On November 15, 2018, Professor Chen gave a lecture entitled “Dura-Europas” that discussed a map of the city of the same name. The city was located near the bank of the Euphrates River and founded as a caravan city for trade. There were many cultures present throughout the city, as there were constantly new people passing through or settling down. I found it fascinating how there were so many different cultures present and how each of them was so tolerant of the others’ religions, allowing them to all coexist in the same area.

Dura-Europas was full of multiculturalism. There were many different religions spoken by the inhabitants, including Greek, Latin, Palmyrene, Aramaic, and Middle Persian. This has been evident to historians and archaeologists due to graffiti and inscriptions found on walls and pillars. The city was heavily involved in militarism, as they had to protect themselves from invaders multiple times throughout their existence. They had an entire military base and walls surrounding the city to ensure that they would be safe.

The most popular religion in the area was most likely paganism, as there were around eleven temples in the area. Each temple was dedicated to different gods and goddesses, with the main two being Zeus, the king of the gods, and Artemis, the goddess of the hunt, the moon, and chastity. There were also other temples that worshipped the same god or goddess but used different names for them. For example, the Temple of Azzanathkona was just another name for a temple of Artemis.

There is also evidence of the existence of Christians within the city. The Christians held their worship services in what was known as a “house church.” A wealthy member of the community would offer up their house for the rest of the people to come together in. There are multiple frescoes on the wall depicting Christian images like shepherds, miracles, and even three women visiting Christ’s tomb. There was also the presence of a baptismal font to formally induct individuals into the religion. The Christians did seem to worship out in the open, with no worries of persecution.

 

 

The city also had a synagogue where the Jewish people held their worship services. Similar to the Christian’s church, it was two houses put together to make a religious space for the group. The synagogue is actually one of the oldest in the world. The space also had many different paintings on the walls, as the Jewish people ignored the second commandment that stated that they should not have any depictions and images of their faith. These paintings cover the entire walls of the assembly rooms, with images of various people and animals from the Torah. There are around 58 scenes in total, including Moses leading the people out of Egypt and receiving the Ten Commandments, and Ezekiel’s vision. They were a bit different from the paintings in the Christian house, as they were not frescoes but rather tempera, which was a form of painting involving egg yolk, over plaster.

Unfortunately, this city of cultural diffusion is in ruins today in modern-day Syria and has been heavily affected by illegal looting that is used to support terrorist groups. However, archaeologists are still trying to recover as many artifacts as possible from this city to uncover more information about the history.

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