DOI issue:
Egypt
DOI article:Majcherek, Grzegorz: Kom el-Dikka: excavation and preservation work preliminary report, 2004/2005
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.42091#0031
ALEXANDRIA
EGYPT
CONSERVATION
On-site conservation followed guidelines
and priorities set down in the general
program of the Restoration Project
approved by the Supreme Council of
Antiquities. Work was carried out in the
Theater Portico and complex of auditoria,
the Bath complex and Area F.
THEATER PORTICO AND COMPLEX
OF AUDITORIA
Following the successful anastylosis of the
portico completed last season, the
remaining sections of the stylobate were
treated this year. Missing blocks were
reintegrated into the structure in places
deemed appropriate, and the entire
southern section was consolidated.
The last remaining section of the
portico wall (section G), some 12 m long,
was thoroughly restored {Fig. 7}. The core
of the wall, visible where most of the facing
had long been lost, was duly cleaned and
stabilized with lime mortar filling all the
cracks and crevices. The facing was rebuilt
using mostly blocks retrieved from nearby
graves and retaining their original shape
and size. It was apparent that these blocks
had been robbed from the backwall in
medieval times to serve as handy building
material for the nearby tombs. The facing
was rebuilt in places up to 1.80 m above
the portico pavement. The missing brick
lacing was restored with new bricks cut to
required dimensions. Following a general
conservation principle established for the
site, the newly restored wall facing, albeit
done in original stones, was clearly
separated from the extant original masonry
with a layer of bitumen tarpaper and
additionally with two slightly recessed
courses of new blocks. Restoration in this
section of the backwall involved also
Fig. 7. Restored section G of the portico back wall
(Photo G. Majcherek)
29
EGYPT
CONSERVATION
On-site conservation followed guidelines
and priorities set down in the general
program of the Restoration Project
approved by the Supreme Council of
Antiquities. Work was carried out in the
Theater Portico and complex of auditoria,
the Bath complex and Area F.
THEATER PORTICO AND COMPLEX
OF AUDITORIA
Following the successful anastylosis of the
portico completed last season, the
remaining sections of the stylobate were
treated this year. Missing blocks were
reintegrated into the structure in places
deemed appropriate, and the entire
southern section was consolidated.
The last remaining section of the
portico wall (section G), some 12 m long,
was thoroughly restored {Fig. 7}. The core
of the wall, visible where most of the facing
had long been lost, was duly cleaned and
stabilized with lime mortar filling all the
cracks and crevices. The facing was rebuilt
using mostly blocks retrieved from nearby
graves and retaining their original shape
and size. It was apparent that these blocks
had been robbed from the backwall in
medieval times to serve as handy building
material for the nearby tombs. The facing
was rebuilt in places up to 1.80 m above
the portico pavement. The missing brick
lacing was restored with new bricks cut to
required dimensions. Following a general
conservation principle established for the
site, the newly restored wall facing, albeit
done in original stones, was clearly
separated from the extant original masonry
with a layer of bitumen tarpaper and
additionally with two slightly recessed
courses of new blocks. Restoration in this
section of the backwall involved also
Fig. 7. Restored section G of the portico back wall
(Photo G. Majcherek)
29