 100 BC and 300 AD, mostly in the Roman Em ...
, the Christian baptistery, and the temple of the Palmyrene gods.Guitty Azarpay ''Sogdian Painting: The Pictorial Epic in Oriental Art'' 1981 Page 147 "For a comparison of the arrangement of the friezes from the Dura synagogue and those of the mithraeum, the Christian baptistery and the temple of the Palmyrene gods, see Comte R. Du Mesnil du Buisson, Les peintures de la synagogue de ..." Scholars think the paintings were used as an instructional display to educate and teach the history and laws of the religion. Some think that this synagogue was painted in order to compete with the many other religions practiced in Dura-Europos; the new (and considerably smaller) Christian
Dura-Europos church The Dura-Europos church (or Dura-Europos house church) is the earliest identified Christian house church. It was located in Dura-Europos, Syria, and one of the earliest known Christian churches. It is believed to have been an ordinary house th ...
appears to have opened shortly before the surviving paintings were begun in the synagogue. The large-scale pictorial art in the synagogue came as a surprise to scholars, although they already suspected that there was a tradition of Jewish narrative religious art at this period, which at the time of the discovery were thought to have all been lost, leaving only traces in later Christian art. The discovery of the synagogue helps to dispel narrow interpretations of Judaism's historical prohibition of visual images.


Relationship to early Christian art and late Jewish art

The synagogue of
Dura-Europos Dura-Europos, ; la, Dūra Eurōpus, ( el, Δούρα Ευρωπός, Doúra Evropós, ) was a Hellenistic, Parthian, and Roman border city built on an escarpment above the southwestern bank of the Euphrates river. It is located near the vil ...
offers negligible influence on later Christian and Jewish artwork. The time that the Dura-Europos synagogue was active was not long as it was buried as part of the Roman defense against
Sasanian The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...
troops in 256 A.D. The Dura-Europos Synagogue remains the earliest example of
Judeo-Christian The term Judeo-Christian is used to group Christianity and Judaism together, either in reference to Christianity's derivation from Judaism, Christianity's borrowing of Jewish Scripture to constitute the "Old Testament" of the Christian Bible, o ...
artwork available for study. It contains not only
Hellenistic In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in 3 ...
and
Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
influences, but
Sasanian The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...
as well. The layout of the paintings suggest that they were inspired by a copybook with examples and formulae. While there are similarities to other works of antiquity, the differences between each work bear too much difference in order for one to be considered influential. There have been attempts to link these works, but they have proven largely unsuccessful. The Leon Bible, as an example, which was written ca. 960, had in common with Dura-Europos the scene of the sacrifice of Isaac. However, the León Bible showed key differences. Their position in the León Bible shows them facing the viewer, whereas Dura Europos they are not. In the León Bible, the Hand of God bestows the ''benedictio latina'', whereas in Dura-Europos it makes an appearance with no such manuscript. The Dura painting shows Abraham's hand free of
Isaac Isaac; grc, Ἰσαάκ, Isaák; ar, إسحٰق/إسحاق, Isḥāq; am, ይስሐቅ is one of the three patriarchs of the Israelites and an important figure in the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. He was th ...
's hair, whereas in the León miniature, it is grasping it. Finally, in the Dura painting Abraham is using a knife as opposed to the sword he uses in the León Bible.


See also

*
Oldest synagogues in the world Historic synagogues include synagogues that date back to ancient times and synagogues that represent the earliest Jewish presence in cities around the world. Some synagogues were destroyed and rebuilt several times on the same site. Others wer ...


References


Further reading

*Hachlili, Rachel. ''Ancient Jewish Art and Archaeology in the Diaspora, Part 1'', BRILL, 1998, ,
Google books
*Kessler, Edward in Sawyer, John FA. ''The Blackwell companion to the Bible and culture'', Wiley-Blackwell, 2006, ,
Google books
*Kraeling, C H, The Synagogue, New Haven: Yale University Press, 1956 *Gutmann, Joseph, ed., The Dura Europos Synagogue: A Re-evaluation (1932-1992), Scholars Press, 1992 (with a new introduction); * Weitzmann, Kurt, ed.,
Age of spirituality : late antique and early Christian art, third to seventh century
', no. 341 & 358, pp. 366–370, 1979,
Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the List of largest art museums, largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. ...
, New York, ; full text available online from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries. * Young, Penny, 2014 Dura Europos A City for Everyman, Twopenny Press


External links


1968 Symposium talks, by Morton Smith and Meyer Schapiro
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dura-Europos Synagogue Synagogues in Syria Fresco paintings in Syria 3rd-century paintings 3rd-century religious buildings and structures Ancient synagogues Former synagogues Jewish Syrian history Roman Empire art Ancient Roman buildings and structures in Syria
Synagogue A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of wors ...
Buildings and structures in Deir ez-Zor Governorate Jewish art 1932 archaeological discoveries