Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (18.2006(2008))

MARINA EL-ALAMEIN

EGYPT

Egyptian amphorae, which are the most
numerous component of the dump from
House 1, are represented foremost by
regional counterparts of the Dressel 2-4
(AE4) type produced in the Mareotis.
Amphorae representing the “bitronconique”
(AE3) group also come from this
manufacturing center.
The room on the other side of the
foundation wall (no. 27) was 5.63 by
1.40 m and paved with stone slabs except
for the southern end. This pavement is
c. 2 m below the floor of the later Room 6.
The lack of a block in the east wall on the
level of the pavement may indicate the
presence of a drain. A cellar-like niche
0.40 m wide, 0.80 m high and 0.60 m deep
with plastered bottom was found in the east
wall, 0.58 m above the floor. Finds from the
fill of this room included: five heavily
corroded bronze coins, fragments of bronze
nails, a bronze band, bone pin, a few marble
tiles and quantities of sherds and some glass.
Crossing walls from an earlier phase
were discovered in a test pit dug in the
northeastern part of Room 6. Amphorae
discovered in connection with the earlier
walls (one standing upright, two with their
bottoms up) originate from the same period
as the amphorae in Room 26 (appro-
ximately 3rd century AD).
The cisterns in Room 3 were emptied of
the sandy deposits, the sand being fine and
medium-fine, showing average wear and
layerets of dark gray clay deposits up to
1 cm thick each. The eastern cistern (7.13 m
long, 1.76 m wide, 2.25-2.35 m high) was
entered through a well in the northern end
of the east wall (2.53 m below the pavement
floor; well 0.57 x 0.52 m), connected to it
by a passage 1.60 m high and 0.60-0.53 rn
wide. Waterproof plastering survives in
places. Steps were located at either end,
three on the north and two on the south.
The western cistern (7.05 m long, 1.80 m

wide, 2.33 m high) was connected to a well
in the northern part of the western wall
(2.70 m deep counting from the pavement;
0.45 by 0.48 m). This entrance was 1.65 m
high, 0.55 m wide. Rounded steps were
found in this cistern, four on the north side,
five on the south side. The surviving facing
of the walls and vaults in both cisterns was
composed of a first coating of brittle mortar,
0.5-2.0 cm thick with lime as binder and
aggregate of crushed lime shells and lime.
Covering it was a layer of hydraulic mortar,
0.5-1.0 cm thick, with red binder and
a large content of aggregate, chiefly
ceramics, crushed lime shells and lime.
Horizontal calcite efflorescence on the
smooth surface of the mortar marks water
levels in different periods. Vertical calcite
stains can be seen as well. The fill yielded
some pottery sherds (including terra
sigillata) dated to the 4th and 5th centuries
AD, corroded bronze coins, bone pins,
quantities of glass, a few lamp fragments,
bronze nails and a fishing net weight,
a piece of statuary (life-size male arm, of
a milk-white marble, medium blastic,
poorly translucent, with a beige patina) and
fragments of architectural decoration,
including pieces of a Corinthian capital (of
Proconessian marble) and two Pseudo-
Corinthian capitals from the courtyard.
A geoarchaeological study of the stone
finds also revealed a fragment of white
marble with purple veins, fine-blastic,
8.5 cm thick, believed to originate from the
Greek quarries in Dokimeion. One of the
discovered mortars was of crystalline
nummulithic limestone (nummuliths up to
2 cm in diameter) and another of pellitic
limestone. Other stone materials repre-
sented included a block of porous basalt and
a pumice pebble.
A block of micritic limestone
(29x27x20 cm) with a round hollow 10 cm
in diameter must have been used for

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