Despite the prominence of Dura-Europos in Near Eastern scholarship, there is another city, only some miles down the Euphrates river, that provides a long-neglected opportunity for study.A new paper in the Journal of Near Eastern Studies, determines the city of Anqa as a near mirror image of Dura-Europos, of the same size, comparable structure, and potentially equal worth to scholars of the region.Geographic and Strategic Importance of AnqaAnqa is situated simply throughout the Syrian border from Dura-Europos, in the contemporary Al-Qaim district of the Anbar Governorate in Iraq. A more comprehensive study of the website was carried out in the late 1930s by Aurel Stein, including aerial photos of the standing structures, however even after these forays, there was little desire to learn more than the geographical location of this twin city to Dura-Europos.” Reference: “The Ancient City of Giddan/Eddana (Anqa, Iraq), the “Forgotten Twin” of Dura-Europos” by Simon James, April 2024, Journal of Near Eastern Studies.DOI: 10.1086/ 729226.
