Dura-Europos

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 <i>Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres</i>.<br/><br/>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.<br/><br/>Based on the author's work excavating at the site with the <i>Mission Franco-Syrienne d'Europos-Doura</i> 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.