Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (14.2002(2003))

MAREA

EGYPT

area for the female customers of the bath,
who entered the women's section of the
facilities through a doorway in the east
wall. There were four dig-ins to channel
Q7, all started in antiquity (their presence


Fig. 3. Corinthian capital of marble found
in courtyard FI (Photo T. Kalarus)


had been observed already last year). The
channel itself was covered with stone slabs.
The courtyard could be entered also from
the north through an entrance mounted by
two steps. Next to it, a small channel with
an arched brick covering was added at
a later date; it served to drain water from
the surface of the court. Two floors were
recorded north of this minor channel, one
on the same level as the courtyard and an
earlier one 30 cm below the first (F2).
On the eastern side the courtyard was
delimited by a stone wall, which was
aggrandized during the rebuilding of the
bath. The space behind this wall, excavated
in a section 70 cm wide, proved to be
a regular favissa where objects for which
there was no more use had been thrown
away. The fill yielded many small finds,
including lamps decorated with a cross
{Fig. 4), two clay jars, an ampulla with an
ornament of relief dots in concentric circles,
and a trove of about 30 coins, most of them
dodekanoumia, dated to the 6th-7th century
{Fig. 3).


Fig. 4- Terracotta oil lamp with crux gemmata Fig. 3. Dodekanoumion, 6th -7th century
from a favissa east of the courtyard (Photo T. Kalarus)
(Photo T. Kalarus)

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