DOI article:
Myśliwiec, Karol: Tell Atrib 1994
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.26424#0049
brought interesting new results. A well preserved sewage system
was discovered removing waste water from under the central north-
south corridor of the baths. The canal, which ran to the northeast,
was uncovered all the way to the northern edge of the excavations,
that is to Kom Sidi Yussuf, and to judge by available evidence, it
continued to run under the /row in a northerly direction. It is
constructed of fired brick covered with a thick layer of mortar and
has a barrel vaulting of bricks in mud mortar. The baths were
apparently rebuilt in the Ptolemaic period, presumably following
earthquake damage. The original sewage system was replaced with
a provisional canal the walls of which were made of irregular brick
fragments, presumably reused elements of the original construction.
The fragments were set in two uneven lines on the original floors
of the baths which were thus reused as the floor of the secondary
sewage system.
The preserved part of the floor in the northern part of the
baths was uncovered completely; it had cracked and tilted
considerably to the south as a result of seismic disturbances. South
of the canal system the floor was completely destroyed; what was
preserved were two furnaces which were used after the destruction
of the baths rather than before their construction. Were the latter
case true, the furnaces should be dated to the first half of the
Ptolemaic period and it should be assumed that the floor of the
newly constructed baths covered them.
The largest furnace below the level of the floors of this
early bath was discovered between the eastern part of the bath
(squares LL-MM and FF-GG) and its western part (squares JJ-KK)
explored in 1989. Since sherds of unfired pottery were uncovered
at the bottom of this furnace, it should be assumed that in the first
half of the Ptolemaic period it was used for pottery production and
when the baths were built in the mid 2^ century B.C. it was either
covered by the floor of the new structure or reused to heat the
establishment.
47
was discovered removing waste water from under the central north-
south corridor of the baths. The canal, which ran to the northeast,
was uncovered all the way to the northern edge of the excavations,
that is to Kom Sidi Yussuf, and to judge by available evidence, it
continued to run under the /row in a northerly direction. It is
constructed of fired brick covered with a thick layer of mortar and
has a barrel vaulting of bricks in mud mortar. The baths were
apparently rebuilt in the Ptolemaic period, presumably following
earthquake damage. The original sewage system was replaced with
a provisional canal the walls of which were made of irregular brick
fragments, presumably reused elements of the original construction.
The fragments were set in two uneven lines on the original floors
of the baths which were thus reused as the floor of the secondary
sewage system.
The preserved part of the floor in the northern part of the
baths was uncovered completely; it had cracked and tilted
considerably to the south as a result of seismic disturbances. South
of the canal system the floor was completely destroyed; what was
preserved were two furnaces which were used after the destruction
of the baths rather than before their construction. Were the latter
case true, the furnaces should be dated to the first half of the
Ptolemaic period and it should be assumed that the floor of the
newly constructed baths covered them.
The largest furnace below the level of the floors of this
early bath was discovered between the eastern part of the bath
(squares LL-MM and FF-GG) and its western part (squares JJ-KK)
explored in 1989. Since sherds of unfired pottery were uncovered
at the bottom of this furnace, it should be assumed that in the first
half of the Ptolemaic period it was used for pottery production and
when the baths were built in the mid 2^ century B.C. it was either
covered by the floor of the new structure or reused to heat the
establishment.
47