DOI article:
Hogarth, David G.: Egypt Exploration Fund, [4]: Report on prospects of Research in Alexandria
DOI Page / Citation link: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.10057#0026
14
Egypt Exploration Fund.
irg evidently to a building entirely ruined. Whatever may bo the
topography of the rest of the site., it is certain at any rate that no
monument of importance was situated so far east as this, and we may
ignore therefore all the region outside the Rosetta Gate.
Inside the gate we find a thin strip of houses "bordering tho Boulevard,
and behind them ground only partly enclosed, but, as we proceed east-
ward, rising steeply into a hillock with two summits, both apparently
artificial, on one of which is situated the Reservoir and some houses, on
the other Fort Kom el Dikk. In the low ground between this hill and
the Boulevard there were only two plots of any size still open to me, the
one very near the Gate, the other opposite to, but a little west of, tho
Zizinia Theatre. As the latter was near the centre of the old city I
elected to make a sounding upon it, and obtained permission readily from
the de Zogheb family, to whom it belongs.
A house which had occupied the site formerly was destroyed by fire
some years ago, and its ruins removed. A large depression 13 feet deep
exists now, where the basement had been, on the line of the Boulevard
itself. I made a square pit in this depression as near the Boulevard as I
could safely go. The earth was clayey and very full of stones, evidently
the result of intentional filling in. At 10-i feet down (i.e. 23 to 24
feet below the level of the street), we hit tho top of a small
cistern or large conduit, arched, made of small mortared stones,
and once lined with cement; but the whole construction was of
poor quality and in ruinous condition. Digging down 2 feet more
we met with water, which came pouring in on all sides as from somo
leaking receptacle, and quickly flooded the pit. As the remains in
the latter had proved so devoid of interest, I did not essay the pro-
bably impossible task of exhausting the water.
I tried next at the back of the same plot, immediately under tho
high wall built to retain the Fort mound. As this point is within
the region where important monuments are to be expected, such as
the Soma, the Mausolea, and the Museum, I made my pit larger than
usual (31 feet X 19 feet), so as to obtain a decisive view of the state of
things underground. The upper earth was found to be full of evidences
of industrial occupation of no very remote date; there were quantities of
cut bone, the remains of a button manufactory, and lower down refuse of
glass-works. At 3 feet a poor wall of stones, laid loosely on earth, ap-
peared, and at 6i feet many poor graves, made of stones set up edgewise
1 foot 8 inches apart, and roofed with small slabs. These all contained
skeletons, head to the west, but very seldom any pottery, and that of
the most poverty-stricken sort. Probably the tombs date from the latest
Egypt Exploration Fund.
irg evidently to a building entirely ruined. Whatever may bo the
topography of the rest of the site., it is certain at any rate that no
monument of importance was situated so far east as this, and we may
ignore therefore all the region outside the Rosetta Gate.
Inside the gate we find a thin strip of houses "bordering tho Boulevard,
and behind them ground only partly enclosed, but, as we proceed east-
ward, rising steeply into a hillock with two summits, both apparently
artificial, on one of which is situated the Reservoir and some houses, on
the other Fort Kom el Dikk. In the low ground between this hill and
the Boulevard there were only two plots of any size still open to me, the
one very near the Gate, the other opposite to, but a little west of, tho
Zizinia Theatre. As the latter was near the centre of the old city I
elected to make a sounding upon it, and obtained permission readily from
the de Zogheb family, to whom it belongs.
A house which had occupied the site formerly was destroyed by fire
some years ago, and its ruins removed. A large depression 13 feet deep
exists now, where the basement had been, on the line of the Boulevard
itself. I made a square pit in this depression as near the Boulevard as I
could safely go. The earth was clayey and very full of stones, evidently
the result of intentional filling in. At 10-i feet down (i.e. 23 to 24
feet below the level of the street), we hit tho top of a small
cistern or large conduit, arched, made of small mortared stones,
and once lined with cement; but the whole construction was of
poor quality and in ruinous condition. Digging down 2 feet more
we met with water, which came pouring in on all sides as from somo
leaking receptacle, and quickly flooded the pit. As the remains in
the latter had proved so devoid of interest, I did not essay the pro-
bably impossible task of exhausting the water.
I tried next at the back of the same plot, immediately under tho
high wall built to retain the Fort mound. As this point is within
the region where important monuments are to be expected, such as
the Soma, the Mausolea, and the Museum, I made my pit larger than
usual (31 feet X 19 feet), so as to obtain a decisive view of the state of
things underground. The upper earth was found to be full of evidences
of industrial occupation of no very remote date; there were quantities of
cut bone, the remains of a button manufactory, and lower down refuse of
glass-works. At 3 feet a poor wall of stones, laid loosely on earth, ap-
peared, and at 6i feet many poor graves, made of stones set up edgewise
1 foot 8 inches apart, and roofed with small slabs. These all contained
skeletons, head to the west, but very seldom any pottery, and that of
the most poverty-stricken sort. Probably the tombs date from the latest