Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (15.2003(2004))

ALEXANDRIA

EGYPT

MOSAIC CONSERVATION AT KOM EL-DIKKA
IN ALEXANDRIA IN 2002

Joanna Lis

The transfer of a mosaic floor was the chief
objective of the 2002-2003 season at Kom
el-DikkaA The pavement in question was
a geometric mosaic from trench M XV, dis-
covered in 1993 near the theatre, already
in a layer underlying its foundations. It
featured a panel with the Greek inscription
KAALES HKEIS and an emblema in opus
vermiculatum on a ceramic tray, repre-
senting Dionysus-Bacchus. The geometric
ornament was done in the opus tesselatum
technique, while the border frame in opus
sectile .1 2)
Found at the bottom of a deep trench,
the mosaic floor was constantly in danger
of flooding by ground water and rainfall.
Two-thirds of the floor was sunken relative
to the third which lay superimposed on
a stone block that constituted the
threshold. This condition naturally caused
crosswise cracking and loss of cohesiveness
between the tesserae. About 60% of the
emblema has survived. The round ceramic
tray had cracked, presumably under
impact. The missing parts had been
repaired in antiquity with lime-mortar.
The first step in the conservation
process was to remove the protective layers
of earth, sand and cloth that had been
applied upon discovery {Fig. 1). Photo-

graphic documentation of the condition of
the floor before and during conservation
was regularly made. The surface was
cleared of loose dirt and salt efflorescence.
Wet sponges were then used to clean the
surface and the losses were filled with lime
mortar. Water with ammonia and acetone
was then used to clean and degrease the
surface. Following some testing of
adhesives for the layer protecting the top
face of the mosaic, PVA (Winavil) of
Egyptian production was used. Cotton
gauze was applied on the edges of the
cracking.
For the transfer the pavement was
divided into three major sections, two
smaller ones and the tondo {Fig. 2). The
natural crack was taken advantage of as one
of the division lines, while the others were
traced across the floor. The three major
sections measured 210-212 cm in length
by from 56 to 90 in width. The smaller
ones around the tondo were 54 by 37 cm
and 46 by 15 cm respectively. The tondo
was 64 cm in diameter. The opus sectile
border frame was left in place. The face of
the mosaic was protected with two layers
of cotton gauze and a layer of thicker cloth.
The next step was to cut away the surface
layer of the mosaic section by section,

1) The project was carried out by the author in October and November 2002.
2) The part of the pavement with the threshold inscription had already come to light in 1993, cf. G. Majcherek,
“Excavations in Alexandria, 1992-93”, PAM V, Reports 1993 (1994), 11-20; for the discovery of the rest of the floor with
the emblema, see the Alexandria report by G. Majcherek in this volume.

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