Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (14.2002(2003))

MARINA EL-ALAMEIN

EGYPT

position above the opening of a cistern at
the edge of the eastern portico of the
peristyle.
The clearing of hall H 21“N”
demonstrated its floor level to be depressed
by 1.30 m with regard to that of house
H 21c. The blocks used in its walls were
regularly dressed and measured 0.40 x 0.30
x 0.60 m on average. The hall had three
entrances from the north, the central one
measuring 1.80 m, the lateral ones, sit-
uated near the corners of the room, 0.85 m
each. There was also a small doorway in the
west wall. The pavement consisted of slabs
measuring 0.40 x 0.60 m on average and
0.10 m thick.
An aedicule6^ discovered among the
elements of architectural decoration pro-
bably came from the south wall, opposite
the entrance and on the same axis as the
main doorway. Enough of it remained for
a theoretical and then actual reconstruction
to be carried out. It was set in the thickness
of the wall (0.45 m), its back wall being
0.10 m thick and its decorated elements
projecting 0.24 m from the wall face. The
architectural frame consisted of a sill, a pair
of engaged columns standing on it and
accompanied by two flat pilasters flanking
the inside of the niche, capped with capitals
echoing the so-called Nabatean type in
form (Fig. 5 b). Topping this was the
architrave and rounded cornice of the
tympanum. The blocks of stone used for
the sill were typically 0.26 x 0.26 x 0.52 m,
those for the engaged columns and
pilasters: 0.33 x 0.33 x 0.64 m, and the
architrave and cornice were of blocks of
varying size. The dimensions of the niche
and the form of the lower part, now lost,

could be reconstructed based on knowledge
gained from the study of three other
aedicule found at the site.6 7)
Since the proportions of these niches,
regardless of actual size, appear always to be
the same, it was possible in this case,
having the width of the niche — 1.36 m —
to reconstruct the height proportionately at
2.16 m. Also the level of the sill — 1.50 m
above the floor — was taken from a com-
parison with other aedicule.
In the actual reconstruction, the lower
parts of the niche were recreated in stone in
simplified form. The original pieces of the
upper part were protected and then reas-
sembled. The tympanum was reinforced
structurally and will be mounted in the
coming season (see remarks in the spe-
cialized conservation section below in this
report).
The hall H 21“N” incurred heavy
damages due to earth subsidence, possibly
in effect of an earthquake. The walls had
cracked and slipped and a large section of
the floor had settled (Fig. 5a). Restoration
of the original form would have been
extremely difficult and would have entailed
a virtual rebuilding of the hall from scratch.
It was deemed unnecessary and the pre-
servation was limited to a structural
reinforcing of the walls and floor with
additional masonry. The crack in the floor
and subsiding of the western two thirds of
the hall can be seen also in rooms 10 and 1
of house H 21c abutting the hall on the
south. Again, this difference in levels was
kept. The walls were built up, especially
the northeastern and northwestern corners,
to a height of 1.20 m for the corners and
1.00 m for the walls. The cracks in the

6) The following remarks on the aedicule have been contributed by R. Czerner, who is also the author of the theoretical
reconstruction.
7) The other aedicule include the niche in room 2 of House H 10 (cf. S. Medeksza, PAM XI, op. cit., 50 and Figs, 5-6;
id., PAM XII, op. cit., 69 and Fig. 5); the niche in room 14 of FI 9 (cf. id., PAM XI, op. cit., 51 and Figs. 9-10); and a small
niche from room 2 of H 21c (cf. id., PAM XII, op. cit. 73 and Fig. 10.

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