Dura-Europos, on the Syrian Euphrates, is one of the most extensively excavated Roman-period archaeological sites of the Middle East. For more than a decade an American-led team revealed the ancient site, taking thousands of photographs in the process. Among images of artefacts and buildings are many which incidentally recorded images of the people who did the labour of digging at Dura-Europos, mostly villagers from nearby towns, especially that of Salihyeh. While their names were not recorded by the foreign archaeologists in the archive, sometimes they can be recognised by their descendants. They also are important documents of local customs, for instance, of traditional dress. The Faces of Dura-Europos project aims to make these images more accessible, and to provide a platform for names to be restored.
