DOI Artikel:
Hogarth, David G.: Egypt Exploration Fund, [4]: Report on prospects of Research in Alexandria
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.10057#0044
Egypt Exploration Fund.
spoiled. An untouched tomb, containing such objects as wo found
fragments of, would of course well repay the labour spent fruitlessly on
other rifled tombs, but as far as we know at present, the rifling lias
been widespread and complete. About twenty-five inscribed amphora
handles of Greek design, many of them bearing the device of Rhodes,
were also found here. The epigraphy of these belonged to the second
and third centuries b.c.
(iii.) At Sidi Qabr.
We dug here in a piece of land belonging to M. Aquilina, in which
had been found the sarcophagus which is known in Alexandria as
Cleopatra's, and is now in America. From a description which was
given to me of it, the identification is to be attributed to a Medusa head,
which was carved on one side of the sarcophagus : this was interpreted
as Cleopatra's face, with an asp or asps in her hair. Here again the
results were most disappointing. Two burials were found from four to
six feet below the surface of the ground, neither of which yielded any-
thing. Digging down, we came on to a line of masonry at the depth of
twenty-two feet, which proved to bo a tomb shaft. Three sides were
complete, but there was no trace of the fourth side. The outer surface
of the wall was of coarse, rough construction, badly-shaped stones being
lumped in with mortar; but inside, the courses, of larger stone, were
squared and neatly adjusted. Ten feet below its opening the wall
ceased, the rest of the shaft being merely cut in the sandstone rock.
At this point we struck water, but with the help of a pump were able
to keep it under until we reached the bottom of the shaft, two feet
below. A few bones were found, but nothing else.
Opposite the mouth of the shaft was found a Roman drain pipe of
ribbed ware, which was followed for fifteen yards. Its direction was
slightly upwards, and might perhaps lead to the remains of some villa,
but as such a villa must have stood, if it existed at all, under a modern
house, it was useless to pursue the drain pipe further.
That burials containing objects of value exist at Alexandria is possible,
and even probable. At the same time, the excavations made there this
year prove beyond a doubt that the rifling and robbing of tombs have
been conducted on a very extensive scale, and the immense size of the
cemeteries surrounding the town make an exhaustive search almost
impossible. As will be seen from the above account, the labour of
clearing is very considerable, the three holes we dug varying between
thirty and forty feet in depth. The accumulation of soil on the top of
spoiled. An untouched tomb, containing such objects as wo found
fragments of, would of course well repay the labour spent fruitlessly on
other rifled tombs, but as far as we know at present, the rifling lias
been widespread and complete. About twenty-five inscribed amphora
handles of Greek design, many of them bearing the device of Rhodes,
were also found here. The epigraphy of these belonged to the second
and third centuries b.c.
(iii.) At Sidi Qabr.
We dug here in a piece of land belonging to M. Aquilina, in which
had been found the sarcophagus which is known in Alexandria as
Cleopatra's, and is now in America. From a description which was
given to me of it, the identification is to be attributed to a Medusa head,
which was carved on one side of the sarcophagus : this was interpreted
as Cleopatra's face, with an asp or asps in her hair. Here again the
results were most disappointing. Two burials were found from four to
six feet below the surface of the ground, neither of which yielded any-
thing. Digging down, we came on to a line of masonry at the depth of
twenty-two feet, which proved to bo a tomb shaft. Three sides were
complete, but there was no trace of the fourth side. The outer surface
of the wall was of coarse, rough construction, badly-shaped stones being
lumped in with mortar; but inside, the courses, of larger stone, were
squared and neatly adjusted. Ten feet below its opening the wall
ceased, the rest of the shaft being merely cut in the sandstone rock.
At this point we struck water, but with the help of a pump were able
to keep it under until we reached the bottom of the shaft, two feet
below. A few bones were found, but nothing else.
Opposite the mouth of the shaft was found a Roman drain pipe of
ribbed ware, which was followed for fifteen yards. Its direction was
slightly upwards, and might perhaps lead to the remains of some villa,
but as such a villa must have stood, if it existed at all, under a modern
house, it was useless to pursue the drain pipe further.
That burials containing objects of value exist at Alexandria is possible,
and even probable. At the same time, the excavations made there this
year prove beyond a doubt that the rifling and robbing of tombs have
been conducted on a very extensive scale, and the immense size of the
cemeteries surrounding the town make an exhaustive search almost
impossible. As will be seen from the above account, the labour of
clearing is very considerable, the three holes we dug varying between
thirty and forty feet in depth. The accumulation of soil on the top of