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ALEXANDRIA
EGYPT
THEMOSLEMCEMETERIES
ONKOMEL-DIKKAINALEXANDRIA
EXCAVATIONSEASON2004/2005
EmanuelaKulicka
Excavationinthe2004/2005seasonwas
concentratedinSectorEinthenorthern
partoftheTheaterPortico,SectorG
coveringaseriesofnewlydiscoveredlecture
halls,andSectorAS,wheretheportico
stylobateisbeinguncovered.1Allthree
phasesofthenecropolis,knownfromearlier
investigations,wereidentifiedinthecourse
oftheexcavations:Upper,datedtotheend
ofthe11thand12thcenturies;Middle,
fromtheendofthe9thand10thcentury,
andLower,inusebeforetheearthquakeof
AD792,thatis,fromthe7thand8th
centuries.2
SECTORE
Workbegunin20023wascontinuedin
thissector.IntheTheaterPortico,15graves
oftheUpperNecropoliswereexcavated
[Fig.1].Thetombsweresetinalayerthat
was0.70mthick,positionedabout9m
a.s.l.
Twoofthesurvivingtombs(E55,E56)
hadlimestoneslabsinuprightposition
encasingthegrave.Ofthevariouskindsof
tombmarkersusedintheUpperNecro-
polisthisappearstobetheoldestform.
Theremaining13funerarymonuments,
mostofwhichadjoinedoneanother,were
constructedofsmalldressedstones;their
entiresurface,includingthefloorinsidethe
superstructure,wasplastered.Theywere
uniforminsize,allofthembeing2.00m
longand1.30mwide.Occasionally,the
formbecamequiteelaborate,thefinest
exampleshavingamihrabnicheexecutedin
theplaster.Theseornamentalfunerary
superstructureshadsmallchannelsworked
intothedesignwiththepurposeof
drainingwaterfromtheinside.
TombsE65andE64hadchambers
builtofthreecoursesofsmallstones,
plasteredontheinsideandcoveredontop
withlimestoneslabs.4Theremaining
burialswereplacedstraightintheground
andhavemostlysufferedfromthede-
1
Forpreviousworkonthenecropolis:G.Majcherek,"Komel-Dikka,Excavationsandpreservationwork2003/2004",
PAMXVI,Reports2004(2005),andearlierreports.Forthecurrentseasonofexcavations,seeG.Majcherek's
2
contributioninthepresentvolume.
Id.,PAMXV
,Reports2003(2004),25-34.
3
Id.,PAMXIV
,Reports2002(2003),19-31.
4
ThedifferencebetweenthesebuilttombsandAncientEgyptianfunerarystructuresisinthebuildingmaterialalone,
cf.A.J.Spencer,BrickArchitectureinAncientEgypt(Warminster1979),29-59.
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