Adonis Temple

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Relief with the god Arsu , from the temple of Adonis

The Adonis Temple in Dura Europos was discovered, excavated and described between 1931 and 1934 by an American-French expedition from Yale University under the direction of Michael Rostovtzeff .

The temple complex, which was built in Parthian times, is grouped around a courtyard and occupies half of an insula , with the adjacent residential buildings at the same time representing the boundary of the Temenos . Various rooms with benches on all walls were grouped around the courtyard. In the north there is a portico with two columns. Here a relief was found showing either Atargatis or Tyche . The actual temple was in the south with the vestibule and actual cella . Exposed wall paintings, preserved only in fragments, show a statue on the left and a family on the left handing a sacrifice to the god at a fire altar. The scene is reconstructed. Another relief was found in the temple complex depicting a deity on a camel, probably Arsu . It is the last great temple in the city that was built under Parthian rule.

Numerous inscriptions found in the temple make it possible to trace the history of the sanctuary. Two construction phases can be distinguished. Three inscriptions date to the years 152, 152/153 and 157/158 AD and mark the first construction phase. The oldest inscription (July or August 152) is on a lintel above the pronaos . It is not well preserved, but the dating is certain. Accordingly, the main sanctuary was probably founded around AD 150. A second construction phase dates from the years 175 to 182 AD. On September 24, 175, Gorpiaeus Thaesamsus consecrated an altar, in whose inscription Adonis is expressly mentioned. In the year 181/182 (the year 493 of the Seleucid calendar , which was used for all inscriptions in the sanctuary) a certain Solaeas and Boubaues finally built a peristyle and a wine cellar.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ MI Rostovtzeff, FE Brown, CB Welles: The excavations at Dura-Europos: Preliminary Report of Seventh and Eighth Season of Work 1933-1934 and 1934-1935. Yale University Press, New Haven et al. 1939, pp. 163-165.
  2. ↑ MI Rostovtzeff, FE Brown, CB Welles: The excavations at Dura-Europos: Preliminary Report of Seventh and Eighth Season of Work 1933-1934 and 1934-1935. Yale University Press, New Haven et al. 1939, pp. 167-168.
  3. ↑ MI Rostovtzeff, FE Brown, CB Welles: The excavations at Dura-Europos: Preliminary Report of Seventh and Eighth Season of Work 1933-1934 and 1934-1935. Yale University Press, New Haven et al. 1939, pp. 169-170.
  4. ↑ MI Rostovtzeff, FE Brown, CB Welles: The excavations at Dura-Europos: Preliminary Report of Seventh and Eighth Season of Work 1933-1934 and 1934-1935. Yale University Press, New Haven et al. 1939, p. 171.

literature

  • MI Rostovtzeff , FE Brown, CB Welles: The excavations at Dura-Europos: Preliminary Report of Seventh and Eighth Season of Work 1933-1934 and 1934-1935. Yale University Press, New Haven et al. 1939, pp. 135-175.

Coordinates: 34 ° 44 ′ 51.8 "  N , 40 ° 43 ′ 38.9"  E