Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (17.2005(2007))

ALEXANDRIA

EGYPT

THE MOSLEM CEMETERIES
ON KOM EL-DIKKA IN ALEXANDRIA
EXCAVATION SEASON 2004/2005

Emanuela Kulicka

Excavation in the 2004/2005 season was
concentrated in Sector E in the northern
part of the Theater Portico, Sector G
covering a series of newly discovered lecture
halls, and Sector AS, where the portico
stylobate is being uncovered.1 2 All three
phases of the necropolis, known from earlier

investigations, were identified in the course
of the excavations: Upper, dated to the end
of the 11th and 12th centuries; Middle,
from the end of the 9th and 10th century,
and Lower, in use before the earthquake of
AD 792, that is, from the 7th and 8th
centuries.-

SECTOR E

Work begun in 20023 was continued in
this sector. In the Theater Portico, 15 graves
of the Upper Necropolis were excavated
[Fig. 1}. The tombs were set in a layer that
was 0.70 m thick, positioned about 9 m
a.s.l.
Two of the surviving tombs (E 55, E 56)
had limestone slabs in upright position
encasing the grave. Of the various kinds of
tomb markers used in the Upper Necro-
polis this appears to be the oldest form.
The remaining 13 funerary monuments,
most of which adjoined one another, were
constructed of small dressed stones; their
entire surface, including the floor inside the

superstructure, was plastered. They were
uniform in size, all of them being 2.00 m
long and 1.30 m wide. Occasionally, the
form became quite elaborate, the finest
examples having a mihrab niche executed in
the plaster. These ornamental funerary
superstructures had small channels worked
into the design with the purpose of
draining water from the inside.
Tombs E 65 and E 64 had chambers
built of three courses of small stones,
plastered on the inside and covered on top
with limestone slabs.4 The remaining
burials were placed straight in the ground
and have mostly suffered from the de-

1 For previous work on the necropolis: G. Majcherek, "Kom el-Dikka, Excavations and preservation work 2003/2004",
PAM XV/, Reports 2004 (2005), and earlier reports. For the current season of excavations, see G. Majcherek's
contribution in the present volume.
2 Id., PAM XV Reports 2003 (2004), 25-34.
3 Id., PAM XIV. Reports 2002 (2003), 19-31.
4 The difference between these built tombs and Ancient Egyptian funerary structures is in the building material alone,
cf. A.J. Spencer, Brick Architecture in Ancient Egypt (Warminster 1979), 29-59.

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