Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (17.2005(2007))

ALEXANDRIA

EGYPT

LATE ROMAN/EARLY BYZANTINE GLASS
FROM THE AUDITORIA ON
KOM EL-DIKKA IN ALEXANDRIA

Renata Kucharczyk

This report continues the presentation of
glass from the excavation of a complex of
lecture halls uncovered on Kom el-Dikka,
covering, briefly, material dated to the Late
Roman/Early Byzantine period (4th-7th
centuries AD); glass from the Islamic strata
has already been published.1 The repertory
is generally the same as in the case of
assemblages from other parts of the site and
dated to the same horizon. Apart from lamp
and windowpane fragments, none of the
other objects can be related directly to the
assumed function of the auditoria.
Ordinary household containers are
common in the assemblage. They are
represented by different fragments, chiefly
bases and necks with fire-rounded rims.
Funnel-neck bottles are undoubtedly the
most characteristic among them. Also
represented are other glass vessels of daily
use, including open forms, such as
wineglasses/goblets and tableware, plates/
dishes and bowls. Considerable amounts of
shards belong to lamps, falling into three
well-known types: conical vessels with
cracked-off rims, tumbler-shaped lamps and
stemmed lamps. Some window-glass
executed in different techniques has also
been documented.

All the recorded fragments are typical of
the period, the type and lunction being the
same regardless of whether the glass is from
the Alexandrian area specifically or from
elsewhere in Egypt. All the vessels were free
blown. Most of them were unadorned.
Decoration, when present, is restricted to
applied elements accompanied by simple
horizontal, wheel-incised or abraded lines
and incised criss-cross design. The latter
seems to have been widely used by local
glassmakers. Conical lamps, wineglasses
and tableware were made characteristically
of good-quality yellow, olive-green,
amber/brown and green glass. Some
fragments of conical lamps, however, appear
almost colourless and are coated with
iridescent weathering. Distinctive are
household vessels, made of lesser quality,
thin, natural bluish-green glass, containing
many bubbles and showing different stages
of surface weathering.
The discovery of two well-preserved
circular structures made of red bricks,
obviously furnaces, under the floor of
auditorium G came as a surprise. Un-
fortunately there is no surviving evidence of
the superstructures [cf Fig 4 on p.26 in this
volume}.2 One of the furnaces is still

1 R. Kucharczyk, "Islamic glass from the auditoria on Kom el-Dikka in Alexandria", PAM XVI, Reports 2004 (2005),
31-41.
2 Excavations are planned for the upcoming season of digging.

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