Child’s Shoe
Leather, H. 3.8, L. 17.0 cm, W. 6.0 cm
Dura-Europos, ca. 200–256 CE
Yale University Art Gallery, Yale-French Excavations at Dura-Europos: 1981.62.34
Photography © 2011 Yale University Art Gallery
The survival at Dura-Europos of objects made from organic materials is remarkable, and includes textiles, wood, leather, parchment, and papyrus. This small leather shoe was perhaps made for a child. Few items found at Dura suggest particular wealth; instead they represent categories of goods that would have been available to many people in prosperous towns throughout the Roman Empire.