Dura-Europos synagogue
From Free net encyclopedia
The Synagogue in Dura Europos was discovered in 1932 at Dura-Europos, now in modern Syria. The world's oldest preserved Jewish synagogue was dated by an Aramaic inscription to 244. It contains a forecourt and house of assembly with frescoed walls depicting people and animals, and a Torah shrine in the western wall facing Jerusalem. The frescoes are now displayed in the National Museum of Damascus. Image:Duraeuropa.gif
The painted scenes of stories include Moses receiving the Law, Moses leading the Hebrews out of Egypt, and many others. It is thought that the Synagogue was used in part as an instructional display to educate and teach the history and laws of the religion. Some think that this synagogue was painted in order to compete with the many other religions practiced in Dura Europos. The large-scale pictorial art in the synagogue helps to dispel narrow interpretations of historically prohibited visual images. The commandment prohibiting "graven images" was not being extended by Dura-Europos' Jews to all pictorial representations.
External links
- Synagogue frescoes at EIKON Image Database for Biblical Studies, Yale Divinity Schoolhe:בית הכנסת בדורה אירופוס