The World's Oldest Church

343 Pages·2015·7.41 MB·English

The World’s Oldest Church
Synkrisis
Comparative Approaches to Early Chris tian ity in Greco- Roman Culture
Series Editors
Dale B. Martin (Yale University) and L. L. Welborn (Fordham University)
Synkrisis is a pro ject that invites scholars of early Chris tian ity and the Greco-
Roman world to collaborate toward the goal of rigorous comparison. Each volume
in the series provides immersion in an aspect of Greco-R oman culture, so as to
make possi ble a comparison of the controlling logics that emerge from the dis-
courses of Greco- Roman and early Christian writers. In contrast to older “history
of religions” approaches, which looked for similarities between religions in order
to posit relations of infl uence and de pen dency, Synkrisis embraces a fuller concep-
tion of the complexities of culture, viewing Greco- Roman religions and early
Chris tian ity as members of a comparative class. The diff erential comparisons pro-
moted by Synkrisis may serve to refi ne and correct the theoretical and historical
models employed by scholars who seek to understand and interpret the Greco-
Roman world. With its allusion to the rhetorical exercises of the Greco- Roman
world, the series title recognizes that the comparative enterprise is a construction
of the scholar’s mind and serves the scholar’s theoretical interests.
Editorial Board
Loveday Alexander (Sheffi eld University)
John Bodell (Brown University)
Kimberly Bowes (University of Pennsylvania)
Daniel Boyarin (University of California, Berkeley)
Fritz Graf (Ohio State University)
Ronald F. Hock (University of Southern California)
Hans- Josef Klauck (University of Chicago)
Stanley K. Stowers (Brown University)
Angela Standhartinger (Marburg University)
The World’s
Oldest Church
Bible, Art, and Ritual
at Dura- Europos, Syria
Michael Peppard
New Haven & London
Copyright © 2016 by Yale University.
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Printed in the United States of Ame rica.
Library of Congress Control Number: 2015937851
ISBN 978-0-300-21399-7 (cloth : alk. paper)
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10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
populo Syriae,
primis cunabulis Christianorum
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Contents
Ac know ledg ments ix
Introduction: January 18, 1932, Excavation Block M8 1
one
Dura- Europos and the World’s Oldest Church 5
two
Anointed like David 46
three
Lord and Shepherd of the W ater 86
four
The Pro cession of Women 111
five
A Woman at a Well 155
Conclusion: Paradise Restored 202
List of Abbreviations 221
Notes 223
Bibliography 263
Subject Index 285
Index of Ancient Sources 311
Color plates follow page 128
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Ac know ledg ments
When I set out to teach my fi rst university class, I asked Lisa Brody of
the Yale University Art Gallery if I could have some digital images of
the Dura- Europos house- church for teaching purposes. She graciously
obliged with a CD of more than two hundred archival photographs. As I
went through them to select the best for a lecture on early Christian ritu-
als, I returned again and again to the photos of female fi gures pro cessing
around the room. It looked like an ancient torch- lit wedding pro cession.
What began as a class lecture became a short article; invitations to lecture
on the topic followed; the article became two articles and several diff erent
public lectures. And still more remained to be said, which has now be-
come this book. My sincere thanks go fi rst, then, to Lisa Brody and
Megan Doyon at the Yale University Art Gallery, without whom my initial
sparks would have had no fuel.
The expansion from initial scintillae of thought to full- blown argu-
ments depended, though, on many other gracious colleagues and patrons.
Foremost among these is Robin Jensen, who welcomed me into the world
of art history as if it had been my primary fi eld all along. She encouraged
me to pursue my sometimes wild ideas and helped me to know which were
best to chase. Andrew McGowan and Felicity Harley- McGowan w ere
similarly supportive over meals and emails, as were my steering commit-
tee colleagues on the Art and Religions in Antiquity group of the Society
of Biblical Lit erature. For other acts of scholarly kindness, I acknowledge
Harold Attridge, David Brakke, Stephen Davis, George Demacopoulos,
Lucinda Dirven, Ben Dunning, Gail Hoff man, Blake Leyerle, Dale Martin,
Candida Moss, Jeanne- Nicole Saint- Laurent, Stephen Shoemaker, Maureen
Tilley, Terrence Tilley, Jennifer Udell, and Larry Welborn. I am ever
grateful to Christiana Peppard, a consummate scholar and endlessly sup-
portive partner.
Arguments from this book were presented as invited lectures at
Columbia University, Yale University, McGill University, and New York
ix