DOI article:
Myśliwiec, Karol: Polish-Egyptian excavations at Tell Atrib in 1990
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.26389#0028
to be a center of lime production. Several large lime Kilns were found on two different
levels. Many fragments of painted plaster as well as fragmentary limestone blocks and
terracotta tiles originating from the neighbouring baths were found inside the kilns.
A thick layer of lime rubble surrounded the kilns and extended up to the southern limit
of a large mud brick construction which occupies this quarter’s northern end. The
construction embraces several small rooms, some of which may have served as
storerooms, while others were probably inhabited. In one of these rooms a pottery
deposit was found together with Late Roman coins and lamps of similar date. The deposit
contained many globular pots and a portable cooking-stove. Second deposit came to
light in another room on a slightly higher level. This was a set of large Egyptian
amphorae and barrels dating to the Byzantine period.
The extremely rich ceramic material belonging to the archaeological context of this
stratum comprises several oil lamps made of marl clay and decorated on the discus with
a stamped pattern of a frog with spread legs in various stylized versions. The most
sophisticated of these reliefs shows two new-born children attached to a small circle
which most probably should be identified as a picture of the vagina. At the western
extremity of the Byzantine quarter there is a deep well built of red bricks. It is
incorporated into a long and wide mud brick wall constituting the east border of the
Ptolemaic quarter. The well was explored down to a depth of ca. 4 m below its top, water
being pumped out while excavations proceeded. This exploration revealed a long term
of use and multiple reparations made to the well in the Byzantine period.
Owing to the particularly low water table during our excavation season
(September-October), we could continue explorations in the previously unearthed
Ptolemaic constructions, reaching down to strata corresponding to the second half of
the 4^ century and the beginning of the 3r* century B.C.. This early date is confirmed
by the pottery and some small finds among which two objects, so far unique, deserve
particular attention. These are a terracotta lamp in the form of a small bowl with a
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levels. Many fragments of painted plaster as well as fragmentary limestone blocks and
terracotta tiles originating from the neighbouring baths were found inside the kilns.
A thick layer of lime rubble surrounded the kilns and extended up to the southern limit
of a large mud brick construction which occupies this quarter’s northern end. The
construction embraces several small rooms, some of which may have served as
storerooms, while others were probably inhabited. In one of these rooms a pottery
deposit was found together with Late Roman coins and lamps of similar date. The deposit
contained many globular pots and a portable cooking-stove. Second deposit came to
light in another room on a slightly higher level. This was a set of large Egyptian
amphorae and barrels dating to the Byzantine period.
The extremely rich ceramic material belonging to the archaeological context of this
stratum comprises several oil lamps made of marl clay and decorated on the discus with
a stamped pattern of a frog with spread legs in various stylized versions. The most
sophisticated of these reliefs shows two new-born children attached to a small circle
which most probably should be identified as a picture of the vagina. At the western
extremity of the Byzantine quarter there is a deep well built of red bricks. It is
incorporated into a long and wide mud brick wall constituting the east border of the
Ptolemaic quarter. The well was explored down to a depth of ca. 4 m below its top, water
being pumped out while excavations proceeded. This exploration revealed a long term
of use and multiple reparations made to the well in the Byzantine period.
Owing to the particularly low water table during our excavation season
(September-October), we could continue explorations in the previously unearthed
Ptolemaic constructions, reaching down to strata corresponding to the second half of
the 4^ century and the beginning of the 3r* century B.C.. This early date is confirmed
by the pottery and some small finds among which two objects, so far unique, deserve
particular attention. These are a terracotta lamp in the form of a small bowl with a
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