Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (18.2006(2008))

OLD DONGOLA

SUDAN

preserved to a height of 3.10 m, is
characterized by extremely thick walls,
ranging in breadth from 0.70 to 0.82 m
{Fig. 2}. It comprises two narrow rooms
(1.10-1.30 by 3.10 m), originally barrel
vaulted and apparently with a thin layer of
compact mud instead of a paved floor. An
arcade connected the two chambers. The
entrance was from the courtyard through
a door in the north facade [Fig. 3]·
Curiously enough, the walls were not
founded on the paved surface of the
monastery courtyard, but some 0.35 m
higher, on a level of rubble originating from
a mud-brick wall, which had evidently
collapsed at some earlier time. This is likely
to have been the face of the enclosure wall.
Remnants of the facing survive in the lower
part of the wall, taken advantage of as a kind

of table or bench inside the room (13B). The
other possible interpretation of the rubble
bedding is that it represents an earlier
structure, the thin walls of which were
incorporated into the outer south and east
walls of the new building erected on its spot
[cf. Fig. 2). Interestingly, these two walls
stand directly on top of the brick pavement
of the monastery courtyard.
Four main occupation levels originating
from the Late and Terminal Christian
Period were observed in the rooms. All of
them indicate household use. The southern
chamber (SW-E.13B) may have even served
as a kitchen at some point, as suggested by
the soot on the wall, traces of the mounting
of wooden shelves on the walls, an
enclosure filled with sand, rubble and
ashes. The rising occupational level in the


Fig. 2. Structure SW-E.13 looking northwest, early into the excavations
(Photo S. Jakobielski)

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