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ALEXANDRIA
EGYPT
"VILLAOFTHEBIRDS"MOSAICPROJECT
Theshelterthatwaserectedoverthe
mosaicswasfittedwithasystemofgutters
drainingrainfallfromtheroofand
surroundingareaintotheancientRoman
sewagesystem,whichemptiesintothe
ground.Anextremelyrainyseasonthis
winterprovedthefulleffectivenessofthis
system.
Thenewentrancetothesitewas
designedonthespotoftheancient
southeasternentrancetotheRomanbaths
fromstreetR4.Itliesontheaxisofthe
above-mentionedstreetandattheeastern
endofthesouthernbathportico.Newly
madestepsleaddownfromthelevelofthe
modernstreet(13.5mabovesealevel)to
thelevelofthebathvestibule(9.5mabove
sealevel).Inantiquitythisvestibulewas
reachedfromstreetR4(at8.00mabove
sealevel)alsobyastaircaseleadingup.The
lowerpartofthevestibulewallsandthe
columnsflankingtheentrancewerepartly
rebuiltfromancientmaterial.Partof
aByzantinemosaicfloorinthisvestibule
wasprotectedanddisplayed.Agravelpath
wasmade,leadingfromthebathvestibule
tothemosaicsshelter.
Theofficialopening,whichtookplace
onJanuary22,2000,wasattendedbythe
MinisterofCultureoftheArabRepublicof
Egypt,Mr.FarukHosni,theGovernorof
Alexandria,Mr.MohammedAbdelSalam
el-Mahgub,headoftheSupremeCouncilof
Antiquities,Prof.GaballaAliGaballa,
PolishAmbassadorJoannaWronecka,
representativesoftheAmericanandPolish
embassystaff,aswellasofARCEandthe
PolishCenterofArchaeology(Fig.3).
Fig3.
Officialopeningoftheshelteroverthemosaicsinthe"VillaoftheBirds"
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