Pachoras: The Cathedrals of Aetios, Paulos and Petros

were discovered during the excavations, but there
could have been more as the evidence of plaster on
the wall indicates that the ‘cupboard’ had been
c. 0.80 m high. The set of trays was encased in
stone and bricks. Each tray was divided into four
rectangular compartments. The western part of the
‘cupboard’ was smaller and probably consisted of
a single space; no traces of terracotta trays were
found here.

The other of the two structures measured
c. 1.25 by 0.93 m and was also encased in brick
and stone slabs. Inside it a tray was found at the
bottom, 0.65 by 0.85 m, divided into five
compartments. Originally, there must have been
more trays. On the south side of this structure,
there was a flat place, 0.90 by 0.55 m, with
a stone top furnished with a raised edge, limited
by a wall on the south.

Both these structures were executed quite
carelessly and were discovered considerably
destroyed. It cannot be excluded that they belong
to the last phase in the use of the room.

7.2.5. Baptistery

The wooden ceiling here was also removed and
a wide groove was cut into the southern and north
walls at a height c. 4.30 m above the pavement.
The barrel vault was supported on the ledges that
were thus created. It was perhaps the best
preserved vault in the entire cathedral, although
it suffered some damages during the exploration
of the room. The side windows also had to be
rebuilt when the new vault was introduced; on
both sides the openings were reduced in size and
arches were added on the inside. The window in

Fig. 93. Catbedral of Petros. Prothesis, southern part,
one of the trays in the floor

the south wall, fully preserved, had a height of
1.00 m after the rebuilding.

It was presumably also during the rebuilding
that the baptismal font was filled in and covered
over with a stone pavement. As this pavement
survives fragmentarily and reveals no regular
arrangement, it is difficult to determine when
specifically the font went out of liturgical use.
Since below-the-pavement baptismal fonts in
Dongolan churches were filled in the late 9th
century (Godlewski 1979: 110-124; Gartkiewicz
1990: 279-281), it is to be assumed that also in
the Faras cathedral the pool went out of use and
was filled in during the rebuilding of the church
interior or even earlier.

A massive rectangular structure of mud brick
and red brick was erected by the north wall, to the
right of the doorway [Fig. 95]. It measured
1.64 m in length, 0.76 m in width, 0.65 m in
height. The entire structure was finely plastered,
rather a second coat of plaster, although this was
not all that evident. Neither was the function of
this structure fully obvious to the excavators.

In the southeastern corner of the room, next
to a niche, a kind of cupboard was built,
measuring 0.60 x 0.60 m and 0.95 m high. It
was made of brick and finely plastered. The west
wall, which was found partly destroyed, pre-
sumably contained an opening leading to it.

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Fig. 94. Cathedral of Petros. Baptistery, western part

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PAM Supplement Series 1