DOI article:
Daszewski, Wiktor Andrzej: Marina el-Alamein 1993
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.43746#0033
Two steps cut in the rock led inside the chamber whose floor
sloped back slightly. The benches which ran around three walls of
the chamber were also cut in bedrock. Loculi were hewn in the
walls above them. The side benches were 1.50 m wide and 3.95
m long. The southern bench, that is the bench along the back wall,
was definitely narrower and raised 0.70 m above the floor. In the
middle of the chamber there was a small offering table in the form
of a rectangular stone slab set up on a vertical support. Inside the
chamber two oil lamps from the late 1st century AD were
discovered (Fig.2).
Hypogeum 10A constitutes an example of the second
type/ The purpose this season was to complete clearing the
steps, the courtyard and at least part of the main burial chamber.
As in T7, the whole underground space of this tomb was filled
with inblown sand. The clearing of the monumental staircase and
the corridor leading to the inside courtyard proved successful. The
barrel vaulting of the staircase was excellently preserved along two
thirds of its length. A section through the middle of the courtyard
was cleared determining the depth of the filling (5.5 m below
ground level) and uncovering the main altar cut in bedrock. It
turned out that the tomb had been partly filled in with sand already
in antiquity, making it necessary to introduce a stone slab in place
of the altar, some 1.5 m above the original floor level. The
courtyard was of the peristyle type with pillars on three sides
supporting the ceiling in the entrances to the burial chambers
(Fig.5). Inside the main burial chamber which was located on the
N-S axis, there was a total of 15 loculi in two rows along three
sides. At the back wall there was an additional altar or offering
7 See id. PAM IV, 1992 (1993), pp.29-30, Fig. 3.
31
sloped back slightly. The benches which ran around three walls of
the chamber were also cut in bedrock. Loculi were hewn in the
walls above them. The side benches were 1.50 m wide and 3.95
m long. The southern bench, that is the bench along the back wall,
was definitely narrower and raised 0.70 m above the floor. In the
middle of the chamber there was a small offering table in the form
of a rectangular stone slab set up on a vertical support. Inside the
chamber two oil lamps from the late 1st century AD were
discovered (Fig.2).
Hypogeum 10A constitutes an example of the second
type/ The purpose this season was to complete clearing the
steps, the courtyard and at least part of the main burial chamber.
As in T7, the whole underground space of this tomb was filled
with inblown sand. The clearing of the monumental staircase and
the corridor leading to the inside courtyard proved successful. The
barrel vaulting of the staircase was excellently preserved along two
thirds of its length. A section through the middle of the courtyard
was cleared determining the depth of the filling (5.5 m below
ground level) and uncovering the main altar cut in bedrock. It
turned out that the tomb had been partly filled in with sand already
in antiquity, making it necessary to introduce a stone slab in place
of the altar, some 1.5 m above the original floor level. The
courtyard was of the peristyle type with pillars on three sides
supporting the ceiling in the entrances to the burial chambers
(Fig.5). Inside the main burial chamber which was located on the
N-S axis, there was a total of 15 loculi in two rows along three
sides. At the back wall there was an additional altar or offering
7 See id. PAM IV, 1992 (1993), pp.29-30, Fig. 3.
31