Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (10.1998(1999))

MARINA EL-ALAMEIN

EGYPT

TOMB 18

The most extensive excavation was carried
out in Tomb 18, which had been identified
in the past season.®
The tomb is of the hypogeum type,
provided with a vaulted staircase leading
to an open air court and a funerary cham-
ber with loculi (Fig. 5). The total length of
the structure is 25 m. The open air court
(5.20 x 5.25 m) is 6.28 m deep, including
the protective wall of ashlar blocks, built
on bedrock on all four sides. The part hewn
in bedrock is itself 5 m deep. The staircase
comprised a short, once roofed corridor
(1.75 m in length, 1.40 m in width) pro-
vided with an entrance door, 0.95 m wide,

at the northern end. The steps of the stair-
case (28 in all) were on average 0.16-
0.18 m high and 0.30-0.42 m deep.
A square rock-cut altar (0.89 x
0.89 m) occupied the center of the court,
rising to a height of about 0.70-0.80 m.
Approximately in the middle of the west
wall, 1.65 m above the floor of the court,
a loculus, almost square in section
(0.70 m wide, 0.80 m high), was cut into
the rock. It is 2.08 m long. Inside, three
skeletons had been laid with heads to the
east.
The south side of the court consists of
a wall cut in bedrock, approximately 0.60-

Fig. 5. Reconstruction of Tomb 18
(.Drawing T. Kaczor)


® PAM IX, Reports 1997 (1998), p. 70.

47