DOI Heft:
Egypt
DOI Artikel:Majcherek, Grzegorz: Kom el-Dikka: excavations 1997
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.41242#0026
achieved. The northern end of the wall had been cleared in the
previous two seasons. Currently, the southern end, a section some
10m long, has been excavated. The wall had suffered serious
damage in the Medieval period when it was robbed of almost all the
facing stones, in places right down to the foundations, that is 6 m
below the presently preserved top of the wall. Based on finds from
the robbers’ pit, which include Fustat Fatimid Sgraffito and Early
Mamluk Sgraff sherds, as well as fragments of medieval lamps, this
event can be dated to the 12th- 14th centuries AD. The southernmost,
relatively well preserved buttress (no. 4) was found to have been
erected on a level slightly above the foundations of the wall itself. The
joining with the wall indicates that the buttress was not part of the
original design, but was added apparently at a later date. Finds from
the layers underlying the foundations included Egyptian and
imported common wares from the 4th century AD, but a lack of
well-dated objects excluded any more exact chronological
determinations. Archaeological work along the northern facade of
the cistern complex concentrated on clearing a section some 15 m
long, leaving only a small section near the northeastern comer of
the building where excavations were made impossible by the
severity of the damage to the building. Our knowledge of the
stratigraphy of the area indicates that a deposit of ashes and
building debris from the latest renovation of the baths, some 3-4 m
thick, had accumulated gradually in the area to the north of the
cistern already in the 6th century.2 3 The parallel renovation of the
cistern resulted in a complex of eight interconnected reservoirs
being built on top of the mined stmcture. The foundations of these
2 See: G. Majcherek, Kom el-Dikka Excavations 1995-1996, PAM VIII, 1996 (1997),
pp. 17-31.
3 For the stratigraphy and chronology of the bath complex, see: W. Kol^taj, Imperial
Baths at Kom el-Dikka, Warsaw 1992, pp. 50-51.
24
previous two seasons. Currently, the southern end, a section some
10m long, has been excavated. The wall had suffered serious
damage in the Medieval period when it was robbed of almost all the
facing stones, in places right down to the foundations, that is 6 m
below the presently preserved top of the wall. Based on finds from
the robbers’ pit, which include Fustat Fatimid Sgraffito and Early
Mamluk Sgraff sherds, as well as fragments of medieval lamps, this
event can be dated to the 12th- 14th centuries AD. The southernmost,
relatively well preserved buttress (no. 4) was found to have been
erected on a level slightly above the foundations of the wall itself. The
joining with the wall indicates that the buttress was not part of the
original design, but was added apparently at a later date. Finds from
the layers underlying the foundations included Egyptian and
imported common wares from the 4th century AD, but a lack of
well-dated objects excluded any more exact chronological
determinations. Archaeological work along the northern facade of
the cistern complex concentrated on clearing a section some 15 m
long, leaving only a small section near the northeastern comer of
the building where excavations were made impossible by the
severity of the damage to the building. Our knowledge of the
stratigraphy of the area indicates that a deposit of ashes and
building debris from the latest renovation of the baths, some 3-4 m
thick, had accumulated gradually in the area to the north of the
cistern already in the 6th century.2 3 The parallel renovation of the
cistern resulted in a complex of eight interconnected reservoirs
being built on top of the mined stmcture. The foundations of these
2 See: G. Majcherek, Kom el-Dikka Excavations 1995-1996, PAM VIII, 1996 (1997),
pp. 17-31.
3 For the stratigraphy and chronology of the bath complex, see: W. Kol^taj, Imperial
Baths at Kom el-Dikka, Warsaw 1992, pp. 50-51.
24