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| Oldest Church-Dura Europos |
Dura Europos was said to be the oldest church founded in 303 BC by Seleucids. Seleucids (the successors of Alexander the Great) found this old church at the crossroads of an east-west trade road and a north-south trade road along the Euphrates. The new city was named after the hometown of Seleucus I Nicator, guarded the river crossing on the road between Antioch on the Orontes and Seleucia on the Tigris. This old Dura Europos was believed to be a part of a network of military colonies.
Dura Europos was rebuilt as an old Hellenistic city by the 2nd century BC. This oldest church was laid out formally with a rectangular grid of streets around a large central agora. The location of the old Dura Europos is said to be an important crossroads made it a very cosmopolitan city: the signs in many languages have been establish here as well as the sacred buildings of pagans, Jews and Christians.
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| old dura-europos-paralytic |
The old Dura Europos shortly became a border line stronghold of the old Parthian Empire and said to be captured by the Romans in 165 AD. Within early 200 AD, the old well-known house-church and the synagogue was built in Dura Europos. There was also an old Mithraeum, a Temple of Bel and a temple of Adonis in the multi-cultural city.
The old Dura Europos was deserted after a Sassanian cordon in 256-257. In a last attempt to save the city, the synagogue was filled to strength, ensuring its conservation. The old city sooner became covered with quicksand and vanished from vision.
In spite of the existence of old Dura-Europos, was not exposed until British troops under the instruction of Captain Murphy made the first detection during the Arab revolution in the outcome of World War I On March 30, 1920. James Henry Breasted an American archaeologist, then in Baghdad, was alerted. Major excavations were conceded out in 1920 and 1930 by French and U.S. teams.
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| old Duracitadel |
The first excavations of the old location, conducted by Franz Cumont published by the year 1922 to 1923, identified the location as an old Dura-Europos and revealed an old temple before warfare in the area was closed to archaeology. Afterwards, Michael Rostovtzeff campaigns about restoration funded by the Yale University that was sustained until 1937 when funds ran out with only part of the excavations published. As of 1986, excavations were continued. Not the least of the findings was astonishingly well conserved arms and armor belonging to the Roman garrison at the moment of the final 256-Sassanid location.
