Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (19.2007(2010))

ΝΕΑ PAPHOS

CYPRUS

STREET SOUTH OF THE HOUSE OF AION

The large trench, sunk in this area stretched
along the south wall of HA, following for
38 m the northern side of a latitudinal street
(which was 3.60 m wide). It is one of the
principal streets, 5.30 m wide, codenamed B
on the reconstructed urban grid (Daszewski
1978: 174; Mlynarczyk 1985: 317-325;
1990: 161-175). Rescue excavation in this
area required bulldozing away the top layers
left over from building a rest area for tourists
inside the Archaeological Park and the
dismantling of a modern retaining wall that
had separated an old trench, excavated south
of HA in 1985, from the tourist walkway.
Most of the area proved to have been
disturbed during the construction of the
pavilion sheltering the mosaics of the House
of Aion and the retaining wall.
East of this modern structure, some
remains of street surfaces and superimposed
rubble remained undisturbed from ancient
times. The only structures found between
the central drain running in the street and
HA were drains branching off from the
house to the main street sewage. The
remains to the east of the entrance to HA
included a terracotta pipe, part of which was
already found during earlier excavations,
running 0.80 m south of the south wall of
HA. This pipe lay just below the latest street
surfaces. Deeper, at about 0.50 m, flat slabs
were found covering the stone drain,
identified already in 1965 further to the
west. The top part of this drain was
preserved for approximately 28 m. Further
east, deep robber trenches had been dug to
get at the slabs and walls of the drain, yet
there is no doubt that the street and drain
continued further east to the port of Paphos.
Two trial pits dug in this area have shown
that the drain must have been removed

already in antiquity and its function taken
over by the terracotta pipe.
Among the finds in this heavily disturbed
area there is a small marble head possibly
representing one of the young members of
the Ptolemaic family. The head is shown
wearing a diadem and the ram horn of Zeus
Ammon on the left side of the head. It is well
modeled and typically Hellenistic in style.
The right side differs stylistically from the left
and shows features of Cypriot sculpture with
flat representation of eyes and generally
cruder workmanship [Fig. 1].
An intact molded clay lamp with pierced
handle and symmetrical cornucopias on the
discus, made of reddish unslipped clay (1st
century or beginning of 2nd century AD),
was also found between fragmentary walls
preserved in the eastern part of the trench.


Fig. 1. Marble head with horn of Zeus Ammon
(Photo W. Jerke)

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Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean 19, Reports 2007