Dura-Europos Synagogue

Type: Synagogues, Wall paintings, Tiles
Date: 244/5
Location or Findspot (Modern-Day Country): Syria
Description: The Dura-Europos Synagogue is one of the oldest synagogues in the world to have emerged from an archaeological dig virtually intact. It was located on the edge of a Roman border town and was larger than the Mithraeum and Christian house-church and baptistery. The wall and ceiling art were preserved because the synagogue was incorporated into the Romans' defensive wall in 256. In addition to the wall paintings, hundreds of terra-cotta ceiling tiles have survived from the synagogue, and they include Aramaic and Greek inscriptions naming donors, evil eyes, images of real and fanciful creatures, and vegetation.
Relevant Textbook Chapter(s): 1
Repository and Online Resources: • Read more about Dura-Europs on the Yale University Art Gallery website.
Image Credits: Wikimedia Commons, Princeton University Art Museum, Navid Jamali
Tags: Western Asian, Jewish, Access to the sacred, Late Antique, Roman, Aramaic, Greek, Works in focus, Works in textbook, Domestic

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Dura-Europos Synagogue, Torah niche
Watercolor from Carl Kraeling, The Excavations at Dura-Europos, Final Report 8, Part 1, The Synagogue (Yale University Press, 1956), plate 51; used by permission of Yale University Press
Dura-Europos Synagogue, excavation photograph Dura-Europos Synagogue, excavation photograph, Torah niche Dura-Europos Synagogue, courtyard, western porch and prayer hall Princeton University Art Museum, ceiling tile from the Dura-Europos Synagogue with pomegranates Yale University Art Gallery, ceiling tile from the Dura-Europos Synagogue with female face Yale University Art Gallery, ceiling tile from the Dura-Europos Synagogue with capricorn (sea goat) Yale University Art Gallery, ceiling tile from the Dura-Europos Synagogue with Greek inscription Dura-Europos Synagogue, two ceiling tiles with evil eye Dura-Europos city plan with three religious buildings Dura-Europos Synagogue plan and axon