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