DOI article:
Daszewski, Wiktor Andrzej: Nea Paphos 1990 report
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.26389#0085
would suggest. The room next to it on the east was a latrine of fair size indicating that
it was intended for a number of users at a time.
The latest excavations continued the investigations of the western wing of the
peristyle begun last year. What became apparent was the fact that the Ionian column
portico of the eastern and southern wings was completely different, both in size and
nature, from the western one. New fragments of columns and pillars were discovered
there. The capitals represented the specific variety of the Corinthian order that is
typical of regions which came under Ptolemaic influence. One such capital of large size
(the top span is 1 m) was discovered last year and this season supplied new fragments.
The stylobate of the western colonnade is wider than that of the eastern one and draws
from the size of the columns themselves. A sounding made in the middle part of the
western stylobate brought some surprising results. It demonstrated that the stylobate
did not have any foundations, at least in this section.
Opening off the western portico was a large room (no. 10) more of which was
uncovered this year. Its dimensions 11 x 6.5 m show it to have been a reception hall with
an axis that is perpendicular to the portico. A wide entrance with a span of 3.1 m opens
out on the portico. The mosaic floor in this room is made up of irregular chips of a
creamish-white limestone and of black basalt(?). The decorative motif is extremely
simple: a thin, about 10 cm wide black band running parallel to the room’s walls on a
uniform whitish ground. The materials used (irregular bits of stone) as well as the
technique, colouring and design place this mosaic among Hellenistic floors known from
other regions of the Mediterranean, especially from the nearby Cyrenaica and from
Greece proper. The Paphos mosaic should be considered a work of the 2SI* century B.C..
Traces of stucco relief pillars are visible on the preserved parts of the walls of
room no. 10, while the fill yielded many fragments of painted plaster. The designs
included red and black bands, green and yellow lines. A much richer wall decoration,
and much better preserved as well, was found in room no. 11. Three subsequent layers
of plastering were recorded on its walls, the paintings being done in the al secco
03
it was intended for a number of users at a time.
The latest excavations continued the investigations of the western wing of the
peristyle begun last year. What became apparent was the fact that the Ionian column
portico of the eastern and southern wings was completely different, both in size and
nature, from the western one. New fragments of columns and pillars were discovered
there. The capitals represented the specific variety of the Corinthian order that is
typical of regions which came under Ptolemaic influence. One such capital of large size
(the top span is 1 m) was discovered last year and this season supplied new fragments.
The stylobate of the western colonnade is wider than that of the eastern one and draws
from the size of the columns themselves. A sounding made in the middle part of the
western stylobate brought some surprising results. It demonstrated that the stylobate
did not have any foundations, at least in this section.
Opening off the western portico was a large room (no. 10) more of which was
uncovered this year. Its dimensions 11 x 6.5 m show it to have been a reception hall with
an axis that is perpendicular to the portico. A wide entrance with a span of 3.1 m opens
out on the portico. The mosaic floor in this room is made up of irregular chips of a
creamish-white limestone and of black basalt(?). The decorative motif is extremely
simple: a thin, about 10 cm wide black band running parallel to the room’s walls on a
uniform whitish ground. The materials used (irregular bits of stone) as well as the
technique, colouring and design place this mosaic among Hellenistic floors known from
other regions of the Mediterranean, especially from the nearby Cyrenaica and from
Greece proper. The Paphos mosaic should be considered a work of the 2SI* century B.C..
Traces of stucco relief pillars are visible on the preserved parts of the walls of
room no. 10, while the fill yielded many fragments of painted plaster. The designs
included red and black bands, green and yellow lines. A much richer wall decoration,
and much better preserved as well, was found in room no. 11. Three subsequent layers
of plastering were recorded on its walls, the paintings being done in the al secco
03