النحت والكتابة واللمس والتجويف: حاسّة اللمس والتفاعليّة في كنيس دورا-أوروبوس
Paintings from the Dura-Europos synagogue have dominated scholarship of the building since its discovery. Reasons for this are abundant and include the murals’ striking depictions and interpretations of biblical stories, which retain rare information about Jewish culture and ritual life in third-century Syria. Yet disproportionate attention to these paintings, in aggregate, has prioritized the ocular dimensions of synagogue life, re-inscribing visuality as the primary medium for historical engagement with the space. But seeing was not the only means of experiencing devotional landscapes in Dura. Indeed, there were other sensory means by which visitors to the Dura synagogue meaningfully engaged with their elaborately decorated surroundings to perceive, encounter, and interact with the holy and with each other. This paper re-imagines this reality, by considering the significance of additional types of sensory experiences historically conducted in the Dura synagogue, as mediated through properties of touch. It argues that the reconsideration of archaeological evidence for ancient peoples’ interfaces with the walls and architecture of the synagogue, as documented by unofficial inscriptions, drawings, and modifications to the paintings, allows us to theorize, in new ways, about ancient relationships—not only between visitors and the paintings they regarded— but also between visitors and the tactile dimensions of their built environment.