Dura-Europos church

===Baptistry===
[[File:Baptistery wall painting Good Shepherd and Adam and Eve.jpg|thumb|The [[Good Shepherd]], Adam and Eve]]

Only the baptistry was decorated with wall paintings, which distinguished the church from the nearby Jewish synagogue that featured artwork on display throughout. Scholars hypothesize that this difference stems from Christianity's desire to promote conversion at the time, which would only happen within the baptistry and give the convert the singular experience of witnessing the artworks when they were anointed.{{sfn|Brody|Hoffman|2011|p=162}} The room's ceiling could be reconstructed using plaster fragments; it was painted in dark blue with bright stars.{{sfn|Kraeling|Welles|1967|pp=43-44}} The baptismal font was on the west side of the room, where there were a brick canopy with a vaulted ceiling and two pillars in the front. The pillars were painted dark green with black veins, probably to imitate marble. The front over the arch of the niche showed fruits in fields. The ceiling inside the niche was blue with bright stars.{{sfn|Kraeling|Welles|1967|pp=44-45}} Inside the niche was the baptismal pool. There are paintings on the back wall; the Good Shepherd was on the left{{sfn|Kraeling|Welles|1967|pp=50-57}} with a ram on his shoulders. The figure was about {{cvt|40|cm}} high. A flock of sheep was depicted in front of him, in the middle of the field and on the right. The number of sheep and rams cannot be determined today; it was probably once between thirteen and sixteen. The sheep on the far right are drinking water, although this part of the scene was in poor condition. The large number of sheep was atypical for comparable presentations. Under the Shepherd are Adam and Eve; both figures appearing to be a later addition. The whole picture was found to be poorly preserved and was found in fragments that had to be reassembled. It is uncertain whether the number of sheep had a symbolic meaning. The representation of the Good Shepherd was extremely popular in ancient times; it is always a picture of a young, beardless man in a short skirt carrying a sheep on his back.{{sfn|Peppard|2016|p=100}}