The Passage across the Red Sea in the Synagogue in Dura Europos (the Mid−third Century) as Akedah of the Jewish Nation

Abstract

The Passage across the Red Sea from the synagogue in Dura Europos is the only known example of this scene in the Jewish art the late Greco-Latin world. On the basis of formal description, the analysis of the structure of composition and comparative analysis I attempt to read out the substance of the scene: the passage across the Red Sea. I think it is not a common illustration of a biblical text but an alegoric image of the history of Israel. I start from the main scene contained on the torah, namely, Abraham’s Offering, which was understood in Judaism as Akedah. Then I prove that the passage across the Red Sea also contains the idea of Akedah, that is, a request of forgiveness and hope to be cleansed and absolved from sins.