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The Dura-Europos House Church As Christian Place and Christian Initiation Centre University of Calgary PRISM: University of Calgary's Digital Repository Graduate Studies The Vault: Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2019-09-19 House, Church, or Neither? The Dura-Europos House Church as Christian Place and Christian Initiation Centre Christian, Rebecca Isabel Christian, R. I. (2019). House, Church, or Neither? The Dura-Europos House Church as Christian Place and Christian Initiation Centre (Unpublished master's thesis). University of Calgary, Calgary, AB. http://hdl.handle.net/1880/111045 master thesis University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission. Downloaded from PRISM: https://prism.ucalgary.ca UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY House, Church, or Neither? The Dura-Europos House Church as Christian Place and Christian Initiation Centre by Rebecca Isabel Christian A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTERS OF ARTS GRADUATE PROGRAM IN RELIGIOUS STUDIES CALGARY, ALBERTA SEPTEMBER, 2019 © Rebecca Isabel Christian 2019 PREFACE: This thesis is original, unpublished, independent work by the author, R. I. Christian. ii ABSTRACT: Dura-Europos, an ancient city profoundly damaged in the 2011 Syrian Civil War, is the site of one of the earliest Christian buildings on record. Abandoned during a city siege in 256 CE, the Dura-Europos House Church (as it is known) remained remarkably well-preserved until its discovery in 1927. The House Church stands as indispensable physical evidence of the ritualistic activity of one early Christian community. The excavated Baptistery, in particular, provides insight into the way baptism was conducted at this early point in Christian development. This project examines the Dura-Europos House Church as a matrix for the creation of a particular early type of Christian identity. This sort of analysis is predicted on two assumptions. The first is that the Durene Christian community was deeply conditioned by their situation in a Roman-Syrian garrison town. The second is that the building was primarily used by Christians in order to ritually baptize new members into the community. The House Church functioned as a key, identifiable place for Durene Christians; it was mobilized, through ritual behaviour, to define Christians as a particular community associated with the Christian symbolism, minutiae and tropes found within the space. The building, therefore, is analyzed primarily through ritual and place studies, augmented with cognitive science of religion where appropriate. Its materiality is interpreted through early, geographically appropriate, and ritually- centric sacred texts. Findings from this sort of analysis suggest that Durene Christians defined their religious exclusivity through their place-making. Their baptismal ritual brings an initiate from an open outside world into a sealed, enclosed, heavily purified place. Christian identity, as instilled through this ritual, was similarly defined as purified, healed, and bound to a specific type of insider place. The findings of this analysis outline one way new religious identities were acquired in the late Roman Empire, and outline key identity-markers of Christianity during its early development. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: It is a cliché to say that it takes a village to raise a child; it is probably equally clichéd to note that it takes a community, equal or greater in size to a University’s Graduate Studies Department, to birth a thesis. In my case, this cliché is nevertheless true. This project is, above all, indebted to the tireless work, unceasing patience, and intellectual power of my supervisor, Dr. Anne Moore. Without her attention, her empathy, and her exacting eye in reading the archeological record, this work would be half its length; it would also be an unreadable train- wreck. I would like to thank Dr. Moore for her expert supervision; I can’t extend sufficient gratitude for her enthusiasm for my half-baked ideas, her super-human proofreading, and her endless support. I would like, particularly, to thank her for sending me to New Haven, to allow me to experience the site I address in this work. It is an honour to have been her graduate student. I would also like to the Department of Classics and Religion at the University of Calgary for their care and support. Particular gratitude is extended to Rachel Blake for her expert administrative guidance and assurance. I wish to thank Professors James Hume and Reyes Bertolin Cebrian for guiding me through the Greek language, shaping me from an undergrad terrified of the Classics into a slightly-less-terrified grad student armed with Athenaze and a new-found appreciation for Herodotus. I would also like to acknowledge Professor Craig Ginn; assisting in Dr. Ginn’s courses made me a stronger teacher and student. Special thanks must also be given to Dr. Lindsay Driedeger-Murphy and Dr. Joy Palacios for their considered and enriching comments on this project, and for their stimulating conversation during the defense process. Academic life would be a terribly lonely experience without the exchange of ideas between students. In this regard, I would like to state my appreciation for Ryan Mikalson and Dhanya Baird for their support, encouragement, and academic know-how. I would like to extend thanks to curator Lisa Brody for meeting with me and guiding me through Dura exhibit at Yale University Art Gallery, and to Dr. Stephen Davis for taking the time to meet with me about this research. Special thanks must also be given to the support staff at the Gallery itself; a visiting student could not ask for a more welcoming, open, and informative group of people. Finally, this project could not have been completed without the continued love and support from my family. To Blair Jarvis and Debra Hauer- thank you for your first-hand knowledge of the graduate process, your advice, and your belief in me. To my parents- I could never have completed this work without your love, care, and fierce support. Dad, thank you for never letting me give up on this dream (even if it took the threat of a fatwa to dissuade me from law school). Mom, eres mi inspiración, y mi fortaleza. Gracias por todo. And to my partner, Bryan Jarvis- thank you for being my rock and my laughter. It is not easy to keep someone smiling through several years of reviewing archeological blueprints. It is even more difficult to do so while talking to said student about said archeological reports. You deserve the world. Toda raba. iv To my grandparents. v TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE ii ABSTRACT iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS iv DEDICATION v TABLE OF CONTENTS vi CHAPTER 1: THE DISCOVERY OF THE FIRST CHRISTIAN PLACE- LITERATURE REVIEW 1 CHAPTER 2: NEW THEORIES AND METHODOLOGIES 32 CHAPTER 3: LOCATION, LOCALE, AND SENSE OF PLACE 68 CHAPTER 4: THE HOUSE CHURCH AS INITIATION PLACE 102 CHAPTER 5: THE BAPTISTERY AND RITUALIZED IDENTITY 135 CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH 195 BIBLIOGRAPHY 209 APPENDICES 218 vi CHAPTER 1: The Discovery of the First Christian Place-Literature Review Preamble: The looting and destruction at the UNESCO Heritage Site of Palmyra by ISIS in 2011 captured the world-wide media. However, this is only one of several archaeological sites that have been seriously damaged due to the Syrian Civil War and the battle with ISIS. The site of Dura-Europos is another such site that has been lost. Its destruction marks a particular loss for the scholars of Roman antiquity. Located in modern Syria, the ruins of Dura-Europos were first explored by British Indian troops in the aftermath of World War I. When wall-paintings were discovered in the area’s extant trenches, an American archeological team, under the supervision of James Breasted, were brought to the site. Excavations carried out through the 1920s and 1930s revealed a bustling Roman garrison city complete with a synagogue, Christian House Church, Mithraeum, Temples, and an abundance of Roman garrison paraphernalia (notably armour and arms). In particular, due to the decision to strengthen defensive walls during the 256 CE Sassanid siege and the subsequent abandonment of the site1 following the defeat of the city, many of the high quality frescoes of the synagogue, House Church and Mithraeum were wonderfully preserved. Fortunately, the archaeological excavations under American archeologist Clark Hopkins in 1932, and the interpretations proposed by Henry Pearson in 1933, were fully published in The Excavations at Dura-Europos, Volumes I through VIII, edited by Carl Kraeling. In addition, the baptistery’s wall frescoes of the house church were removed and are currently on exhibit at the Yale University. The excavation reports, and the extant frescoes, provide insight into the society and culture of cosmopolitan Eastern Roman cities of late 1 The site will herein referred to as “Dura” unless the hyphenated name is otherwise noteworthy. 1 antiquity. The extant frescoes, archaeological finds, excavation reports and subsequent analyses provide insight into the society, religions and cultures of cosmopolitan Eastern cities of late antiquity and, in particular, the area of Syria. The synagogue, Mithraeum and the Christian building provide insights into the changing religiosity of late antiquity. The Christian house Church excavated here is one of the oldest on record, and provides evidence for some of the earliest Christian communal organization and ritual performance. In addition to being the one of the oldest physical sites for Christian activity, meeting, and ritual behaviour, it provides insight into Christianity’s interaction with the diverse religious matrix of the Roman Empire and its evolution towards a distinctive identity. The discovery of Christian art at Dura-Europos shaped the greater trajectory of scholarship around the Durene Christians.
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