DOI issue:
Egypt
DOI article:Majcherek, Grzegorz: Excavations at Kom el-Dikka 1995
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.26390#0021
city's cemeteries imitated house-types current in Ptolemaic
Alexandria; the tombs of Mustapha Pasha, which feature the
pseudo-peristyle arrangement, are the most commonly quoted
examples.6 It is almost certain now that both the overall design and
the architectural decoration of the tombs and of the early Roman
house FA are derived from a common source, constituted most
probably by Hellenistic domestic architecture.
PHASE II
In the second phase, both the construction and plan of the
house underwent considerable changes. Parts of the original walls
were rebuilt and new structures were introduced. Changes usually
consisted of partition walls being erected in the hitherto large units.
The c<?c?AS- (loc. 2) was divided into three separate units (loci 2a, 2b
and 7). The same goes for the court, divided by a transversal wall
which destroyed part of the mosaic floor. In other cases, the
rebuilding was limited to blocking entrances or introducing new
ones where required. Loc. 9, used previously for a shop, was now
blocked off from the side street and connected with the rest of the
house. Loc. 11 was connected directly with the court, destroying a
large section of the wall in the process. In some of the units new
installations were built, e g. a well in loc. 8 and the settling tank in
loc. 11.
New building techniques were introduced as well, i.e. pitched
brick vaulting on a wide scale and even domes. The newly
established room 7 was found to be covered with almost intact
domes. Its function will remain unknown, however, until it is
cleared.
It would seem that the building lost its residential character at
this time and began serving storage purposes. The upper floor
above loc. 11 was turned into a storeroom for amphoras, most of
them representing an early form of the well known amphorae from
Gaza (LRA 4), dated to the 4^ century AD What is more
^ Cf. A. Adriani,4/7/7M<7/;r (A/MMyec Gr^co-Ro/77777/7 (1933-35), pp. 67-79.
19
Alexandria; the tombs of Mustapha Pasha, which feature the
pseudo-peristyle arrangement, are the most commonly quoted
examples.6 It is almost certain now that both the overall design and
the architectural decoration of the tombs and of the early Roman
house FA are derived from a common source, constituted most
probably by Hellenistic domestic architecture.
PHASE II
In the second phase, both the construction and plan of the
house underwent considerable changes. Parts of the original walls
were rebuilt and new structures were introduced. Changes usually
consisted of partition walls being erected in the hitherto large units.
The c<?c?AS- (loc. 2) was divided into three separate units (loci 2a, 2b
and 7). The same goes for the court, divided by a transversal wall
which destroyed part of the mosaic floor. In other cases, the
rebuilding was limited to blocking entrances or introducing new
ones where required. Loc. 9, used previously for a shop, was now
blocked off from the side street and connected with the rest of the
house. Loc. 11 was connected directly with the court, destroying a
large section of the wall in the process. In some of the units new
installations were built, e g. a well in loc. 8 and the settling tank in
loc. 11.
New building techniques were introduced as well, i.e. pitched
brick vaulting on a wide scale and even domes. The newly
established room 7 was found to be covered with almost intact
domes. Its function will remain unknown, however, until it is
cleared.
It would seem that the building lost its residential character at
this time and began serving storage purposes. The upper floor
above loc. 11 was turned into a storeroom for amphoras, most of
them representing an early form of the well known amphorae from
Gaza (LRA 4), dated to the 4^ century AD What is more
^ Cf. A. Adriani,4/7/7M<7/;r (A/MMyec Gr^co-Ro/77777/7 (1933-35), pp. 67-79.
19