This page is dedicated to the Synagogue of Dura-Europos, close to the modern Deir-Ez-Zur in Syria. It is a digital project for the course, The Art and Archaeology of the Graeco-Roman Near East and Egypt, taught by Professor Elisabeth Macaulay-Lewis in the spring of 2013 at the CUNY Graduate Center, New York.

Although it not possible to know the exact date of Jewish settlement in Dura-Europos, the excavation report of the Synagogue offers substantial information about the beginning of the Jewish presence in the town.

In Dura-Europos, there are many records of the Roman garrison, especially papyri and inscriptions which provide a great quantity of information about the life in Dura. Detachments of the IV and the XVI Legions built the shrine of Mithras in 209 CE.

This section is dedicated to an analysis of iconographic elements in the paintings in order to identify Graeco-Roman influences and to understand the relation between the Jews and their enviroment in Dura-Europos.

In its beginning, the synagogue of Dura-Europos was a very sober place with none of the splendid decorations that made it so famous worldwide through the centuries. The excavation report offers interesting details about the synagogue building prior the great renovation of …

Although the Ezekiel panel was located less prominently on the northern wall (NC 1), on the right side when entering the synagogue, it highlights important motifs that also recur in other paintings and conveys an image of the Jews of Dura which helps to define their identity.

A variety of inscriptions were present in the synagogue and they provide information about the worshippers and the Jews in Dura. The inscriptions are written in three different languages: Aramaic, Greek and Middle Persian, in keeping with the multilingual population living in and around Dura Europos.

This is the only known ceiling of a synagogue to have survived and is nonetheless “one of the most overlooked components of the building.” 1 Tiled ceilings were widespread in the town in large chambers and were found in five other structures (Kraeling 1956, 52). Some synagogue tiles are painted with women’s faces, identified as Core or ...

A considerable quantity of graffiti from the synagogue is preserved, offering further insights into the world of the Jews in Dura-Europos.

This general work about “Jewish archaeology” deals with the art and identity of the Jews from the SecondTemple period to late antique Palestine and the Diaspora communities. It contains a chapter about the Dura-Europos Synagogue and its liturgical parchment.