Dura
Dura is an ancient city mentioned in the Old Testament, located in the region of Mesopotamia in modern-day Iraq. Known today as Tulul Dura. It appears across 1 verse in Scripture.
Biblical History
Dura appears in Scripture in one of the most dramatic episodes of the book of Daniel. In Daniel 3:1, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon erects a golden image ninety feet high and nine feet wide on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon, and summons all the officials of his empire to attend its dedication. When the musical signal was given, all peoples were commanded to fall down and worship the image. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego — the three young Jewish officials — refused, and when brought before the furious king, they delivered one of Scripture's most celebrated confessions of faith: "If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it... But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods" (Daniel 3:17–18). Thrown into a furnace heated seven times hotter than usual, the three men were joined by a mysterious fourth figure, and they emerged unharmed. Dura thus became the stage for a definitive demonstration of God's power over the mightiest empire of the ancient world, and of the call to faithful witness regardless of cost — a narrative that sustained Jewish and Christian communities facing persecution across the centuries.
Archaeological & Historical Notes
The plain of Dura in Daniel 3 is tentatively identified with Tulul Dura, a site southeast of Babylon in modern Iraq, near the ancient city of Babylon itself. Some scholars associate it with a location near the ancient city of Nippur. A large pedestal-like mound at the proposed site has occasionally been cited as a possible base for a colossal statue, consistent with the Danielic account, though this identification is not universally accepted. The broader Babylonian plain has been extensively studied, and massive public statues and cultic images are well attested in Babylonian archaeological and textual records. Neo-Babylonian royal ideology regularly employed monumental imagery to enforce political and religious loyalty, lending historical plausibility to the narrative's cultural context.
Verse Appearances (1)
Dan
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