Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (17.2005(2007))

MARINA EL-ALAMEIN

EGYPT

0.50 m high and 0.57 m wide and had
small basins cut into the stone ledge
projecting in front of them. All the
compartments were plastered inside. Pot
stands were found inside the lower
compartments. The assemblage apparently
corresponds to the original occupation of
the room, which had been dated in the
previous season to the late lst-early 2nd
century AD on the grounds of coins and
pottery. The pottery from the lower
compartments is of late 1st century date.-7
More of the northern facade of this
building was cleared with further exca-
vation to the east of a stretch some 7.50 m
long of the E-W paved street.
The next room to the south of room 1,
partly cleared last year, proved to be not so
much a room as a paved passage (1.60 m
wide) running further east and disap-
pearing into the present wall of the trench.
A ceramic drainpipe was discovered set
vertically in the thickness of the wail and
emptying into a channel (discovered pre-
viously) that led out into the southbound
street.
The limits of room 4 were identified
and the excavations proceeded to clear the
top of the layer of debris filling the room.
CIVIC BASILICA
Work was also undertaken in the area of
the public edifice situated directly behind
the South Portico of the forum. Exca-
vations were extended to the south of the
limited area cleared during rescue work on
the site in 1987.3 4
The rectangular structure is 5.58 m
wide and 15.56 m long [Fig. 4}. The
northern end of the building (which was
uncovered during earlier work) comprises
a square area (c. 5 m to the northern pair

of antae) ending in a semicircular apse
(2.46 m deep), built into the squared
northern end of the structure. A high
podium (0.85 by 1.22 m; max. 1.33 m
high) stood in the apse against the wall. At
present, there is no floor in the apse, but
traces on the wall can be read as evidence of
a pavement which was raised one step
(c. 0.20 m) above the rest of the room. The
entire building was paved with a floor of
limestone slabs [Fig. 5].
Two rows of four columns each ran the
length of the building, leaving a passage
1.90 m wide down the center. The distance
from the walls to the column bases ranges
from 1.07 to 1.14 m. Piers (of unequal
size), built at a later time (very likely due
to quake-related damage) against the south
side of the northernmost pair of columns,
appear to have had the purpose of buttres-
sing them against collapse. The spaces
between the three northernmost pairs of
columns equaled 2.12 m; the last pair was
at a distance of 1.48 m, leaving 2.80 m to
the south wall. The column bases measured
0.52 m in width on average. Between the
southernmost pair of columns, there was
a square podium (0.79 x 0.82 m, preserved
height 0.68 m). A second pair of antae was
observed lined up with the southernmost
pair of columns.
In the southwestern corner of the struc-
ture, the mouth of a cistern (c. 0.70 m in
diameter) was located, the well-head
projecting 0.15 m above the floor.
An entrance, 1.40 m wide, framed by
half-columns, was located in the east wall
of the structure, leading down a few steps
to the southbound street separating the ba-
silica from the row of rooms discovered on
the other side. Door sockets (0.14 x 0.23 m)
inside the entrance on either side are proof

3 All pottery determinations kindly provided by Dr. Grzegorz Majcherek.
4 Cf. W.A. Daszewski, "Temoignage de l'urbanisation BSFE 132 (1995), 19-20.

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