In an article titled “The first representations of the Virgin Mary” from the magazine on biblical archeology, Biblical Archaeology Reviewspecialist Mary-Joan Leith indicated that although some researchers believe that the woman’s scene corresponds to that of the Samaritan woman who speaks with Jesus at Jacob’s well (John 4:1-42), another possibility is being discussed today. .
Leith reviewed scholar Michael Peppard’s argument that the portrait does not represent the Samaritan woman, but rather the Virgin Mary at the moment of the Annunciation, when the angel Gabriel announces to her that she will carry the Son of God in her womb.
“As Peppard explains, the Annunciation of Dura-Europos is not based on Luke 1:26-38, but on the Protoevangelium of James, a second-century apocryphal text that narrates the life of Mary until the birth of Jesus,” said Leith. .