Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (12.2000(2001))

MAREA

EGYPT

SITE DESCRIPTION

The ruins of stone structures, located on
the southern shores of the western branch
of Lake Mareotis and now near the village
of Hawwariyyah, were investigated in
1977-1981 by Fawzi el-Fakharani from
Alexandria University.2) The architectural
remains were first identified as the ancient
port of Marea by Mahmoud-Bey el Falaki
in 1866,3) but the identification has been
contested.4) In Graeco-Roman times
Marea, once the capital of the Mareotic
nome, served as a shipping port for goods
brought from further inland and sent
overseas via Alexandria to the ports of
southern Europe. The origins of the town
go back to the Twenty-Fifth Dynasty as
indicated by tombs5) and foremost by the
rich literary sources. Records of it in the
texts of ancient writers speak of the great
importance of the town, not only as a port,

but also as a respected wine-producing
center. Several wineries from Hellenistic
and Roman times stand in confirmation of
this. Finds from the 13th-l4th centuries
suggest that the port of Marea continued
in existence until the Middle Ages.
The piers and quays of the port
installations, forming several basins, are
spread out over a distance of one and a half
kilometer, while architectural remains,
covering a much smaller area, are situated
along the edge of the lake. They are dated
by pottery finds to the 5th-8th centuries.
Explorations by scholars from the
University of Alexandria led to a partial
identification of the town layout. Two
streets have been traced, namely the cardo
and the decumanus, along with the ruins of
houses, stores, a public bath, an oil mill
and a huge basilica.

BYZANTINE BATH

Of the 81.20 ha covered by the license, an
area measuring ca. 168 m2 was marked out
this year for exploration. The spot that was
selected is a small kom located 400 m
south of the shore of the lake, where some
fragments of walls in fired brick had been
observed. Remains of a brick structure
appeared immediately below the present
topsoil (at a depth of 30 cm). The

surviving architecture permitted a partial
reconstruction of the plan. While at least
two phases of rebuilding are in evidence
and changes of layout are easily identified,
so far no specific layers could be associated
with these alterations.
The building has been identified as
a small public bath situated c. 140 m
southeast of the cardo located by

2) F. el-Fakharani, Recent excavations at Marea in Egypt, Das Romisch-Byzantinische Agypten. Akten des internationalen
Symposions 26.-30. September 1978 in Trier, Aegyptiaca Treverensia 2 (1983), 175-186.
3) Mahmoud Bey el Falaki, Memoire sur l'antique Alexandrie (Copenhague 1872), 96.
4) Frazer was the first to express doubts about the attribution of this site. He stated that although Marea had a long history,
its remains are evidently late (RM. Fraser, Ptolemaic Alexandria, I (Oxford 1972), 146). The problem is discussed by M.
Rodziewicz in “Alexandria and District of Mareotis”, in: Graeco-Arabica 2. First International Congress on Greek and Arabic
Studies (Athens 1983), 199-216. He is inclined to identify this site with ancient Philoxenite rather than Marea, basing this
opinion on his personal observations of the stone structures and surface pottery dated to the 5th-7th centuries. Philoxenite
was founded by the praetorian prefect of the Emperor Anastasius (491-518) as a resting place for pilgrims on their way to
Abu Mena.
5) El-Fakharani, op.cit, 176.

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