Discovered by modern researchers only a century ago, an ancient edifice referred to as the “Christian building” is now regarded as a fundamental example of early Christian architecture. Built around 232 C.E. in the historical city of Dura-Europos — a Roman military settlement in what is today eastern Syria — this site is the sole known instance of a “house church,” or domus ecclesiae, which Christians modified for worship during a time when openly practicing their faith posed a risk of persecution.
However, a recent study featured in the Journal of Roman Archaeology disputes this prevailing notion, contending that the building was likely not domestic in structure or purpose after its renovations focused on facilitating religious practices. This study raises doubts about the overall concept of the domus ecclesiae.
An in-depth comparison of the architectural elements of the building with other domestic structures in Dura-Europos, along with an examination of how renovations affected natural light within the space, reveals substantial evidence that it may not have functioned as a house church, according to Camille Leon Angelo, a Ph.D. candidate in Yale’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and a member of the research team.
“Discussions within academia and in popular culture suggest that before Emperor Constantine, Christians gathered and worshipped in spaces resembling private homes,” explained Leon Angelo, affiliated with Yale’s Department of Religious Studies. “But if this is the only securely dated instance we possess and it wasn’t particularly or even somewhat domestic, then why do we maintain that viewpoint?”
Her co-author on the research is Joshua Silver, a doctoral researcher at the University of Manchester, working with the Manchester Architectural Research Group.
The Christian building, along with a synagogue and a Mithraeum, was discovered during a decade-long excavation of Dura-Europos in the 1920s and 30s by a team from Yale and the French Academy of Inscriptions and Letters. Their excavation notes and photos, alongside thousands of artifacts, are now preserved at the Yale University Art Gallery.
Initially thought to be a private residence, the structure is believed to have been renovated around 234 C.E. for Christian worship. Scholars have viewed it as an architectural bridge — the domus ecclesiae — linking private homes referenced in the New Testament (e.g., Acts 12:12) and the basilicas built under Constantine.
It was operational until around 254-56 C.E., when the Sasanians besieged Dura-Europos. During the Roman efforts to reinforce the city’s western wall with a massive earthen mound, many buildings were sealed off. Following the city’s conquest and abandonment, this embankment remarkably preserved the remaining structures for centuries.
The Christian building was situated on the same street as the synagogue and Mithraeum, both of which also began as private homes that were later adapted, according to Leon Angelo.
“Yet we don’t refer to it as ‘house synagogue’ or ‘house Mithraeum.’ We allow them their distinct significance,” she noted. “Thus, if we have a building sharing a similar architectural evolution in the city, why are we emphasizing its domestic beginnings? We aimed to explore how domestic it really was and how it might have been perceived by the community.”
Understanding a community and its narrative
To address these queries, the researchers meticulously reviewed all archived excavation documents to grasp the appearances, contents, and functions of homes in Dura-Europos. After forming a clear picture of what constituted domestic spaces in the community, they contrasted this with the characteristics of the Christian building, uncovering notable differences.
For instance, the preserved structure featured figural wall paintings, a staircase leading to a courtyard, and it lacked a water cistern. No other home in the researchers’ dataset exhibited such a combination of traits.
The absence of the cistern and the building’s food preparation area indicated that its space was used differently than domestic settings typically were.
Its ground floor included changes that created an unusually large room and a notably small baptistery, contrasting with other residences in the city.
Moreover, researchers examined shifts in how individuals navigated through rooms, alongside variations in surfaces and seating arrangements, which implied a movement away from a typical home environment. They created simulations of varying sunlight that showed how renovations allowed a larger portion of the rooms off the courtyard to be utilized throughout more hours of the day without requiring lamps or candles.
“The Christian building shares little resemblance with any residential space in Dura, thus challenging the established narrative of early Christianity’s material origins,” said Leon Angelo.
She anticipates potential resistance against this strong critique of long-standing perspectives on early Christianity.
“These perspectives carry significant influence,” she remarked. “We are genuinely interested in early Christianity as well. However, we aim to honor Dura’s Christian community and their narrative, striving to understand them authentically rather than through assumptions that scholars have imposed on their environment.”
Research regarding Dura-Europos continues. The newly initiated International (Digital) Dura-Europos Archive, or IDEA, funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, seeks to consolidate and provide digital access to artifacts and archival documentation that originated from the city’s excavations, now stored in various museums worldwide. This initiative was spearheaded by Anne Hunnell Chen, a former postdoctoral associate at Yale who is currently an assistant professor specializing in art history and visual culture at Bard College.