Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (16.2004(2005))

NAQLUN

EGYPT

CEMETERY A

Following an intensive investigation of the
eastern and western parts of the cemetery in
2000 and 2002, this season the expedition
concentrated on digging the southern part
extending between the Church of the
Archangel Michael and the so-called South
Building of the monastic complex, the
northern facade of which was cleared this
year. Apart from this, two graves were ex-
cavated in room 2 of Building G (T. 342
and T. 343) and one in complex H (T. 341).
The total number of graves discovered
and explored this year was 64. They be-
longed to both adults and children from the
Christian community of Fayum. A few of the
graves on the south side of the church had
brick and earth superstructures. As a rule,
the burials were made in coffins, which were
wrapped in coffin coverings, and had mats
and baskets placed on top of them. The
grave goods included in a few cases small
glass bottles. One adult male had been
buried with a pen case and five kalamoi,
obviously a mark of his profession {Fig. 2}.
Inside a child's coffin (T. 352), there was
a small glass bottle {Fig. 2] and bronze bowl
with Arabic inscription engraved inside the
vessel just below the rim {Fig. 3]. In some of
the tombs, the robes, in which the dead were
buried — tunics, shawls, trousers, and spora-
dically shoes — were preserved. Silk-thread
embroidery was noted on several of the
tunics, shawls, and shrouds. A few textile

fragments from destroyed graves were found
in the earth fill. One of the most interesting
textiles is a small piece of silk shawl
(Nd.04.112) decorated with animal medal-
lions, the colors enhanced with gold-thread
embroidery (see the color plate on p. 207).
Jewelry was also noted in the women's and
children's graves: rings, earrings and bangles
made of iron, bronze and bone. Two small
bone bangles were placed with a child burial
(T. 388) {Fig. 41
To date, the investigations in cemetery
A have recorded a total of 390 graves.3 The
sample is sufficient to attempt a character-
istic of the burial customs current in the
Christian community of Fayum in the
Fatimid-Mamluk Period. Anthropological
studies on the medieval inhabitants of
Fayum and research on the textiles and robes
of the period are also underway with a view
to publishing the results in the near future.


Fig. 4. Two bone bangles from grave T. 388.
Nd.04-373-4 (Photo W. Godlewski)

symposium held in Deir el Azab in Fayum (February 5-10, 2004): W. Godlewski on the history of the Nekloni
monastery and the Coptic cemetery of Fatimid and Ayyubid times on Site A; T. Derda on the Greek texts related to
Christianity from al-Fayum and J. van der Vliet on the Coptic inscriptions from al-Fayum, M-J. Mouton & Ch. Gaubert
on the unpublished archives of Girga; M. Mossakowska-Gaubert on the glass objects from the excavations, B. Czaja-
Szewczak on the textile tunics and A. tyzwa-Piber on the basketry; E. Parandowska on the preservation of the wall
paintings from the Church of the Archangel Gabriel at Naqlun and C. ten Hagen on the legend of St. Aur and the
foundation of the Church of the Archangel Gabriel. The symposium proceedings are scheduled to be published by The
American University in Cairo Press in 2005.
3 For reports on the exploration of the Coptic cemetery on kom A in Naqlun, cf. PAM XI, Reports 1999 (2000), 125-148;
PAM XII, Reports 2000 (2001), 149-180; PAM XIV, Reports 2002 (2003), 163-195.

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