[af_vet_1981]

Oh my gosh, that last mural is surely the Dormition / Assumption of Mary. If I am correct it’s the oldest one I’ve seen.

Pray for us, O Lady Theotokos!

I count nine apostles with her coffin, and two other apostles (or angels ?) in the air. Traditionally all were there except Thomas. I wonder if names are linked to the likenesses. All generations will call Miriam/Mary blessed.

[Salvation]

Not 11?

[Tax-chick]

Maybe the local tradition held that this event occurred after the execution of St. James.

I don't wish to be a pain (never should have taken that logic course in college ...), but a 5th Century illustration does not prove either that the events shown took place or that the details were specifically as depicted. Pompeiian frescos with illustrations from the Roman myths and the Aeneid do not prove the historicity of those events, (or even that the artists/patrons believed in the events).

The proof of the Assumption of Mary is the dogma issued by Pope Pius XII in 1950.

[NYer]

Here is a close up of the image. Note the hand gestures. In iconography, these gestures take on added significance.

A Reader's Guide to Orthodox Icons

[Bellflower]

She looks plainly dead and they seem to be grieving her. It may be Jesus with the cross behind His head holding her spirit in His hands?

[Al Hitan]

I count nine apostles with her coffin, and two other apostles (or angels ?) in the air. Traditionally all were there except Thomas.

I count 8 apostles, Jesus is in the center (the cross in the halo indicates it is Jesus), and 2 angels. We don't see the whole icon, so we don't know how many are depicted.