DOI issue:
Egypt
DOI article:Kulicka, Emanuela: The moslem cemeteries on Kom el-Dikka in Alexandria excavation season 2004/2005
DOI Page / Citation link: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.42091#0039
ALEXANDRIA
EGYPT
position conditions.5 Most of the box
tombs from the Upper Necropolis con-
tained multiple burials with successively
made internments. A shaft constructed at
the eastern end facilitated reuse. To make
space, the earlier burials were consistently
pushed to the west side.
Part of the necropolis in the northern
part of sector E proved to be delimited by
a low wall. It is believed to mark a family
enclosure.
Once the Upper Necropolis tombs had
been cleared, two phases of the Middle
Necropolis were uncovered. The later layer
with ten graves (E 120-E 124, E 127-E 131)
was located half a meter above the eight
graves from the earlier phase (E 125, E 126,
E 132-E 137), which were recorded at a depth
from 8.90 to 9-10 m a.s.l. [Fig. 2}. The
extent of the cemetery in the two phases
was the same, but individual tombs did
not overlap, hence the division into two
phases seems justifiable. The super-
structures of these graves measured mostly
2.00-2.20 by 2.50 m (hence they were
obviously larger than the monuments of
the Upper Necropolis described above) and
they were constructed of one or two courses
of regular stone blocks. Occasionally, the
superstructures were plastered.
All the burials were made straight in the
ground. Virtually nothing of the skeletal
material has been preserved owing to the poor
conditions of deposition on Kom el-Dikka.
SECTOR G
Eleven graves of the same type, belonging
to the Middle Necropolis, were discovered
in an adjoining section of Sector G (G 203-
G 213). The tomb superstructures in these
cases were also constructed of big regular
stones. The skeletal material from the grave
pits has not survived.
The same division ol the Middle
Necropolis into two phases of use was
observed.6 Three later graves were recorded
Fig. 3. Graves of the Lower Necropolis discovered inside auditorium G in Sector G
(Photo E. Kulicka)
5 For an anthropological analysis, see report by R. Mahler in this volume.
6 More on the stratigraphy: H. Meyza, "Sector G, stratigraphy of the Arab necropolis", in: Z. Kiss et al., Fouilles polonaises
a Kom el-Dikka 1986-1987, Alexandrie VII (Warszawa 2000), 35ff.
37
EGYPT
position conditions.5 Most of the box
tombs from the Upper Necropolis con-
tained multiple burials with successively
made internments. A shaft constructed at
the eastern end facilitated reuse. To make
space, the earlier burials were consistently
pushed to the west side.
Part of the necropolis in the northern
part of sector E proved to be delimited by
a low wall. It is believed to mark a family
enclosure.
Once the Upper Necropolis tombs had
been cleared, two phases of the Middle
Necropolis were uncovered. The later layer
with ten graves (E 120-E 124, E 127-E 131)
was located half a meter above the eight
graves from the earlier phase (E 125, E 126,
E 132-E 137), which were recorded at a depth
from 8.90 to 9-10 m a.s.l. [Fig. 2}. The
extent of the cemetery in the two phases
was the same, but individual tombs did
not overlap, hence the division into two
phases seems justifiable. The super-
structures of these graves measured mostly
2.00-2.20 by 2.50 m (hence they were
obviously larger than the monuments of
the Upper Necropolis described above) and
they were constructed of one or two courses
of regular stone blocks. Occasionally, the
superstructures were plastered.
All the burials were made straight in the
ground. Virtually nothing of the skeletal
material has been preserved owing to the poor
conditions of deposition on Kom el-Dikka.
SECTOR G
Eleven graves of the same type, belonging
to the Middle Necropolis, were discovered
in an adjoining section of Sector G (G 203-
G 213). The tomb superstructures in these
cases were also constructed of big regular
stones. The skeletal material from the grave
pits has not survived.
The same division ol the Middle
Necropolis into two phases of use was
observed.6 Three later graves were recorded
Fig. 3. Graves of the Lower Necropolis discovered inside auditorium G in Sector G
(Photo E. Kulicka)
5 For an anthropological analysis, see report by R. Mahler in this volume.
6 More on the stratigraphy: H. Meyza, "Sector G, stratigraphy of the Arab necropolis", in: Z. Kiss et al., Fouilles polonaises
a Kom el-Dikka 1986-1987, Alexandrie VII (Warszawa 2000), 35ff.
37