Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (11.1999(2000))

HAWARTE

SYRIA

out to be at least twice the expected size.
A temporary shelter was thus erected at the
close of the season over the now exposed
part of the structure. All the exposed
murals have been cleaned and reinforced
with appropriate chemicals to await the
next season. A workable project for perma-
nent site protection will be viable only
after the complete uncovering of the
mithraeum and this will not be possible
without the expropriation and demolition
of two houses built over the ruins of the
church.
One of the planned objectives of the
season was to find and excavate the original
entrance to the mithraeum, to serve, if pos-
sible, as the regular means of access to the
underground site. We could reasonably
expect that the doorway would be located,
as it is usually the case, opposite the main
niche of the mithraeum, that is, in this
case, on the south wall of the room.
Accordingly, a trench was opened from the
surface on that side. An intact mosaic was
found immediately, covering the southern
aisle of the first church, left in place after
the removal of the later mosaic of the
Photios church. The new mosaic, display-
REMOVAL OF
After having cleared the rubble over the
fallen rock ceiling it was determined
that it consisted of two adjoining frag-
ments, about 2 m wide east to west, 2 m
and 1.50 m long from south to north.
Both were about 90 cm thick. This part
of the ceiling matched the outline of the
overhanging rock to the south and in the
southwest corner of the room; to the
west, it was neatly cut by the church
builders, while to the east it was broken
irregularly. From the northern part of
the ceiling we could collect only many

ing a floral design and a geometrical bor-
der, runs under one of the modern houses
built on the site.
Another trench was opened to the south
of the church, only to find yet another
mosaic, plain white this time. It apparent-
ly belonged to the first church, too, possi-
bly as the floor of a subsidiary chapel. Later
on, it was disrupted by the construction of
the lateral portico of the Photios church,
a feature unsuspected until now.
Needless to say, our task is definitely
not to verify or complete the excavations
of Canivet, even if here and there we might
uncover new evidence concerning some
minor point. Our objective is the excava-
tion and preservation of the mithraeum
under the church. I do think, however, that
the final presentation of the site should
make clear for visitors the complex history
of the place: How the mithraic cave was
supplanted by the first church and then the
second. Accordingly, all elements of both
churches should remain in place, unless the
removal of some might prove necessary to
expose other valuable remains, such as
mural paintings, as was the case this year
with one foundation wall.
THE CEILING
disconnected fragments. All in all, by
our estimate we have about 20-25% of
the original painted surface of the ceil-
ing.
The ceiling was painted five times, as
were the walls of the mithraeum. Of the
earlier three layers of painting not much
can be said, as they are either covered by
later layers or found in tiny fragments in
the debris. The last but one layer
included the name of Mithra painted in
large letters, recovered last year, and so
probably the figure of the god, of which

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