On June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated in Sarajevo. Through the game of complex alliances, the First World War is triggered. In 1918, the Ottoman army allied with Germany was defeated and the British invaded Lebanon and Syria, took Damascus, then Aleppo and other strategic points, while French naval forces occupied Beirut. In 1920, near the bank of the Euphrates, British soldiers installed machine guns behind a section of wall which gave way under the weight of the weapons and huge frescoes appeared.
It is the ancient city of Doura-Europos1 which has just been brought to light; a Macedonian colony founded in 313 BCE by Seleucus I, King of Asia, former general of Alexander the Great.
In 64 BCE, Pompey defeated King Mithridates VI and transformed the kingdom of Syria into a Roman province, ending the Seleucid dynasty. But it was only under Lucius Verus (co-emperor with Marc Aurelius), in 165, that Doura-Europos was incorporated into the Roman Empire. The population is estimated at around 5,000 inhabitants and many buildings were built: temples, sanctuaries, thermal baths, amphitheater, house of Christians, synagogue. In 244, the enlargements of the synagogue were completed and important frescoes embellish the walls and bear witness to the importance and wealth of the city’s Jewish community.
In 256, to defend against the Sassanid army of Shapour I, the walls of the synagogue were filled in by the defenders (this would protect the frescoes from destruction).. The city is taken, the population deported and the city delivered to oblivion.
On the seventh day of the Passover feast, we read the parashah Beshalach (בשלח – when he let go), Exodus 13:17-15:26 and that of the additional offerings offered on the seven days of the feast, Numbers 28 :19-25.
Lord said to Moses (Exodus – Chapter 14):
טז ואתה הרם את-מטך, ונטה את-ידך על-הים–ובקעהו; ויבאו בני-ישראל בתוך הים, ביבשה
16 And you, lift up your rod, reach out your hand to the sea and divide it;
and the children of Israel shall go into the midst of the sea on dry ground.
On the west wall2, at the top right of the holy ark, the fresco represents the departure from Egypt, the crossing of the Sea of Reeds by the children of Israel and the drowning of the Egyptian army. Moshe is shown extending his staff. Above him a powerful and protective arm.
the synagogue was completely dismantled and rebuilt at the Archaeological Museum of Damascus in 1936.
1 Doura Europos: Europos was the name of the birthplace of Seleucus I in Macedonia. The term Doura means “fortress” in the ancient Semitic languages.
2 Jerusalem is to the west of the site.