images. Relationship to early Christian art and late Jewish art The synagogue of Dura-Europos offers negligible influence on later Christian and Jewish artwork. The time that the Dura-Europos synagogue was active was not long as it was buried as part of the Roman defense against Sasanian troops in 256 A.D. The Dura-Europos Synagogue remains the earliest example of Jewish artwork available for study. It contains not only Hellenistic and Roman influences, but Sasanian as well. The layout of the paintings suggest that they were inspired by a copybook with examples and formulae. While there are similarities to other works of antiquity, the differences between each work bear too much difference in order for one to be considered influential. There have been attempts to link these works, but they have proven largely unsuccessful. The Leon Bible, as an example, which was written ca. 960, had in common with Dura-Europos the scene of the sacrifice of Isaac. However, the León Bible showed key differences. Their position in the León Bible shows them facing the viewer, whereas Dura Europos they are not. In the León Bible, the Hand of God bestows the benedictio latina, whereas in Dura-Europos it makes an appearance with no such manuscript. The Dura painting shows Abraham's hand free of Isaac's hair, whereas in the León miniature, it is grasping it. Finally, in the Dura painting Abraham is using a knife as opposed to the sword he uses in the León Bible. See also Oldest synagogues in the world References Further reading Hachlili, Rachel. Ancient Jewish Art and Archaeology in the Diaspora, Part 1, BRILL, 1998, , , Google books Kessler, Edward in Sawyer, John FA. The Blackwell companion to the Bible and culture, Wiley-Blackwell, 2006, , Google books Kraeling, C H, The Synagogue, New Haven: Yale University Press, 1956 Gutmann, Joseph, ed., The Dura Europos Synagogue: A Re-evaluation (1932-1992), Scholars Press, 1992 (with a new introduction); Weitzmann, Kurt, ed., Age of spirituality : late antique and early Christian art, third to seventh century, no. 341 & 358, pp. 366–370, 1979, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, ; full text available online from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries. Young, Penny, 2014 Dura Europos A City for Everyman, Twopenny Press External links 1968 Symposium talks, by Morton Smith and Meyer Schapiro Synagogues in Syria Fresco paintings in Syria 3rd-century paintings 3rd-century religious buildings and structures Ancient synagogues Former synagogues Jewish