DOI Heft:
Egypt
DOI Artikel:Medeksza, Stanisław: Marina el-Alamein: conservation work, 2000
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.41368#0070
MARINA EL-ALAMEIN
EGYPT
CONSERVATION WORK
HOUSE H 9 CFig. 2)
Some additional finishing work was carried
out on the niche in room 14, which had
been re-arranged provisionally in 1999-
The original northern column was now put
together and the southern one recon-
structed, including a new capital.5)
Engaged column B1 was raised further still
to a height of 1.50 m, improving from the
aesthetic point the view of the portico
courtyard.
It was necessary to intervene wherever
abundant rainfall in the winter of 2000
had led to cracking of the already treated
walls and disintegration of the lime
mortar. In the so-called taberna (“T” on the
plan in Fig. 2) new wall tops had to be
executed and the pointing of both the
outside and inside of the walls repeated.
Peeling plaster in room 15 had to be re-
attached and the gaps restored, taking care
not to disturb the appearance of the wall,
which is covered to a great measure with
original plaster of uniform color.
HOUSE H 9a (Figs. 2, 3)
As in H 9, damage control was required
after the winter rains. Debris was cleared
from around the building and a protective
zone was landscaped in order to drain
excess water away from the reconstructed
walls.
The walls of rooms 14 and 15 were
raised a few courses, to a height of 1.00-
1.60 m. To judge by the wall structure
(these rooms had never been investigated
thoroughly), room 15 should be considered
as a closed unit, measuring 6.00 by 6.50 m
with walls 0.79 m thick and a doorway,
0.95 m wide (with jambs 30x30x60 cm),
positioned centrally in the northern wall.
This room could be accessed from room 14,
which also opened onto the portico
courtyard 1/10. Room 14 was fairly big
(9-00 by 7.00 m) and was surrounded with
walls not exceeding 0.54 m in thickness. It
may have been intended as a yard for
domestic activities.
HOUSES H 10, H 10a and H 10b
The chief objective of work in 2000
(Figs. 2,4) was to clear completely the walls
of the western row of rooms in H 10 and
H 10a. The architectural remains between
these two buildings have been designated
provisionally as H 10b. In order to clarify
the course of passage 20/17, clearing work
proceeded on the walls of rooms 18, 18a
and 19, as well as west of rooms 15 and
15a.
Previous architectural analyses, carried
out since 1997, had given reason to
suppose that the three peristyle houses
(H 10, H 10a, H 10b) and a smaller,
incompletely excavated one (H 19) actually
extended further to the west. Clearing
work in this area has confirmed the
presence of units of a domestic nature and
infrastructure, which could possibly
belong to the known complex of houses or
could be part of other residences in this
urban block.
A wall constituting the perimeter of
this particular block of houses has been
observed running for 23 m, at a distance of
12.50 m west of the west walls of H 10,
H 10a and H 10b. Current work on the
reconstruction of the eastern wall of H 10a
has confirmed the agglutination principle,
according to which urban blocks in the
southern part of the town had developed.
Yet another room was discovered east of
5) Carved by P. Zambrzycki based on technical drawings prepared by R. Czerner.
68
EGYPT
CONSERVATION WORK
HOUSE H 9 CFig. 2)
Some additional finishing work was carried
out on the niche in room 14, which had
been re-arranged provisionally in 1999-
The original northern column was now put
together and the southern one recon-
structed, including a new capital.5)
Engaged column B1 was raised further still
to a height of 1.50 m, improving from the
aesthetic point the view of the portico
courtyard.
It was necessary to intervene wherever
abundant rainfall in the winter of 2000
had led to cracking of the already treated
walls and disintegration of the lime
mortar. In the so-called taberna (“T” on the
plan in Fig. 2) new wall tops had to be
executed and the pointing of both the
outside and inside of the walls repeated.
Peeling plaster in room 15 had to be re-
attached and the gaps restored, taking care
not to disturb the appearance of the wall,
which is covered to a great measure with
original plaster of uniform color.
HOUSE H 9a (Figs. 2, 3)
As in H 9, damage control was required
after the winter rains. Debris was cleared
from around the building and a protective
zone was landscaped in order to drain
excess water away from the reconstructed
walls.
The walls of rooms 14 and 15 were
raised a few courses, to a height of 1.00-
1.60 m. To judge by the wall structure
(these rooms had never been investigated
thoroughly), room 15 should be considered
as a closed unit, measuring 6.00 by 6.50 m
with walls 0.79 m thick and a doorway,
0.95 m wide (with jambs 30x30x60 cm),
positioned centrally in the northern wall.
This room could be accessed from room 14,
which also opened onto the portico
courtyard 1/10. Room 14 was fairly big
(9-00 by 7.00 m) and was surrounded with
walls not exceeding 0.54 m in thickness. It
may have been intended as a yard for
domestic activities.
HOUSES H 10, H 10a and H 10b
The chief objective of work in 2000
(Figs. 2,4) was to clear completely the walls
of the western row of rooms in H 10 and
H 10a. The architectural remains between
these two buildings have been designated
provisionally as H 10b. In order to clarify
the course of passage 20/17, clearing work
proceeded on the walls of rooms 18, 18a
and 19, as well as west of rooms 15 and
15a.
Previous architectural analyses, carried
out since 1997, had given reason to
suppose that the three peristyle houses
(H 10, H 10a, H 10b) and a smaller,
incompletely excavated one (H 19) actually
extended further to the west. Clearing
work in this area has confirmed the
presence of units of a domestic nature and
infrastructure, which could possibly
belong to the known complex of houses or
could be part of other residences in this
urban block.
A wall constituting the perimeter of
this particular block of houses has been
observed running for 23 m, at a distance of
12.50 m west of the west walls of H 10,
H 10a and H 10b. Current work on the
reconstruction of the eastern wall of H 10a
has confirmed the agglutination principle,
according to which urban blocks in the
southern part of the town had developed.
Yet another room was discovered east of
5) Carved by P. Zambrzycki based on technical drawings prepared by R. Czerner.
68