Dura-Europos under Parthian Rule was identified by the excavators as that ofZeus Megistosought to make us
hesitate as to how consistently these divine appellations were in fact used in
Dura. But if the temple in the north-west corner of the city is to be labelled
at all, it should be as that of Zeus. There is no attestation of the divine name
‘‘Bel’’ from the temple.
. The Temple of Zeus Theos (B). Before the end of the Parthian period
there was to be a third temple of Zeus in Dura. For an inscription of../
records in very formal style that Seleukos son of Theomnestos son of Anti-
ochos, a ‘‘Eurōpaiosand belonging to theprōtoi[leading men],’’ had erected
to Zeus Theos the temple (naos), the gates (thyrōmata) and ‘‘the painting of
the images.’’^64 We can never be certain thatnaosdoes not refer to a shrine
rather than a whole temple; but the text unmistakably claims to record a sig-
nificant innovation. None the less, an altar inscribed with the name of Zeus,
and dated to../, was found on the same site,^65 so a cult of Zeus was
already practised there.
. The Temple of Adonis (L). If one follows through the cult inscriptions
of Parthian Dura in chronological order, there does seem to be an unmis-
takable tendency in the last few decades of Parthian rule for the texts to be-
come more explicit and expansive. This is clearly the case with the temple
of Adonis located near the western wall, where a series of quite informative
inscriptions begins in.., and continues into the first two decades of
the Roman period.^66 To add a typical note of confusion, however, the earli-
est of them (no. ), very fragmentary, seems to refer to Atargatis, rather
than Adonis, and the second (no. ), recording the erection of anoikos
(house) in.. by eight men with transliterated Semitic names, identi-
fies no deity; nor does , of../, put up by the son of a high priest
(archiereus) to record his erection of aplintheion(meaning uncertain). Adonis
is in fact named only in two inscriptions of the early Roman period: no. ,
of.., recording the erection of an altar, and no. , of../,
recording the building of a peristyle andoinochyteion(wine cellar?) for the
worship of Adonis. Whether the cult of Adonis originated inParthianDura
must therefore be open to question.
. The ‘‘Temple of the Gaddé’’ (H). No such problem affects the identi-
fication of the last cult place to be considered, the so-called temple of the
Gaddé in the centre of the city.^67 Here the story of the known temples of
.ReportVII/VIII, , no. .
.ReportVII/VIII, , no. .
.ReportVII/VIII,ff., nos. –.
.ReportVII/VIII,ff.