Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (7.1995(1996))

THE LATE USE OF THE HOUSE
The house was inhabited, apparently without major
interruption, for some six centuries untii its final abandonment
around AD 800. During this time, while wooden ceilings remained
untouched in some rooms, as shown by the circumstances in which
stucco cornices have been found, the general character was changed
from that of a spacious residence to an agglomeration of small,
separate dwellings cut out from the whole by means of shabby
partitions and blocked doors. The process of change started
apparently in the 6^ century and could have been induced by an
earthquake or some other disaster, but resulted in the first place
from the changing social conditions in Byzantine Palmyra.
The main change, as already observed before, lay in the
disappearance of the storey, presumably after a major destruction.
In the sector investigated this year, this resulted in the blocking of
the staircase loc. 39a, which was not needed any more. The fill
yielded seven coins, some Byzantine-Umayyad and some Post-
Reform securely dating the blocking of the stairs to the reign
of Abd el-Malik, around A.D. 700.
In the courtyard loc. 39, the SW corner, including entrances
to loci 42 and 47, was set off with two small columns and paved on
a level higher than the rest of the courtyard. The resulting lounge
opened to the East and was probably provided with a cancel, as can
be inferred from the blocks set between the columns, provided with
sockets. The date of this feature could not be ascertained.
The SE corner of the courtyard loc. 39 was systematically
dismantled at some recent occasion (a hollow in the ground was to
be seen there before the excavations). No traces of a door have
survived, but a paved ramp was found outside (loc. 43), belonging
to the last stage in the house's use, leading up and eastwards to a
rather monumental doorway. Of this, a monolithic threshold was
found in place practically on the modern level, and the matching

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