Dura-Europos church

=== Discovery ===
The house-church was uncovered during an archaeological project that was first initiated at the end of [[World War I]], and after stalling in 1923 due to civil unrest and revolts against French control in Syria, was reinvigorated in 1928 with the involvement of American researchers led by scientific director [[Michael Rostovtzeff]] of [[Yale University]].{{sfn|Peppard|2016|pp=11-14}} [[Clark Hopkins]], who was field director of the site from 1931 to 1935, oversaw the discovery of the house-church in 1931 working closely with Harry Pearson, who was able to construct a detailed floor plan of the church. The discovery was significant at the time due to it being the only ritual Christian building dated from before the Constantinian era.{{sfn|Peppard|2016|pp=15-16}} It also offered a unique glimpse into the layout and architecture of such early converted Christian buildings before they were transformed into larger churches, since many such house-churches are known to have existed but were either destroyed or never uncovered.{{sfn|Brody|Hoffman|2011|p=163}}