Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (10.1998(1999))

MARINA EL-ALAMEIN

EGYPT

filled with stone rubble bonded with
a rather thin clay mortar which permeated
all the recesses in the core and between the
facing stones. After the building was erect-
ed to its full height and roofed over, the
inside walls were plastered with several
layers of a lime plaster. The first one con-
tained a thick fraction of pebbles and stone
detritus, and seeped deep into the joints,
additionally reinforcing the structure. The
superimposed layers, from one to three,
contained ever finer sand. The topmost
layer, frequently with gypsum added, was
smoothed under painting. Only walls of
slabs or a single course of blocks were
wholly bonded with a lime mortar.
In the course of the conservation
process, the idea was not to reconstruct the
ancient technology, but to protect the ruins
from further deterioration. For technical
and aesthetic reasons, care was taken not to
restore and reconstruct the destroyed plas-
tering. Protecting the biggest surviving
pieces of plaster on the walls will be the
object of the coming season.
Some difficulty was created by the insuf-
ficient quantity of quality building materi-
als, especially stone and bonding mortar. As
lime was limited, a gray Portland cement
was added to the lime mortar making it
rather dark in color and hence unsuitable for
anything but the core of the walls. The mor-
tar for filling the joints was made of lime,
sand and some white cement (2 + 6+1). Care
was taken to make recessed joints — some
0.5 cm deep. This gives the proper lighting
effect and allows the new parts of the wall to
be distinguished from the old, especially as
the original structure of the face of the wall
was kept untouched in as big fragments as
possible. In effect, the degree of the corro-
sion of both the stone and ancient mortar
has become evident.
The final step to protect the walls from
aggressive natural elements, like wind,

rain and sun, was to consolidate the top
course of blocks of stone. The blocks were
laid still more tightly and the tops were
inclined toward the outside. What parts
could not be completed this season were
protected with a topping of lime mortar
with some white cement added, the crown
being profiled to drain water from the top
of the walls.
The mortar used for the tops of the
walls had to have more white cement to
survive rhe daily changes of temperature
characteristic of northern Egypt, but it is
important not to overdo as too much
cement in the mortar can lead to cracking
and crushing of poor stone. Observation of
the effects next year will permit the appro-
priate proportions of the mortar to be
determined. This is part of the program to
test technologies and binding materials
before they are used on a wide scale in the
conservation.
HOUSE H9a (Fig. 2, 3)
As in the neighboring house, here, too, the
damage from winter rains had to be evalu-
ated. Even though the destruction was not
as excessive as in House H9, the same
measures were undertaken to protect the
structure in the future.
Work on cleaning and protecting the
walls of the complex, in the same order as
described above, were advanced in 80%.
Some of the protection from the previous
season ill survived the winter and was in
need of being replaced. This was done on
60 m of the walls and will be continued in
1999.
The partition walls were protected and
restored, especially in the northern part of
the building, where the final display effect
was reached. In the western part of the
house, an entrance to one of the rooms was
reconstructed, as well as the partition wall
between rooms.

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