Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (11.1999(2000))

PALMYRA

SYRIA

built. Indeed, the ceramic content of the All are evidently Christian, the skeletons
fill does not exceed the early 4th century. lying with their heads to the west, their
After the building of the church several hands joined in front. Two of the tombs
tombs were sunk into the ground, some- take the form of stone boxes covered with
times hitting on the ruined foundations. flat slabs, and one is simply a hollow in the
Three burials were found this year in addi- ground. No objects whatsoever were asso-
tion to the four explored in the last season. dated with these burials.
EASTERN BUILDING

A building abandoned and dismantled in
the late 3rd-early 4th century was found
in the eastern part of the cemetery area
(G 3-6-10), partly hidden under the foun-
dations of Basilica II and its Baptistery.
The walls are preserved in places up to
80 cm above the thresholds, but some of
them are discontinued and the overall
plan is difficult to establish. The remains
of the building can be seen for about
12.50 m in the north-south direction, but
they continue under the northern aisle of
the church.
The best preserved room G 3.10 is
partly covered by the northwestern cor-
ner of the Baptistery; it was 5 m wide
north-south and over 7 m deep. Entered
from the west through an imposing two-
winged door 1.50 m wide in a wall
90 cm thick and preserved as one course
only, it gave access through an even
wider door to another room to the south,
entirely covered by the church. Both pas-
sages have monolithic thresholds indi-
cating the monumental size of the build-
ing. In the corner between them there is
a small fragment of a cement floor still
in place.
After the abandonment of the building,
the room had been used as a pottery work-
shop. The floors of two rectangular kilns
built in mud-brick about 1.50 m below
the church level have been identified.
Pottery associated with them, including
several complete vessels and some misfired

fragments, point to the 4th century as the
date of this late use. At the same time the
northern wall of the room was rebuilt over
the first course of the original structure,
showing that the mud-brick walls had
already disappeared. A funerary slab with
the likeness of a woman was used in this
latest enclosure.
Room G 3-10 was accessible from the
west through Room G 3-7. This is poorly
preserved, due not only to the general dis-
mantling but also to late tombs excavated
in the fill. The southern wall, partly cov-
ered by the church foundation, preserves
one ashlar course of stones, except for
a block of the second course at the corner
turning south beneath the church. There
is a passage 1.30 m wide between this
corner and a wall of broken stone going
further west, delimiting an L-shaped
courtyard G 3-6/9. Between this open
space and Rooms G 3.7 and G 3.8 there
was probably a flight of steps leading up
southwards, that is, apparently above the
mentioned passage and the corner beneath
the church. The foundation dividing
rooms 7 and 8 includes in the middle
a pedestal, 88 by 70 cm, made of two flat
stones, possibly intended under a column.
This part of the building is too poorly
preserved, however, to allow for sound
conclusions.
The fill throughout is of a late 3rd/4th
century date, including some African Red
Slip, a Kapitan II amphora, a lamp of type

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