DOI issue:
Egypt
DOI article:Medeksza, Stanisław: Conservation work 1995
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.26390#0049
failing of and then the bricks themselves dissolving in the rain. The
floors of the house were covered with thick layers of the clay used
to make the bricks, mixed with windblown sand and eroded
plaster. It must be reiterated here: The "mudbrick" phase in the
development of these houses cannot be saved.
In order to emphasize the portico courtyard of the house, it
was necessary to reconstruct the surrounding walls which were
preserved to different heights, but never exceeding 0.70 m above
the stone pavement. Following dismantling of the eroded tops, the
walls measured: 0.45 m western wall, 0.20 m eastern wall. For the
purposes of the reconstruction, these walls had to be built up to no
less than 1 m, the western walls being higher than the eastern ones
for reasons explained above. This, of course, concerned only walls
not preserved to the projected minimum.
The first stage covered building up the southern courtyard
wall. The lack of a stonecutter throughout most of the season
prevented the mission from preparing new door jambs and column
shafts; it also influenced the manner of reconstruction of particular
walls. Projected levels of the walls were reached only in the
corners; in the doorways the height of the walls could not exceed
the existing original door jambs. In effect, the appearance of the
courtyard is far from satisfactory. The intended outcome will be
achieved in the next season hopefully, once a Polish stonecutter
joins the team.
The next walls to be raised were the western and eastern
ones. The same problems with doorjambs were encountered. The
experiment in the eastern wall with simple straight blocks replacing
the door jambs seems hardly pleasing in effect, and so new door
jambs will be substituted for the blocks in the coming season. It
was possible to experiment with such a solution in the case of this
wall, because the original jambs had no technical profling
requiring professional stone-dressing.
The western wall was completed in much the same way as the
southern one, that is gradually descending toward the doorway
47
floors of the house were covered with thick layers of the clay used
to make the bricks, mixed with windblown sand and eroded
plaster. It must be reiterated here: The "mudbrick" phase in the
development of these houses cannot be saved.
In order to emphasize the portico courtyard of the house, it
was necessary to reconstruct the surrounding walls which were
preserved to different heights, but never exceeding 0.70 m above
the stone pavement. Following dismantling of the eroded tops, the
walls measured: 0.45 m western wall, 0.20 m eastern wall. For the
purposes of the reconstruction, these walls had to be built up to no
less than 1 m, the western walls being higher than the eastern ones
for reasons explained above. This, of course, concerned only walls
not preserved to the projected minimum.
The first stage covered building up the southern courtyard
wall. The lack of a stonecutter throughout most of the season
prevented the mission from preparing new door jambs and column
shafts; it also influenced the manner of reconstruction of particular
walls. Projected levels of the walls were reached only in the
corners; in the doorways the height of the walls could not exceed
the existing original door jambs. In effect, the appearance of the
courtyard is far from satisfactory. The intended outcome will be
achieved in the next season hopefully, once a Polish stonecutter
joins the team.
The next walls to be raised were the western and eastern
ones. The same problems with doorjambs were encountered. The
experiment in the eastern wall with simple straight blocks replacing
the door jambs seems hardly pleasing in effect, and so new door
jambs will be substituted for the blocks in the coming season. It
was possible to experiment with such a solution in the case of this
wall, because the original jambs had no technical profling
requiring professional stone-dressing.
The western wall was completed in much the same way as the
southern one, that is gradually descending toward the doorway
47