Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (17.2005(2007))

ALEXANDRIA

EGYPT

two rows of masonry benches built along
the longer sides and a raised platform
(made of three benches) at the back
[Fig. 5]. The monumental seat encoun-
tered in other halls was not preserved, but
clearly visible imprints and leftover
plastering pointed to the existence of steps
originally leading up to it. As a rule, the
benches were made of a single row of large
blocks, but in several sections larger
blocks cut from the brick walls of
abandoned structures, most probably the
bathhouse or cisterns, were reused —
a phenomenon previously noted also in
other constructions of the Late Roman
age. Plastering, which was the rule on the
benches, covered and evened out all the
irregularities. Interestingly enough, the
auditorium is not entered directly from
the bath passage and it is separated by
a continuous wall from another chamber
which is. It is not yet clear whether this
latter room was an anteroom from the
start or was partitioned off at a later date.
Auditorium F, so far the largest one
(12.70 x 5.50 m), appears to depart from
the typical layout of lecture halls forming
the southern group [Fig. 6}. The principal
difference in plan is the presence of
a clearly separated small anteroom
(approx. 1.80 m deep). The internal
arrangement of hall F, however, follows
the conventional layout, with three rows
of benches around the walls and a raised
dais at the back. The floor was made of
carefully laid limestone slabs and was
almost wholly preserved. The level of the
floor was found to be approximately 0.85-
0.90 m higher than the floor in
neighboring auditorium G. The reason

for such a substantial difference was
discovered when exploring the underfloor
layers. In the northwestern corner of hall
F, remains of a sewage channel were
cleared. The channel, built along the wall,
was some 2.60 m deep. Yet another
section of it was also cleared in the
northeastern corner of the structure. It
became apparent that this was a large
public latrine, most probably belonging
to the bath complex. Once the latrine had
gone out of use, the channels were filled
and an auditorium built on top of it.
Material recovered from the fill consisted
mostly of badly corroded coins and a large
number of pottery sherds, both Egyptian
and imported, giving a terminus post quern
for the building of the auditorium. It
seems that the latrine went out of use by
the end of the 5th century AD. The date
of the abandonment and destruction of
the lecture halls is no less ambiguous and
it is closely linked to the appearance of
the first graves of the Lower Necropolis.
As indicated above, the dating material
from the fill consists mostly of residual
pottery, obscuring possible chronological
conclusions; nonetheless, the absence of
Early Islamic (Coptic) glazed wares is
conspicuous. Two fragmentarily preserved
Saint Menas ampullae, pottery and glass
finds,8 point to the mid 7th century as the
most probable date for the abandonment
of these auditoria.
O ne last remark: the walls of the
newly discovered auditoria are not
homogeneous. Some of them belong to
older structures adapted to new function,
while others were newly built in the pillar
technique typical of Late Antiquity.

8 Cf. communication by R. Kucharczyk in this volume.

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