Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (18.2006(2008))

TELL LARAMA

EGYPT

retrieval of stone for other buildings. In
many cases nothing but the substructure of
floors remained in place.
In the end effect, a large part of a rich
private house was uncovered (the eastern
end still awaits excavation), verifying data
provided by a geomagnetic survey in 2005
and information from fieldwalking of the
surrounding area, which had revealed
a latitudinal colonnaded street. The area
with its characteristic architectural
features, located near the Pelusiac branch
of the Nile, has been already signaled by


Fig. 3- Bone pin
(Photo 0. Wasilewska)


Fig. 4- Amphora stopper of lime mortar
(Photo 0. Wasilewska)

J. Cledat (1913: 79-85) Other relatively
rich private residences must have stood
here, blending well into the ancient urban
layout which can still be occasionally
discerned on the ground surface, especially
east of the mosaic trench.
The most characteristic element of the
excavated structure is a long corridor
running from the west entrance directly
into what may have been the house's main
room with the mosaic floor. Just behind
the door from the street there was a trans-
versal room from which another corridor
led to two or three small rooms, as well as
two side rooms located opposite one
another. There could have been another
entrance to the house through a small
room at the southern end of the corridor,
directly from the latitudinal street passing
by the south fagade of the structure.
Remains of a kitchen with a large
quantity of cooking pots and an oval oven
located in the southwestern corner of the
room were found at the intersection of the
two corridors in the center of the house.
Two more rooms lay on' the opposite side of
the corridor which runs directly from the
side entrance to the room with the mosaic.
At least one of them may have been used
for storage. A passage may have separated
the two units, leading off to the northern,
unpreserved part of the dwelling. A sewage
facility was recorded in the eastern part of
the house, under the remains of a wall
dividing the main room with the mosaic
from another room north of it. It may have
carried waste from the kitchen, but it is too
damaged for us to be sure about this.
Remains of different color marble found in
the fill suggest that the western part of the
house had interiors fitted with opus sectile
floors.
The room to the north of the mosaic
chamber appears to have been used as

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