Dura-Europos

In a museum in Damascus, the remnants of a shul from the 3rd century CE linger, telling secrets of our history.

Sadly, the last vestiges of the ancient Jewish communities of Syria and Iraq, those remnants that had survived the riots that ensued with the creation of the State of Israel in 1948 and its victory over the Arabs in 1967, have come to what is probably a permanent end. Yet these countries still have enormous treasures of Jewish archaeology and history that are in danger of destruction and that, in any case, very few of us will ever see. Can you believe this irony of history? The decorated walls, including the artwork surrounding the aron kodesh on the western wall, facing Yerushalayim, of a third century CE shul building from the ancient city of Dura-Europos, sits in a museum in Damascus.

Read the rest of Dura-Europos in Ami Magazine.