Postcolonial Approaches in the Greco-Roman Near East. Third Space Interactions and Hybrid Cultures at Dura-Europos, Palmyra and Hatra

This research examines the study of cultural interactions and cities in Greco-Roman Syria and Mesopotamia, focusing on the cities Dura Europos, Palmyra and Hatra. I am borrowing the concepts of hybridity and third space from postcolonial scholar Homi K. Bhabha to argue that continuous cultural interactions in a third space enable the interplay of diverse cultures, resulting in hybridity in art and architecture. I demonstrate their value in the context of current knowledge of cultural interactions in ancient history by examining tangible evidence that depicts diverse cultures and how they were produced through various human interactions and cultural exchanges. While employing hybridity and the third space, I also apply two research methodologies known as middle-ground and cultural milieu. I employ hybridity to analyse the various cultures blended in the art and architecture of the religious, private and public buildings of Dura Europos, Palmyra and Hatra. This includes sculpture, painting and architectural elements from Greek, Roman, Parthian, Jewish, Palmyrene, Hatrene and other Syrian and Mesopotamian cultures. I apply the third space to explore networks of human mobility and diaspora as features of cultural interactions to facilitate mutual relationships between communities, which led to the foundation and development of Dura Europos, Palmyra and Hatra. I explore the Palmyrene mobility within commercial and religious contexts through the analysis of Greek and Aramaic inscriptions carved on religious and public structures of Palmyra. As for the diaspora, I explore the Jewish community in Dura Europos and their interaction within the city, which influenced the construction of the synagogue.