Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (14.2002(2003))

MARINA EL-ALAMEIN

EGYPT

MARINA EL-ALAMEIN
THE CONSERVATION SEASON IN 2002
Stanislaw Medeksza
with contributions by
Grazyna B^kowska, Rafal Czerner, Maigorzata Ujma, Piotr Zambrzycki

The season of the Polish-Egyptian Preservation Mission at Marina el-Alamein lasted from
April 8 to May 30, 2002.0
In the town area the focus this season (Fig. 1) was on houses H 10, H 19 and H 21c
with only some necessary maintenance conservation carried out in previously completed
structures. Debris and earth from the earlier excavations in the neighborhood were removed
from further areas of H 10“E” and H 19. As for H 21c, the great hall H 21 “N” (10.43
by 7.30 m) was cleared in preparation for preservation work.
In the necropolis preparations were made for a partial reconstruction of the entrance portico
to tomb T 6 and for completing the interrupted preservation of parts of hypogeum T 1GH.
Finally, assistance was given to the local Egyptian site authorities in completing the
preservation of parts of another, recently uncovered hypogeum, T 18.2>
Specialized conservation work, which took advantage of improved on-site conditions,
concerned elements of stone indoor architectural decoration and some surviving mural
paintings, as well as a variety of small finds.

1) The mission was headed by Prof. Dr. Stanislaw Medeksza, architect, and staffed by: Dr. Rafal Czerner, architect;
Mr. Wiesiaw Grzegorek, architect and civil engineer; Ms Grazyna Bgkowska, archaeologist; Mr. Piotr Zambrzycki, sculptor
and stone conservator; Mr. Eryk Bunsch, stone conservator; and Ms Maigorzata Ujma, conservator of mural painting. The
Supreme Council of Antiquities of Egypt was represented by the site director and inspector, Mr. Abdel Latif el-Wakil,
whose continuous assistance and involvement in our work is duly appreciated as always, particularly his efforts to establish
a fairly specialized on-site workshop for the conservation of stone decoration and wall paintings.
The Mission is indebted, as always, to the Supreme Council of Antiquities and to the Secretary General Dr. Zahi
Hawass, newly appointed at the time of our work, for continuous support. The Mission is indebted to the following: AKME
Zdzislaw Wisniewski from Wroclaw, DSI Polska Miedz from Lubin, BP Polska and PolDach from Wroclaw for their
generous assistance in providing for much of the necessary conservation equipment and tools. A special word of thanks to
Ms Iwona Zych for editing this version of the report.
2) All the tombs mentioned in this report were excavated by a mission from the Polish Center of Archaeology of Warsaw
University between 1990 and 2001.

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