Dura-Europos church, Religious house church ruins in Dura-Europos, Syria
This house church is a ruined site in Dura-Europos, Syria, that was housed in a rectangular mudbrick dwelling. The layout shows a larger assembly room for worship and a smaller baptistery with a stone font set into the floor.
The building began as a private residence and was later adapted for Christian gatherings around 240 CE. The settlement of Dura-Europos was abandoned around 256 CE, which preserved the church until French archaeologists excavated it during the 1930s.
The baptistery walls show women approaching a tomb, a scene from the New Testament that visitors can still trace today. This space preserves traces of early Christian gatherings, when house churches like this served as quiet places for worship.
Access to the site is from the inner city side, where visitors can see the ancient street patterns of Block M8. The remains lie in an exposed position near the western fortification wall, which makes orientation easier.
The frescoes in the baptistery show different painting techniques, some of which remained unfinished when the settlement was abandoned. Experts suggest the artists may have been the same ones who painted the nearby synagogue.
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