Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (10.1998(1999))

ALEXANDRIA

EGYPT

ent attempt to contain large deposits of
ashes originating from the bath praefurni-
um. This attempt, however, proved futile,
as indicated by a thick layer of ashes and
kiln refuse superimposed on the wall. It
seems obvious that in the last phase of the
operation of the bath, this area served as
a dumping ground for ashes evacuated
from the subterranean service area.
Immediately below the said structure,
blocks of a fallen wall were cleared. The
undisturbed position of the blocks indicat-
ed that this area somehow escaped the
stone robbers' attention in Late Antiquity
and Medieval times. After careful explo-
ration of the whole area, the Roman occu-
pation level was cleared, revealing a rather
unusual building consisting of two large
rooms (Fzg. 7). The southern one, almost
square (ca. 5.50 x 5.80 m), had served most
probably as a courtyard. The room was not
accessible from the street as proved by
a continuous wall preserved ca. 0.60 m
above the floor level. The floor of the
courtyard was unusual: a pebble pavement
laid along the walls, slightly curving at the
corners, and an earth floor in the central
part. The northern room, which was
entered from the courtyard through an
entrance flanked by two granite columns
between pilasters, closely recalls the typi-
cal prostas layout. Both columns (ca.
3.80 m high) were found broken nearby.
The lower fragment of the eastern one was
found sub situ, still partly resting on its

base. The flanking pilasters were topped
with Corinthian capitals worked in plaster.
The room was accessible not only from the
courtyard, but also from the west, through
a series of doors leading from another as yet
unexcavated room.
The floor of this room was covered with
a fragmentarily preserved opus tesselatum
mosaic featuring black-and-white floral
and geometric patterns. In the center,
there is a large circular emblema inserted
in a rectangle decorated with peltae motifs
in the corners. The finds from the destruc-
tion layer included the head of a marble
lion statue, several fragments of lamps, as
well as sherds of tableware and commercial
amphorae. The bulk of the pottery indi-
cates a date in the late 3rd-early 4th cent,
as the most plausible date for the ruining
of this building.
It is possible that the discovered struc-
tures were designed as a kind of monu-
mental entrance to the nearby
Subterranean Building, which was an
extensive underground complex of cham-
bers and corridors, adapted at a later date
to be used as the cellars of the Late Roman
Imperial bath erected on the site. The
presence of such a monumental entrance
throws completely new light on the func-
tion of the Subterranean Building. The
layout excludes the structure having
served as a kind of enormous stores,
although what exactly it did serve remains
unclear.

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