Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (14.2002(2003))

NAQLUN

EGYPT

Graves from the third phase of the use of
the cemetery inside room AE.l lay in the
upper parts of the fill, just below the
surface. Thirteen burials from this period
represented a variety of coffin types, all the
boxes made of palm-wood planks or palm-
leaf ribs; in a few cases the bodies had been
placed on biers of palm leaves and wrapped
in mats. The shrouds continued to be
decorated with ornamental bands embroi-
dered in silk on the textiles. Women were
more likely to have simple jewelry, such as
necklaces, bracelets and rings.
To date, over 340 burials of men,
women and children, belonging to a
Christian community connected with the
monastery, have been uncovered in the
cemetery at Naqlun. Not one can be
identified as a monk's burial. The majority
of the graves are dated to the 12 th and 13 th
centuries, but the oldest could possibly go


Fig. 4■ Glass toilet bottle in protective
basket work from T. 324
(Nd.02.233) (Photo W. Godlewski)

back as far as the late 11th. The most recent
burials on the site could be of the 14th
century, perhaps even later, especially the
burials made in the abandoned church
interior. Studies of the textiles and the
Arabic inscriptions ornamenting many of
the pieces should provide a more specific
chronology for particular graves. Also the
glass and pottery furnishings should be
helpful in this respect, as well as objects
obviously connected with the deceased's
profession, such as weaving implements,
pen cases etc.
MAUSOLEA
Two sets of graves found inside small
chambers may be identified as small family
mausolea, although the identification is
based on purely archaeological evidence.
In the southeastern corner of the church
there was a small chamber measuring
8.5 sq. m in area. It was accessible from
AE.l and contained three burials, T. 322-
T. 324, two of which (T. 323-324) consisted
of separate coffins with the bodies of a man
and a woman placed in the same burial pit.
The coffins stood on the same mat and were
covered jointly with another mat. Both
coffins were wrapped in inscribed shrouds
and had leaves and flowers deposited on
them. Both the man and the woman were
richly robed in textiles of the tiraz type with
Arabic inscriptions. The woman had an
ornamentally plaited palm-leaf wreath
around the crown of her head. The man's
burial had been richly furnished with two
glass bottles still in their protective
basketwork (Fig. 4) and a pen case with
metal fittings and two sharpened reed pens
(kalamoi). Inside the coffin there was also
a codex in a leather cover with a flap
featuring blind tooled decoration consisting
chiefly of two big crosses (Figs. 5-6). The
codex contained the text of the Gospel of
John written down in Coptic on 73 paper

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