The Temple of Zeus Kyrios stood in the city of Dura-Europos (

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 ...

) and was probably built in the first century BC. It was excavated in 1934 by a joint French-American expedition. The small sanctuary directly abutted a tower of the city wall, on the western side of the city. This site seems to have been chosen deliberately, since towers are a well-attested part of Syrian temple architecture. The sanctuary is the smallest temple excavated to date at Dura-Europos. At first it consisted of only a single room abutting the tower, with an altar against the wall. In a second phase, two further rooms were added to the north. They had a single entrance and were equipped with benches. Even in the final phase of the structure, there were only three rooms, but the cult room which contained the altar was significantly expanded. It became a large, long hall which may not have had a roof (and would then be better referred to as a courtyard). North of this were two smaller rooms: an entranceway with a door onto the street, and a room with benches on all sides. The whole structure was 15.8 metres long in this phase. A

stele A stele ( ),Anglicized plural steles ( ); Greek plural stelai ( ), from Greek , ''stēlē''. The Greek plural is written , ''stēlai'', but this is only rarely encountered in English. or occasionally stela (plural ''stelas'' or ''stelæ''), whe ...

was found in the sanctuary, with either a cult image or a dedicatory relief on it. The stele shows

Zeus Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label=Genitive case, genitive Aeolic Greek, Boeotian Aeolic and Doric Greek#Laconian, Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label=Genitive case, genitive el, Δίας, ''D� ...

seated at right and a donor who appears to be a Palmyrene man. The stele has a

Palmyrene language Palmyrene Aramaic was a Western Aramaic dialect spoken in the city of Palmyra, Syria, in the early centuries AD. It is solely known from inscriptions dating from the 1st century BC to 273. The dual had disappeared from it. The development of ...

inscription which states that it was erected by Baratheh, son of Luke and his son Abubuhi in AD 31.Delbert R. Hillers, Eleonora Cussini: ''Palmyrene Aramaic texts.'' Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore 1996, , p. 171, n. 1089 (Doura 23). The god is named as

Baalshamin Baalshamin ( arc, ܒܥܠ ܫܡܝܢ ''Baʿal Šāmīn'' or ''Bʿel Šmīn'' Blit. "Lord of Heaven ), also called Baal Shamem ( phn, 𐤁𐤏𐤋 𐤔𐤌𐤌 ''Baʿl Šāmēm'') and Baal Shamaim ( he, ''Baʿal Šāmayīm''), was a Northwest Semit ...

. A Greek inscription also gives the name of the donor as Seleukos son of Luke and names the god as Zeus. A further Greek inscription on the stele again names Seleukos, gives the date, and refers to the god as Zeus Kyrios.

References

Bibliography

* M. I. Rostovtzeff, F. E. Brown, C. B. Welles: ''The excavations at Dura-Europos: Preliminary Report of Seventh and Eighth Season of Work 1933–1934 and 1934–1935.'' Yale University Press, New Haven u. a. 1939, S. 284–309. {{Coord, 34.745007, N, 40.727913, E, display=title, type:landmark_region:SY Archaeological discoveries in Syria Dura-Europos Temples in Syria Zeus Kyrios 1st-century religious buildings and structures Destroyed temples