Bible Encyclopedias
Dura

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

dū´ra ( דּוּרא , dūrā' ): The name of the plain on which Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, set up the great golden image which all his subjects were ordered to worship (Daniel 3:1 ). Oppert placed it to the Southeast of Babylon, near a small river and mounds bearing the name of Douair or Dûair , where, also, was what seemed to be the base of a great statue (Expéd. scientifique en Mésopotamie , I, 238 f). Others have believed that name to indicate a portion of the actual site of Babylon within the great wall (dûru ) of the city - perhaps the rampart designated dûr Šu -anna , "the rampart (of the city) Lofty-defense," a name of Babylon. The fact that the plain was within the city of Babylon precludes an identification with the city Dûru , which seems to have lain in the neighborhood of Erech (Hommel, Grundriss , 264, note 5). It is noteworthy that the Septuagint substitutes Δεειρά , Deeirá , for Dura, suggesting that the Greek translators identified it with the Babylonian Dêru , a city which apparently lay toward the Elamite border. It seems to have been called also Dûr -ı̂li , "god's rampart." That it was at some distance is supported by the list WAI , IV, 36 [38, where Dûru , Tutul and Gudua (Cuthah), intervene between Dêru or Dûr -ı̂li and Tindir (Babylon). "The plain of the dûr " or "rampart" within Babylon would therefore seem to be the best rendering.