Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (16.2004(2005))

GURNA

EGYPT

BUILDING B

Inside the presumed tower, we were search-
ing for confirmation of its function and for
evidence of an upper story.
The entrance in the west wall was found
to have a brick-and-stone threshold. It
opened into the ground-floor chamber,
which was filled with c. 2 m of rubble. Once
this was cleared, it turned out that there
were low walls built against the north and
south walls, supporting the spring of a bar-
rel vault, of which only the lowermost
courses have survived [Fig. 1]. There were
no windows apparent in this chamber, as
well as no evidence of an internal staircase.
A mud floor was found underfoot and the
walls proved to have a fragmentarily pre-
served coating of coarse mud plaster.

Since the rubble yielded many small ter-
racotta tiles, there can be no doubt that the
floor of the first-floor room above the vault
must have consisted of these tiles set in mud
mortar. The walls of this room were also
plastered. The entrance must have led, per-
haps up a ladder, from the outside.
The pottery from the rubble, including
pieces of large storage jars of unfired clay,
suggested a storage function for both tower
rooms, especially the upper one. Food must
have been among the main provisions stored
here. The tower was most likely later than
the units A1-A3 inside the tomb corridor,
considering that it was founded on a layer
of rubbish that was evidently a dump con-
nected with these rooms.


Fig. 1. View of the interior of building B (presumed tower). Dashed line on the back wall traces
the imprint of the vault (Photo M. Jawornicki)

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