Treść książki
Przejdź do opcji czytnikaPrzejdź do nawigacjiPrzejdź do informacjiPrzejdź do stopki
ALEXANDRIA
EGYPT
popularinEgypt,isalsoconsideredas
distinctiveoftheAlexandrianstyle.
Tracesofancientrepairsaretobe
observedinbothpartsofthefloors.Inthe
northernpartofthetessellatummosaicthere
wasquiteabiglacuna(c.0.90x0.60m),
repairedwithtesseraeofslightlydifferent
colorandsize.Adestroyedfragmentofone
ofthedolphins(SWcorner)wasmendedin
similarmanner,asweresomeofthe
octagonsdecoratingtheforefrontofthe
mosaic.Comparableinterventionsare
discerniblealsointhesectionofthe
U-shapedfloor.
Thedatingofthebuildingisstillfar
fromprecise.Associatedfindsincluded
relativelyfewpotteryfragments,mostly
belongingtothe2nd-3rdcenturyhorizon,
aswellasseverallampsofsimilardate.
Amongthemoreinterestingfindsone
shouldmentionasmallterracottafigurine
(Reg.no.5049)andalampdecoratedwith
arepresentationofwingedEros(Reg.
no.5050).
Oncedestroyed,theroom,aswellasthe
wholederelictbuilding,wasatleastpartly
clearedandre-occupied.Itmusthavebeen
turnedintoakindofworkshoptojudgeby
theinstallationsuncoveredonfloorlevel:
aseriesofstone-maderectangularcysts
accompaniedbysomelargevessels(mostly
reusedamphorae)dugintothecor-
respondinglayer.Theimpressionisthatof
asmallfoundry,althoughnoactual
evidenceofslagwasfoundwiththethick
layerofashes.Theprecisefunctionofthe
installations,however,remainsobscure
owingtotheirpoorstateofpreservation.
Thebuildingwasabandonedintheearly
4thcent.ADandpartlyleveledduringthe
constructionoftheTheaterandthePortico.
Theresultsofourworkseemtocallfor
athoroughre-examinationofanolddebate
concerning
the
typical
layout
of
Alexandriandomesticarchitectureofthe
Romanperiod.Thehouseuncoveredin
sectorMcanbeidentifiedasarectangular
building(c.25mlong),accessiblefrom
thenorth,fromasmallsecondarystreet
runningeast-west.Thegoverningelement
oftheplanisanopencourtyard.The
westernwing(partiallyexcavatedlast
season)accommodatedanumberofrooms
servingtypicallydomesticpurposes.This
partofthehousecommunicatedwith
acourtyardthroughasingledoorway.
Upper-floorroomswereaccessedby
astaircase.Openingintothecourtyard
weretwotriclinia,facingnorthandsouth
respectively.Thisdispositionsuggests
seasonaluse,appropriatelyinwinteror
summer.Thearrangementofthecourtyard
isfairlyinteresting.Itsmaindistinctive
elementisthemonumentalporch(prostas)
precedingthenortherntriclinium.
Theoccurrenceofthistypeof
architecturalfeaturecomesasasurprise,
sinceuntilrecentlythefullperistylehouse
hadbeenwidelybelievedtobethemost
commontypeofdomesticarchitecturein
Alexandria.OurworkatKomel-Dikkahas
providedasomewhatdifferentpicture.It
seemsthattheprostas-oikoslayouts,
occasionallycombinedwithapseudo-
peristylecourtyard,weremuchmore
widespreadthanpreviouslythought,and
hadmanyparallelsdetectablealsointhe
plansoftheundergroundtombs,e.g.Tomb
no.2attheMustaphaPashanecropolis.11)
Theabsenceofafullperistyledcourtin
Alexandrianhousescouldbeexplainedby
thefactthatowingtourbanlimitationson
space,itwasnotpracticaltoexpandthe
courtyardtothedimensionsthatwould
allowporticoestobeaccommodatedonall
foursides.
11)A.Adriani,Repertoriod'artedell'EgittoGreco-Romano,SerieC,vols.I-II(Palermo1966),201-209.
32
