Dura-Europos

de J. A. Baird, Thomas Harrison, Jennifer Baird

"Dura-Europos on the Syrian Euphrates was the subject of extensive excavations in the 1920s and 30s by French and American archaeologists, and is one of the most important archaeological sites of the Roman Near East. A Seleucid, Parthian, and Roman site, its place between East and West is a vexed question in both the ancient and modern worlds. The site was home to at least nineteen sanctuaries, amongst them a Synagogue and Christian building, and from inscriptions, parchments, and graffiti many languages are attested, including Greek, Latin, Persian, Palmyrene, and Hebrew. This book provides an overview of the site and its history, situating Dura-Europos in its geographical, historical, and intellectual contexts, tracing the story of the site and its afterlives in scholarly and popular perceptions. Based on the author's work excavating at the site with the Mission Franco-Syrienne d'Europos-Doura and extensive archival research, the volume draws together threads of Dura-Europos' legacy and significance, and discusses how the multicultural, religiously plural and polyglot site has been recovered and shaped by archaeology."--Bloomsbury Publishing Dura-Europos is one of Syria's most important archaeological sites. Situated on the edge of the Euphrates river, it was the subject of extensive excavations in the 1920s and 30s by teams from Yale University and the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres. Controlled variously by Seleucid, Parthian, and Roman powers, the site was one of impressive religious and linguistic diversity: it was home to at least nineteen sanctuaries, amongst them a Synagogue and a Christian building, and many languages, including Greek, Latin, Persian, Palmyrene, and Hebrew which were excavated on inscriptions, parchments, and graffiti. Based on the author's work excavating at the site with the Mission Franco-Syrienne d'Europos-Doura and extensive archival research, this book provides an overview of the site and its history, and traces the story of its investigation from archaeological discovery to contemporary destruction