A Curious Problem in the Renovation of the Christian Building at Dura-Europos: Reconstructing the Use of Water in the Durene Baptismal Rite and its Ritual Significance

Abstract: Situating the Christian building of Dura-Europos within its ambient domestic context accentuates a curious problem: During the renovation in which the Christians of Dura converted this building into a worship space, this community installed a large water basin, presumably used for baptism. Yet concurrent with this transformation, Dura's Christians also paved over their house's cistern, located in the adjacent courtyard. Thus, as the Durene Christian community was installing a baptismal basin—a feature which required water—these Christians enigmatically removed the most convenient means by which they could have secured water to fill that basin. The following study aims to reconstruct how the Christians of Dura procured water for use in their baptismal rite and to examine why these Christians might have removed access to their cistern while simultaneously installing a baptismal basin. Recent scholarship on Dura has provided a sound footing for this examination by allowing the use of water at Dura to be reconstructed with substantial clarity. Examining the Christian building's transformation in light of this scholarship allows the Durene Christians' rejection of cistern water for use in their ritual of baptism to be situated comfortably within documented early Christian preferences to baptize in naturally-flowing waters.