DOI issue:
Egypt
DOI article:Czerner, Rafał; Medeksza, Stanisław: The commodus monument from house H21C in Marina el-Alamein
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.42093#0108
MARINA EL-ALAMEIN
EGYPT
All of the described architectural elements
came from a single set, actually even from the
same feature, which could be construed as
a kind of portico with at least two columns
and one pilaster, but much more in fact to
judge by the number of cornice fragments.
No parts of the architrave or frieze have been
discovered, but this does not come as
a surprise in the light of what is known from
excavations in Marina el-Alamein. Friezes
were simply not used and the architraves were
of wood in all likelihood. The dimensions,
compared to the reconstructed height of the
room, were rather small: for the sake of
comparison, the lower shaft diameter of the
columns in the portico courtyard was 0.46 m
and they were appropriately taller. It was clear
that some kind of commemorative monument
was involved, but the connection with the
base in room 2 was not made until later.
The breakthrough came with the
discovery of two marble slabs with a
fragmentary inscription on the side edges
[%· <5]> discovered in 2000 while clearing
room 2 (Medeksza 2001: 73-74). The pieces
of reddish marble with bluish veins were
recomposed into two slabs, one 34.5 cm
long, 34 cm wide and 4.8 cm thick, the other
60.5 cm long, 29.5 cm wide and 4.3 cm thick
(a corner fragment was registered among
finds from the original Egyptian excavations
— 14.5 cm long, 5 cm wide and 5 cm thick).
The inscription on the long side edge of the
slabs was carved in round majuscules from
1.5 to 2.2 cm high. In 2003, Iwona Zych
recognized another small fragment of a
similar slab. Adam Eajtar (2001: 59-65;
revised in 2003: 178) has read the text as
follows:
(έτους) κγ'αύτ[οκράτορος
Καίσαρος Μάρκ]ου Άντωνείνου
Κομμό[δου — κ]αι την
σ[κ]ούτλωσιν των στιβάδων
[ — / — επ’ άγ]αθω.
Year 23 of Imperator Caesar Marcus
Antoninus Commodus [ — (has laid or
have laid) —] and the chequered-work of
stibades [ — ] for the good.
Of greatest importance for architectural
studies is the date given in the inscription: year
23 of Commodus corresponds to the period
between 29 August 182 and 28 August 183
(Eajtar 2003: 178). The inscription also hints
at the possible function of the slabs bearing the
text on the sides. The stibades is a term in the
plural, which can refer among others to a
masonry dining bed, possibly decorated with
such marble slabs on top. Such luxurious beds
(there would have been more than one in a
room) would have stood not so much in a
private house, as in a building dedicated to the
purposes of a professional or cultic association
(Eajtar 2001:63-65).
The inscribed slabs from Marina were
found in the fill of the biggest hall of the
building designated as House H21c. Most of
the above-described elements of architectural
decor were also uncovered in this spot,
immediately next to the two mysterious units
standing against the west wall of the room.
This prompted the original interpretation —
since abandoned — of these two units as a
rather large masonry bed, examples of which
are known from Marina (in the aboveground
mausoleums of hypogeum tombs T6, Til
and T21, although there they are
characterized by richly profiled edges of each
wall face). Once it was assumed that a marble
top of such fineness covered the top of this
bed, the other elements of the rich
decoration became justifiable, and their
rather small size was explained by their
elevation above the floor. Thus envisaged,
the feature standing against the west wall of
this official room, possibly a banquet hall,
started taking on the appearance of
a monument with a marble-topped base and
a portico of four richly painted columns and
102
Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean 19, Reports 2007
EGYPT
All of the described architectural elements
came from a single set, actually even from the
same feature, which could be construed as
a kind of portico with at least two columns
and one pilaster, but much more in fact to
judge by the number of cornice fragments.
No parts of the architrave or frieze have been
discovered, but this does not come as
a surprise in the light of what is known from
excavations in Marina el-Alamein. Friezes
were simply not used and the architraves were
of wood in all likelihood. The dimensions,
compared to the reconstructed height of the
room, were rather small: for the sake of
comparison, the lower shaft diameter of the
columns in the portico courtyard was 0.46 m
and they were appropriately taller. It was clear
that some kind of commemorative monument
was involved, but the connection with the
base in room 2 was not made until later.
The breakthrough came with the
discovery of two marble slabs with a
fragmentary inscription on the side edges
[%· <5]> discovered in 2000 while clearing
room 2 (Medeksza 2001: 73-74). The pieces
of reddish marble with bluish veins were
recomposed into two slabs, one 34.5 cm
long, 34 cm wide and 4.8 cm thick, the other
60.5 cm long, 29.5 cm wide and 4.3 cm thick
(a corner fragment was registered among
finds from the original Egyptian excavations
— 14.5 cm long, 5 cm wide and 5 cm thick).
The inscription on the long side edge of the
slabs was carved in round majuscules from
1.5 to 2.2 cm high. In 2003, Iwona Zych
recognized another small fragment of a
similar slab. Adam Eajtar (2001: 59-65;
revised in 2003: 178) has read the text as
follows:
(έτους) κγ'αύτ[οκράτορος
Καίσαρος Μάρκ]ου Άντωνείνου
Κομμό[δου — κ]αι την
σ[κ]ούτλωσιν των στιβάδων
[ — / — επ’ άγ]αθω.
Year 23 of Imperator Caesar Marcus
Antoninus Commodus [ — (has laid or
have laid) —] and the chequered-work of
stibades [ — ] for the good.
Of greatest importance for architectural
studies is the date given in the inscription: year
23 of Commodus corresponds to the period
between 29 August 182 and 28 August 183
(Eajtar 2003: 178). The inscription also hints
at the possible function of the slabs bearing the
text on the sides. The stibades is a term in the
plural, which can refer among others to a
masonry dining bed, possibly decorated with
such marble slabs on top. Such luxurious beds
(there would have been more than one in a
room) would have stood not so much in a
private house, as in a building dedicated to the
purposes of a professional or cultic association
(Eajtar 2001:63-65).
The inscribed slabs from Marina were
found in the fill of the biggest hall of the
building designated as House H21c. Most of
the above-described elements of architectural
decor were also uncovered in this spot,
immediately next to the two mysterious units
standing against the west wall of the room.
This prompted the original interpretation —
since abandoned — of these two units as a
rather large masonry bed, examples of which
are known from Marina (in the aboveground
mausoleums of hypogeum tombs T6, Til
and T21, although there they are
characterized by richly profiled edges of each
wall face). Once it was assumed that a marble
top of such fineness covered the top of this
bed, the other elements of the rich
decoration became justifiable, and their
rather small size was explained by their
elevation above the floor. Thus envisaged,
the feature standing against the west wall of
this official room, possibly a banquet hall,
started taking on the appearance of
a monument with a marble-topped base and
a portico of four richly painted columns and
102
Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean 19, Reports 2007