The first excavations of the site, undertaken by Franz Cumont and published in , identified the site as Dura-Europos and uncovered a temple before renewed hostilities in the area closed it to archaeology. Later, renewed campaigns directed by Michael Rostovtzeff funded by Yale University continued until , when funds ran out with only part of the excavations published.
World War II then interfered. Since excavations have resumed. Not the least of the finds were astonishingly well-preserved arms and armour belonging to the Roman garrison at the time of the final Sassanian siege of Finds included painted wooden shields and complete horse armours, preserved by the very finality of the destruction of the city that journalists have called "the Pompeii of the desert". See our Dura Europos Photo Gallery for a virtual wander through the ruins and photos of the famous frescoes that have been moved away from the original site.
The largely mud-brick architecture of Dura Europos does not compare to Palmyra visually, but the dramatic remains of the walls and siegeworks combined with precipitous views over the green valley of the Euphrates makes for a striking sight.
And arguably, Dura surpasses Palmyra in historical and religious importance. Dura-Europos was a cosmopolitan society : over a hundred parchment and papyrus fragments and many inscriptions have been discovered at the site, which include Greek, Latin, Palmyrenean, Hebrew, Hatrian, Safaitic, and Pahlavi.
Three of the covered homes in Dura Europos had been converted for use as religious buildings. One had become a Mithraeum , dedicated to the worship of the god Mithras, who was popular with Roman soldiers. Another had undergone structural modifications to become a Jewish synagogue. The third home had been converted to a Christian church. The synagogue and church are the oldest that have been found anywhere, and are also remarkable in that they were built very close to each other at virtually the same time.
The world's oldest preserved Jewish synagogue in Dura-Europos has been dated by an Aramaic inscription to The city then served as a fortress and trading post on the western edge of the Parthian empire until CE, when the Roman emperor Lucius Verus brought Syria, and thus also Dura-Europos, under Roman control.
The city flourished as a military garrison until CE, when it was destroyed by the Sasanians. Never again occupied by a significant number of people, the site of the cosmopolitan Roman town was exceptionally well preserved, with a wealth of artifacts that, upon their discovery, fundamentally altered our understanding of religious and military practice in the late Roman period. Dura remained virtually unexplored from its destruction in the mid-third-century CE until its accidental rediscovery in , when British troops digging a rifle pit came upon ancient wall-paintings in what turned out to be the Temple of the Palmyrene Gods or Temple of Bel , one of the most spectacular pagan structures to be found at Dura.
Systematic excavations were begun by the French Academy in , followed by collaboration between the Academy and Yale that extended from until The Yale—French team made thousands of discoveries, many of which had a dramatic impact on conventional notions of the ancient world.
In addition to numerous places of worship, these included military equipment, papyri and parchments, and objects of daily life. Al Saleh. Edge of Empires begins with an installation of archival photographs that provide an overview of archaeological work and discoveries at Dura.
Together, these reveal the extraordinary scale and nature of discoveries at the site, as well as its breathtaking geographic location and the astonishing degree of preservation of many of its architectural finds.
The exhibition next examines salient aspects of the life and culture of Roman Dura through the thematic display of important artifacts, several of them recently restored. This begins with an exploration of Roman military life and practice in the city. What are the disadvantages of religion? What are the benefits of studying religion?
Does religion harm more? What is the advantage of theism? What is agnostic faith? Is Deism a type of theism? Is God involved in the world? Which Angel is the voice of God? What did an angel do after Jesus agony? View of the excavation in the sixth season — Dura-Europos: Excavating Antiquity.
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