DOI issue:
Egypt
DOI article:Kulicka, Emanuela: Moslem cemetery in areas CW and L on Kom el-Dikka: (excavations in the 2005/2006 season)
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.42092#0049
ALEXANDRIA
EGYPT
superstructure in the eastern part of the
tomb, pushing back toward the western
end the bones from earlier burials. Burial
chambers CW 15 and 25 were furnished
with shafts which could be opened
repeatedly; in CW 25 the special
superstructure was positioned not in the
eastern, but in the western end of the
grave, and the bones were pushed to the
east and not to the west as was common.
In a number of cases (graves CW 22,
35, 55, 58, 61-65), no cases were recorded
and the bones in these earth burials were
found completely decayed.
Some damaged cases could not be
connected with any superstructures. They
were presumably remnants of earlier
graves belonging to the Upper
Necropolis, destroyed by later and much
more elaborate tombs.
Graves CW 17, 18 and 19 were
surrounded by a low wall, which is
interpreted as separating a family group
from other graves in the cemetery.
MIDDLE NECROPOLIS
The Middle Necropolis layer [Fig. 3]
slopes down in the same westerly
direction as the overlying Upper
Necropolis. Yellow seaside sand with
pebbles and seashells is scattered inside
the burial cases and the surrounding area.
All 24 superstructures of the Middle
Necropolis (CW 200-224), mostly
measuring 2.20 m by 2.50 m, are
definitely bigger than those of the Upper
Necropolis. They were built of one-to-
two courses of big, regular stone blocks,
sometimes plastered. All the burials in
this phase were earth internments and
therefore no bones have been preserved.
Their presence is recorded as observable
changes in the color of the soil and a smell
of ammonia noted during exploration.
Marble stelas were found mounted in
place at the western ends of the
superstructures CW 200, 217 and 222
[Fig. 2], Only the mounting of similar
steles was discovered in the super-
structure of graves CW 204 and 216.
The superstructures of the Middle
Necropolis were partly founded on ruins
of Late Antique buildings, in this case of
the auditoria. Many were damaged and
destroyed by later tombs belonging
already to the Upper Necropolis, which
was not much higher up in the
stratigraphy. Indeed, the two cemetery
layers are practically conjoined.
Fig. 2. Funerary stele from grave CW 217
(Reg. No. 5022) (Photo E. Kulicka)
47
EGYPT
superstructure in the eastern part of the
tomb, pushing back toward the western
end the bones from earlier burials. Burial
chambers CW 15 and 25 were furnished
with shafts which could be opened
repeatedly; in CW 25 the special
superstructure was positioned not in the
eastern, but in the western end of the
grave, and the bones were pushed to the
east and not to the west as was common.
In a number of cases (graves CW 22,
35, 55, 58, 61-65), no cases were recorded
and the bones in these earth burials were
found completely decayed.
Some damaged cases could not be
connected with any superstructures. They
were presumably remnants of earlier
graves belonging to the Upper
Necropolis, destroyed by later and much
more elaborate tombs.
Graves CW 17, 18 and 19 were
surrounded by a low wall, which is
interpreted as separating a family group
from other graves in the cemetery.
MIDDLE NECROPOLIS
The Middle Necropolis layer [Fig. 3]
slopes down in the same westerly
direction as the overlying Upper
Necropolis. Yellow seaside sand with
pebbles and seashells is scattered inside
the burial cases and the surrounding area.
All 24 superstructures of the Middle
Necropolis (CW 200-224), mostly
measuring 2.20 m by 2.50 m, are
definitely bigger than those of the Upper
Necropolis. They were built of one-to-
two courses of big, regular stone blocks,
sometimes plastered. All the burials in
this phase were earth internments and
therefore no bones have been preserved.
Their presence is recorded as observable
changes in the color of the soil and a smell
of ammonia noted during exploration.
Marble stelas were found mounted in
place at the western ends of the
superstructures CW 200, 217 and 222
[Fig. 2], Only the mounting of similar
steles was discovered in the super-
structure of graves CW 204 and 216.
The superstructures of the Middle
Necropolis were partly founded on ruins
of Late Antique buildings, in this case of
the auditoria. Many were damaged and
destroyed by later tombs belonging
already to the Upper Necropolis, which
was not much higher up in the
stratigraphy. Indeed, the two cemetery
layers are practically conjoined.
Fig. 2. Funerary stele from grave CW 217
(Reg. No. 5022) (Photo E. Kulicka)
47