Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (13.2001(2002))

ALEXANDRIA

EGYPT

an open question for now. It is certain,
however, that the derelict buildings were
leveled ultimately in the following century
and the portico was constructed, its
massive foundations cutting through the
already buried ruins.
While the end of occupation of the
house can be determined on the grounds of
ample evidence, the beginnings of its
construction are much vaguer. The
available evidence suggests that the
building was occupied for a protracted
period of time (most probably beginning in
the late 1st century BC) and underwent
a variety of modifications, which were
mostly limited to raising the floors and
some redesigning. This conclusion was
corroborated even further by the existence
of large patches of original plastering,

going down well below the cleared floor
levels.
In three rooms (nos. 12-14), the earth
floors were removed and excavations
carried down to the original level, which
was reached eventually some 0.80 m
below. Apparently in all three rooms, the
original floors had first been made as
mosaic pavements. In rooms 12 and 13,
the surfaces were plain (the latter floor,
however, was found substantially damaged
due to the collapsed underlying sewage
channel). A larger fragment of the mosaic
preserved in room 14 was made of fairly
large, irregular tesserae and decorated with
a black-and-white geometrical pattern of
intersecting circles (Fig. 7).
The most unusual find, however, is the
surprisingly well preserved painted plaster


Fig. 7. Sector M. Mosaic floors from the Early Roman house
(Photo G. Majcherek)

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