DOI Artikel:
Majcherek, Grzegorz: Alexandria 1994: archaeological excavations
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.26424#0019
orientation of the building and its topographical relation to the
street network remain unknown. It appears that the building
represented a rather typical urban house plan, featuring a central
courtyard and a series of rooms grouped around it. It should be
made clear, however, that at this initial stage of research it is still
premature to embark upon a hypothetical reconstruction of the
house as a whole. The courtyard has not been completely cleared,
but the explored part (3 x 7 m) has led us to assume, that it was
designed as a pseudo-peristyle structure, decorated with engaged
columns along the walls. One such column, adorning the southern
wall of the courtyard has actually been excavated. It was a
plain-shafted column resting on a low angular torus and topped
with a regular Doric capital. The courtyard was paved with small
chips of marble set in pinkish mortar.
Doors situated in the southwestern corner of the courtyard
gave access to the staircase (/oc.6), pointing to the existence of a
roof terrace or upper floor. No actual steps have survived, having
been made presumably of wood as evidenced by the traces of
supporting beams left on adjacent walls. West of the staircase,
room no. 5 accommodated a two-chambered vaulted cellar, of
which only the northern part measuring 0.80 x 3 m has been
explored. The originally brick vaults were found to be almost
entirely destroyed, save for an interconnecting stone arch which
was preserved intact. Further to the west, there were two additional
rooms (7od 9 and 10). They were, only partly excavated, the
seriously damaged walls preventing a thorough exploration. Both
rooms were of roughly the same size (2.30 x 3.25 m), and both
had separate entrances from the south, while at the same time they
had no direct communication with the northern part of the edifice.
This section of the building was somehow set apart from the main
body of the house and must have served household functions.
The main reception hall of the house (cccMj) was situated
immediately west of the courtyard. It was accessible through a
17
street network remain unknown. It appears that the building
represented a rather typical urban house plan, featuring a central
courtyard and a series of rooms grouped around it. It should be
made clear, however, that at this initial stage of research it is still
premature to embark upon a hypothetical reconstruction of the
house as a whole. The courtyard has not been completely cleared,
but the explored part (3 x 7 m) has led us to assume, that it was
designed as a pseudo-peristyle structure, decorated with engaged
columns along the walls. One such column, adorning the southern
wall of the courtyard has actually been excavated. It was a
plain-shafted column resting on a low angular torus and topped
with a regular Doric capital. The courtyard was paved with small
chips of marble set in pinkish mortar.
Doors situated in the southwestern corner of the courtyard
gave access to the staircase (/oc.6), pointing to the existence of a
roof terrace or upper floor. No actual steps have survived, having
been made presumably of wood as evidenced by the traces of
supporting beams left on adjacent walls. West of the staircase,
room no. 5 accommodated a two-chambered vaulted cellar, of
which only the northern part measuring 0.80 x 3 m has been
explored. The originally brick vaults were found to be almost
entirely destroyed, save for an interconnecting stone arch which
was preserved intact. Further to the west, there were two additional
rooms (7od 9 and 10). They were, only partly excavated, the
seriously damaged walls preventing a thorough exploration. Both
rooms were of roughly the same size (2.30 x 3.25 m), and both
had separate entrances from the south, while at the same time they
had no direct communication with the northern part of the edifice.
This section of the building was somehow set apart from the main
body of the house and must have served household functions.
The main reception hall of the house (cccMj) was situated
immediately west of the courtyard. It was accessible through a
17