DOI issue:
Cyprus
DOI article:Daszewski, Wiktor Andrzej: Nea Paphos: excavations 1996
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.41241#0119
underground chamber (cistern?). Several big finely dressed blocks
were found in the pit; they bore traces of painted plaster with
decoration in the form of red, white and black bands delimiting
a white field of bigger dimensions. Found in the debris was
a terracotta figurine of Harpocrates (?) standing upon a circular
base and with only the right hand missing. Pottery finds repeated
types uncovered in the past season in the southern part of the
room4, suggesting a destruction date around the middle of the
2nd century AD.
Some 10 m to the east of Room 8E excavations continued in the
so-called Early Roman House (Phot. 1). Several trenches were
opened with a view to completing the clearing of rooms 6, 2, 3,
and the area east of them.5 Here again, the fairly homogeneous
upper part of the fill consisted of brown soil mixed with loose
stones and pottery sherds. Deeper down, the fill contained a few
bigger blocks, the lowest of them resting directly upon the floor.
Finds included several fragments of 1st century AD. lamps, two
complete examples that can be dated to around the middle of the
century, and two stone thymiateria. Rooms 6, 2, 4, 3 were
completely excavated along with the staircase between them. We
now have a clearer picture of the house which had developed
around a small courtyard (EW - 2.66 m; NS - 3.07 m) that was
paved with a smooth waterproof lime mortar mixed with gravel.
To the north and west of the court two large walls (0.53 m) may
have once formed a stylobate for the two limestone columns found
previously in Room 4, immediately to the south of the court. Both
columns were plastered and painted. On the east side of the court
two steps led to a small square corridor and a staircase inside
a square shaft with three flights of stairs preserved. Under the flight
abutting the court (now destroyed) a square opening led to the
shaft of a water cistern. Exploration of the shaft revealed that at
4 Ibid., p. 95f.
5 Ibid., p. 96.
117
were found in the pit; they bore traces of painted plaster with
decoration in the form of red, white and black bands delimiting
a white field of bigger dimensions. Found in the debris was
a terracotta figurine of Harpocrates (?) standing upon a circular
base and with only the right hand missing. Pottery finds repeated
types uncovered in the past season in the southern part of the
room4, suggesting a destruction date around the middle of the
2nd century AD.
Some 10 m to the east of Room 8E excavations continued in the
so-called Early Roman House (Phot. 1). Several trenches were
opened with a view to completing the clearing of rooms 6, 2, 3,
and the area east of them.5 Here again, the fairly homogeneous
upper part of the fill consisted of brown soil mixed with loose
stones and pottery sherds. Deeper down, the fill contained a few
bigger blocks, the lowest of them resting directly upon the floor.
Finds included several fragments of 1st century AD. lamps, two
complete examples that can be dated to around the middle of the
century, and two stone thymiateria. Rooms 6, 2, 4, 3 were
completely excavated along with the staircase between them. We
now have a clearer picture of the house which had developed
around a small courtyard (EW - 2.66 m; NS - 3.07 m) that was
paved with a smooth waterproof lime mortar mixed with gravel.
To the north and west of the court two large walls (0.53 m) may
have once formed a stylobate for the two limestone columns found
previously in Room 4, immediately to the south of the court. Both
columns were plastered and painted. On the east side of the court
two steps led to a small square corridor and a staircase inside
a square shaft with three flights of stairs preserved. Under the flight
abutting the court (now destroyed) a square opening led to the
shaft of a water cistern. Exploration of the shaft revealed that at
4 Ibid., p. 95f.
5 Ibid., p. 96.
117