An alternative theory of the history of christianity
Article 72: The apparent exception of Dura Europos
Web Publication by Mountain Man Graphics, Australia

Introduction to Dura Europos

Dura Europos was an ancient town in the antiquity being here studied. It was founded in 303 BCE by the Seleucids on the intersection of trade routes along the Euphrates. It was rebuilt in the 2nd century BCE as a great city, with rectangular blocks defined by cross-streets arranged round a large central agora.

It later became a frontier fortress of the Parthian Empire. It was captured by the Romans in 165 CE and abandoned after a Sassanian siege in 256-257. After it was abandoned, it was covered by sand and mud and effectively disappeared from sight.

The town was rediscovered during WWI, and archeological excavations in the 1920's and 1930's by American and French teams, were continued in the 1980's and to date. In the course of the excavations at Dura Europos over a hundred parchment and papyrus fragments and many inscriptions have revealed texts in Greek and Latin, Palmyrenean, Hebrew, Hatrian, Safaitic, and Pahlavi. The excavations revealed temples to Greek, Roman and Palmyrene gods. There were mithraea, as one would expect in a military city.

Jewish synagogue identified

"The world's oldest preserved Jewish synagogue was dated by an Aramaic inscription to 244. It was preserved, ironically, when it had to be infilled with earth to strengthen the city's fortifications against a Sassanian assault in 256. It was uncovered in 1935 by Clark Hopkins, who found that 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."

Christian house church identified?

It has been claimed also the the earliest identified Christian church, or church house, or house church has been excavated, and that in 1933, among fragments of text, a fragmentary text was unearthed from an unknown Greek harmony of the gospel accounts -- comparable to Tatian's Diatessaron, but independent of it.

The Dura Europus exception against the Eusebian fiction postulate is twofold. One the one hand, it is claimed that that one of the structures uncovered at the site is a primitive christian church, and on the other hand, fragments of textual finds located at the site, were buried at the time that Dura Eupopa was seiged, in the year of 256, and taken from the Roman empire.

Dura Europus was then effectively abandoned, the population deported, and was gradually buried under sand. A recent archeological report concludes with the following mention:

"It seems now that this fresco, several ostraca in Pahlavi found in the palace of the Dux Ripae (Figure 30/13), and the tombs discovered in the town and along the river resulted from temporary installation of a small Persian detachment in the town after the victory of 256 (MacDonald; Leriche and Al Mahmoud, 1994)"

The Textual Fragment(s)

Uncial 0212 in the Gregory-Aland catalogue or Papyrus Dura 10, are often referred to as a fragment of an unknown Greek harmony of the gospel accounts -- comparable to Tatian's Diatessaron, but independent of it.

It is not disputed that it may be such a fragment, but what is disputed is the dating of the fragment to the time of the seige when one of the walls subsided.

It is also entirely reasonable to consider that the manuscript was brought to the city walls, and stored there out of the elements at any later date than the seige, for example, after 325 CE. Small parties of desert dwellers could have sought out this remote location for hundreds of years after the seige.

The House Church

The structure is described not as a church, neither a church house, but rather as a house church. The house is question is presumed to be a christian church by analysis of the the art work depicted in the alleged baptistry. Additionally there was reported evidence of some written Christian graffiti in this "house church".

However we see depicted in this art work "The Shepherd" and not "The Christian".

The argument that the house in question is not a christian house church perhaps as yet has not been made.

That the town remained totally unoccupied, a permanent ghost town immediately after the departure of the Persian detachment, and for thousands of years, is an unwarranted assumption.

It is not unreasonable to consider that both the manuscript and the graffiti (if indeed they are christian) could have been introduced to the city at a much later date, by unknown fringe desert dwellers, seeking shelter in a desolation. Another possibility is outlined below.

Dura-Europa hosted Julian's Roman army in early April 363 CE

We are told by the historians Ammianus (23.5.1-15) and Zosimus (3.14.2) that the Roman army lead by Julian (the Apostate) travelled to the region called Zaitha (or Zautha [Zosimus]) near the abandoned town of Dura where they visted the tomb of the emperor Gordian. This was Julian's final campaign, and he was accompanied by the entire army.

Therefore it is entirely possible that post Nicaean literature was deposited in the wall at Dura, and that christian graffiti was scrawled on the walls, during this very brief Roman occupation of the town, for possibly only a few days, in early April of the year 363 CE.

A further likely habitation of Dura-Europa in 363 CE

After passing though the vicinity of Dura Europa with the entire Roman army in April 363 CE, Julian's army fell back from the Persian frontier to the Roman empire, without proper order due to the fact that Julian was killed in battle. It would be expected therefore the outward route via Dura Europa may have been used to fall back, and that a further and more extended opportunity would have existed for fragments of manuscripts and/or the graffiti to have been deposited at the deserted town by the christian soldiers in the Roman army.





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