View of northwest corner of Synagogue during excavation
YUAG, Dura-Europos Collection, negative number y110
The challenges faced in recording the synagogue’s excavation in photographs, as well as in removing large quantities of fill from the structure, are clear from this view of the northwest corner. Details from the Ezekiel cycle are visible in the bottom right corner (Ezekiel 37:1-2; panel NC1). Three images of the Hand of God at the top of the register extend down toward three male figures in Iranian dress (the Hand of God on the left holds the first figure’s hair), all identified as the prophet Ezekiel. Several human heads, hands, lower legs, and feet appear on the ground as well as on the mountain on the right of the photograph, and the scene is interpreted as representing Ezekiel’s prophetic visions in the Valley of the Dry Bones.