DOI issue:
Egypt
DOI article:Majcherek, Grzegorz: Kom el-Dikka: excavations 2000/2001
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.41369#0044
ALEXANDRIA
EGYPT
decoration retained on the lower courses of
the walls (over 1 m high). It resembles
a typical example of the First Pompeian or
Masonry style.10)) Large rectangular panels
(orthostats) appear above a low socle and are
crowned with some remnants of a painted
string course (Fig. 8). The upper register,
usually featuring a series of regular courses
of isodomic block-work, has not been
preserved. Large, practically square panels
(0.65 x 0.65 m) are framed with red bands
enclosed by thin black lines. Narrow,
vertical panels in between the larger ones
are filled with garlands painted green and
red. In two of the main panels faint figural
motifs have survived: a representation of a
woman's head (Fig. 9), and that of a dog.
Although scant remains of this type of
decoration have been recorded previously at
our site, this is the first time that it has
been preserved on such a scale and in so
much broader a context.
It is quite natural that the principal
features of our example of painted
decoration show more Aegean affinities
than the Pompeian version of the style.
The proportions of the basic elements: low
socle, square panels, as well as purely linear
treatment of elements (no stuccowork
rendering) are fairly characteristic of the
East, the houses at Delos providing
perhaps the best parallels.u) However, one
should bear in mind that the narrow panels
alternating with broader ones may be
considered as an anticipation of the later
Pompeian styles.
The examples from Pompeii, Hercu-
lanum and Delos are dated chiefly to the
late 2nd-early 1st century BC. Our
paintings seem to be of slightly later date,
Fig. 8. Sector Al. Early Roman house. Fainted decoration on a wall in room 14
(Drawing G. Majcherek)
10) R. Ling, Roman Painting (Cambridge 1991), 11-22.
11) P. Bruneau, Exploration archeologique de Delos, vol. XXVII (Paris 1970) 151-193.
42
EGYPT
decoration retained on the lower courses of
the walls (over 1 m high). It resembles
a typical example of the First Pompeian or
Masonry style.10)) Large rectangular panels
(orthostats) appear above a low socle and are
crowned with some remnants of a painted
string course (Fig. 8). The upper register,
usually featuring a series of regular courses
of isodomic block-work, has not been
preserved. Large, practically square panels
(0.65 x 0.65 m) are framed with red bands
enclosed by thin black lines. Narrow,
vertical panels in between the larger ones
are filled with garlands painted green and
red. In two of the main panels faint figural
motifs have survived: a representation of a
woman's head (Fig. 9), and that of a dog.
Although scant remains of this type of
decoration have been recorded previously at
our site, this is the first time that it has
been preserved on such a scale and in so
much broader a context.
It is quite natural that the principal
features of our example of painted
decoration show more Aegean affinities
than the Pompeian version of the style.
The proportions of the basic elements: low
socle, square panels, as well as purely linear
treatment of elements (no stuccowork
rendering) are fairly characteristic of the
East, the houses at Delos providing
perhaps the best parallels.u) However, one
should bear in mind that the narrow panels
alternating with broader ones may be
considered as an anticipation of the later
Pompeian styles.
The examples from Pompeii, Hercu-
lanum and Delos are dated chiefly to the
late 2nd-early 1st century BC. Our
paintings seem to be of slightly later date,
Fig. 8. Sector Al. Early Roman house. Fainted decoration on a wall in room 14
(Drawing G. Majcherek)
10) R. Ling, Roman Painting (Cambridge 1991), 11-22.
11) P. Bruneau, Exploration archeologique de Delos, vol. XXVII (Paris 1970) 151-193.
42