Temple of Aphlad

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Dura-Europos general excavations plan, Temple of Aphlad is marked as N8
Relief of Aphlad

Sanctuary of Aphlad is located in the south-west of Dura Europos (adjacent to the city wall). It is the sanctuary of (also called Apalados or Aphalados in Greek), god of the city of Anath on the Euphrates,[1] built by 54 CE.

Description[]

The temple was a big building of 38 by 34 metres. The sanctuary consisted of several rooms around a courtyard, where a number of altars and two bases (probably for statues) stood. Two main buildings faced east. One building was divided in two, likely into a forecourt (pronaos) and temple proper; the interior of the building was decorated with frescoes. A bowl was built into the floor at the doorway to this building, which could be used for ritual purifications. Second building "had benches on three sides, an altar with an incense dish, and, on one of the walls, a somewhat basic painting of a cult-scene depicting a large bird on an altar." There is an inscription there, saying that the building was dedicated in 54 AD as a "banqueting hall" (andrōn) by an hetaireia (community) of eleven members. One of the members called Hadadiabos set up a relief depicting "Aphlad in Parthian garb on the right and a worshipper offering sacrifice on the left".[2] Inscription reads: "Adiabos, son of Zabdibolos, son of Silloi, made this after a vow for his salvation, for his children and for his entire house."[1] Susan Downey noted that the temple is odd because it lacks the temenos wall.[3] The andron was built in front of the southwest corner tower, but it is unknown whether the tower was a part of the sanctuary. Another, heavier tower, was built inside the wall in the Roman period, its door was inside the temple court.[3] Von Gerkan proposed a theory that the temples of Bel and Aphlad "were placed so as to put the two most vulnerable corners of the city wall under divine protection."[3]

Before the siege of Dura Europos, its temples were "deliberately desanctified, and a number of them including the mithraeum, the synagogue, the temple of Aphlad, and the Christian building, were all partially destroyed and sealed beneath the rampart. As part of this process, cult reliefs like that of Aphlad were put out of use by turning them around to face the wall before being sealed beneath the earth. This careful closing of the sanctuary may have been meant as a temporary measure. Aphlad’s worshippers, though, would never return to their andron in which this cult relief had been dedicated in the first century."[4]

Building was discovered during the fifth season of excavations in 1931.[5]

References[]

  1. ^ a b "Dura Europos, Temple of Aphlad, Relief of Aphlad - Livius". www.livius.org. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
  2. ^ "Building: Sanctuary of Aphlad (I CE)". Retrieved 18 December 2021.
  3. ^ a b c Downey, Susan (1 January 1976). ""Temples à Escaliers": The Dura Evidence". California Studies in Classical Antiquity. 9: 21–39. doi:10.2307/25010699.
  4. ^ Baird, J.A. (1 September 2020). "The Ruination of Dura-Europos". Theoretical Roman Archaeology Journal. 3 (1): 2. doi:10.16995/traj.421.
  5. ^ Baird, J. A. (2018). Dura-Europos. Bloomsbury Academic. pp. 1–16.
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