Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (16.2004(2005))

ALEXANDRIA

EGYPT

necessity to rebuild also a huge adjoining
facade wall excluded immediate restoration
of the benches. Only the lowermost run of
seats and a fragment of the southern apsi-
dal ending could be restored.
BATH COMPLEX
The already well advanced restoration
program for the bath complex focused on
the southern part of the complex. The
southeastern corner of the edifice was re-
stored in the manner of the original con-
struction. The corner turned out to be sev-
erely damaged and the stone from the foun-
dations robbed out sometime in medieval
times [Fig. 9 top]. In the past, a large
section of the original brick-made corner
had been anchored with steel rods to the
extant core of the wall.10 It was decided
now to rebuild the entire corner, in an ef-
fort not only to restore its original ap-
pearance, but also to support this hanging
fragment. A test pit revealed poorly pres-
erved remains of stone foundations. They
were rebuilt with large limestone blocks,
whereupon the red-brick facing was
carefully restored up to c. 2.50 m above the
original occupation level [Fig. 9 bottom].
The hanging segment of the original wall
now rested securely on the newly built
structure, and the supporting steel rods
were removed.
Work continued also in the western
corner of the baths' southern passage.
A stretch (c. 2 m) of the vault adjoining the
gate leading to the subterranean structure
from the east was now entirely restored with
new limestone blocks. At its eastern ex-
treme a supporting curtain wall was built in
order to seal the as yet unexplored and
unstable fill and rubble. This temporary

construction is removable as required, de-
pending on progress in the restoration of the
entire corridor. The adjacent 11-m long
segment of brick-made water channel
running on top of the vaults along the bath
facade was also restored with new bricks.
The operation that was technically
perhaps the most demanding and certainly
the most time consuming was the restruc-
turing of the damaged vault over the south-
western entrance chamber of the subter-
ranean service area. The vault had collapsed
apparently under the heavy load of a Late
Roman wall built across it and was found
resting on a thick deposit of ashes and bath
refuse. The wall itself had subsided and
been deflected considerably. Following de-
tailed recording in drawing and photo-


Fig. 8. Restored vault in the southern passage of the
hath, looking south (Photo G. Majcherek)

10 W. Kokjtaj, "Travaux de conservation et de reconstruction dans les thermes romaines et la construction voutee de Kom
el-Dikka", £TII (1968), 155-171.

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