DOI Heft:
Egypt
DOI Artikel:Daszewski, Wiktor Andrzej; Zych, Iwona; Bąkowska-Czerner, Grażyna; Błaszczyk, Artur: Marina el-Alamein: excavation report 2004
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.42090#0094
MARINA EL-ALAMEIN
EGYPT
high, the upper one c. 0.58 m wide and
0.64 m high. The original floor had been
largely destroyed and covered with fill. In
the southwestern corner, a fireplace was
introduced at a level 0.10 m higher up.
A vessel was dug into the fill next to the
fireplace. This layer bore traces of burning
throughout the room, indicating that it
had been used as a kitchen at this point.
Pottery in quantities and animal bones also
confirm the room's function. A later floor
was observed in the southern part of the
room, 0.40 m higher up. A smaller unit,
1.10 m long (N-S) and at least 2.10 m
wide (E-W), seems to have been intro-
duced through the erection of a poorly
constructed partition wall.
South of the corner room discussed
above, another room (no. 2) could be dis-
cerned, measuring 1.30 m (N-S) by 3.12 m
(E-W). The pavement here was well made
of rectangular slabs (0.60 m x 0.30 m,
others 0.36 m x 0.30 m; 0.50 x 0.46 m).
A channel (0.20 x 0.20 m) was traced under
the pavement in the northern part. Re-
mains of wall plastering were observed in
the bottom part of the walls, rising to
a height of 0.20 m. On the west, this room
is shut off with a wall 1.30 m long, pierced
by a doorway (0.70 m wide) in the middle.
The wall delimiting unit no. 2 on the
south is preserved to a height of 1.10 m on
the side of this room. On the other side, it
drops down to 1.70 m. The room south of
this wall (no. 3) was only partly excavated
this season, but already two occupational
levels were clearly distinguished. On the
west, the bordering wall has a doorway
opening into the N-S street at this point.
Inside the room, on the higher occupational
level, two rectangular stone blocks with
holes for vertical wooden beams were
found (presumably roof or ceiling supports
?). The assemblage from the two rooms
included sherds of utilitarian wares: a few
Kapitan II, and the usual share of Mareotic
(AE3) and Nile silt amphorae, usually
dated to the 2nd century AD, as well as
Early Gazan vessels, accompanied by
fragments of Cypriot Sigillata basins (P40)
and dishes (P8). The datable material
could be ascribed to the late lst-2nd
century AD. There were also some minor
glass fragments, as well as a number of iron
and bronze nails, and a few terracotta oil
lamp fragments.
The fill overlying the ruins of this room
consisted of a thick layer of stone blocks
and wall plastering from the eastern wall of
a basilical structure situated just south of
the South Portico of the Town Square.10
Overall, the oldest occupational level in
this part of the ancient town originated
from the 1st century AD. The later floors
were introduced at a much later date, pre-
sumably in the 3rd and 4th centuries AD.
10 Cf. W.A. Daszewski, "Temoignage de l'urbanisation de la comediterraneenne de l'Egypte a l'epoque hellenistique et
romaine a la lumiere des fouilles de Marina el-Alamein", BSFE 132 (1995), 19-20.
92
EGYPT
high, the upper one c. 0.58 m wide and
0.64 m high. The original floor had been
largely destroyed and covered with fill. In
the southwestern corner, a fireplace was
introduced at a level 0.10 m higher up.
A vessel was dug into the fill next to the
fireplace. This layer bore traces of burning
throughout the room, indicating that it
had been used as a kitchen at this point.
Pottery in quantities and animal bones also
confirm the room's function. A later floor
was observed in the southern part of the
room, 0.40 m higher up. A smaller unit,
1.10 m long (N-S) and at least 2.10 m
wide (E-W), seems to have been intro-
duced through the erection of a poorly
constructed partition wall.
South of the corner room discussed
above, another room (no. 2) could be dis-
cerned, measuring 1.30 m (N-S) by 3.12 m
(E-W). The pavement here was well made
of rectangular slabs (0.60 m x 0.30 m,
others 0.36 m x 0.30 m; 0.50 x 0.46 m).
A channel (0.20 x 0.20 m) was traced under
the pavement in the northern part. Re-
mains of wall plastering were observed in
the bottom part of the walls, rising to
a height of 0.20 m. On the west, this room
is shut off with a wall 1.30 m long, pierced
by a doorway (0.70 m wide) in the middle.
The wall delimiting unit no. 2 on the
south is preserved to a height of 1.10 m on
the side of this room. On the other side, it
drops down to 1.70 m. The room south of
this wall (no. 3) was only partly excavated
this season, but already two occupational
levels were clearly distinguished. On the
west, the bordering wall has a doorway
opening into the N-S street at this point.
Inside the room, on the higher occupational
level, two rectangular stone blocks with
holes for vertical wooden beams were
found (presumably roof or ceiling supports
?). The assemblage from the two rooms
included sherds of utilitarian wares: a few
Kapitan II, and the usual share of Mareotic
(AE3) and Nile silt amphorae, usually
dated to the 2nd century AD, as well as
Early Gazan vessels, accompanied by
fragments of Cypriot Sigillata basins (P40)
and dishes (P8). The datable material
could be ascribed to the late lst-2nd
century AD. There were also some minor
glass fragments, as well as a number of iron
and bronze nails, and a few terracotta oil
lamp fragments.
The fill overlying the ruins of this room
consisted of a thick layer of stone blocks
and wall plastering from the eastern wall of
a basilical structure situated just south of
the South Portico of the Town Square.10
Overall, the oldest occupational level in
this part of the ancient town originated
from the 1st century AD. The later floors
were introduced at a much later date, pre-
sumably in the 3rd and 4th centuries AD.
10 Cf. W.A. Daszewski, "Temoignage de l'urbanisation de la comediterraneenne de l'Egypte a l'epoque hellenistique et
romaine a la lumiere des fouilles de Marina el-Alamein", BSFE 132 (1995), 19-20.
92