Temple of Adonis, Dura-Europos
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This article contains information derived from colonial-era research, which requires critical reassessment. It is presently undergoing review by scholars engaged in contemporary interdisciplinary studies on this structure. (August, 2025)
The Temple of Adonis in Dura-Europos was discovered by a French-American expedition of Yale University led by Michael Rostovtzeff and was excavated between 1931 and 1934.
The temple complex was the last great temple of the city to be built under Parthian rule (113 BC – AD 165). It consists of a number of buildings grouped around a courtyard. It takes up half an insula (city block), with the surrounding residential buildings forming the boundaries of the temenos. Several different rooms with benches on all the walls were grouped around the courtyard. On the north side, there was a portico with two columns. Two reliefs were found here, one depicting either Atargatis or Tyche, and the other of the god Arsu riding a camel.[1] The actual temple was located in the south and had consisted of a pronaos and the actual naos. Wall paintings which were discovered in a fragmentary state, depicted a state and a family making an offering to the god on a fire altar at left. The scene has been reconstructed.