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ALEXANDRIA
EGYPT
LATEROMAN/EARLYBYZANTINEGLASS
FROMTHEAUDITORIAON
KOMEL-DIKKAINALEXANDRIA
RenataKucharczyk
Thisreportcontinuesthepresentationof
glassfromtheexcavationofacomplexof
lecturehallsuncoveredonKomel-Dikka,
covering,briefly,materialdatedtotheLate
Roman/EarlyByzantineperiod(4th-7th
centuriesAD);glassfromtheIslamicstrata
hasalreadybeenpublished.1Therepertory
isgenerallythesameasinthecaseof
assemblagesfromotherpartsofthesiteand
datedtothesamehorizon.Apartfromlamp
andwindowpanefragments,noneofthe
otherobjectscanberelateddirectlytothe
assumedfunctionoftheauditoria.
Ordinaryhouseholdcontainersare
commonintheassemblage.Theyare
representedbydifferentfragments,chiefly
basesandneckswithfire-roundedrims.
Funnel-neckbottlesareundoubtedlythe
mostcharacteristicamongthem.Also
representedareotherglassvesselsofdaily
use,includingopenforms,suchas
wineglasses/gobletsandtableware,plates/
dishesandbowls.Considerableamountsof
shardsbelongtolamps,fallingintothree
well-knowntypes:conicalvesselswith
cracked-offrims,tumbler-shapedlampsand
stemmedlamps.Somewindow-glass
executedindifferenttechniqueshasalso
beendocumented.
Alltherecordedfragmentsaretypicalof
theperiod,thetypeandfunctionbeingthe
sameregardlessofwhethertheglassisfrom
theAlexandrianareaspecificallyorfrom
elsewhereinEgypt.Allthevesselswerefree
blown.Mostofthemwereunadorned.
Decoration,whenpresent,isrestrictedto
appliedelementsaccompaniedbysimple
horizontal,wheel-incisedorabradedlines
andincisedcriss-crossdesign.Thelatter
seemstohavebeenwidelyusedbylocal
glassmakers.Conicallamps,wineglasses
andtablewareweremadecharacteristically
of
good-quality
yellow,
olive-green,
amber/brownandgreenglass.Some
fragmentsofconicallamps,however,appear
almostcolourlessandarecoatedwith
iridescentweathering.Distinctiveare
householdvessels,madeoflesserquality,
thin,naturalbluish-greenglass,containing
manybubblesandshowingdifferentstages
ofsurfaceweathering.
Thediscoveryoftwowell-preserved
circularstructuresmadeofredbricks,
obviouslyfurnaces,underthefloorof
auditoriumGcameasasurprise.Un-
fortunatelythereisnosurvivingevidenceof
thesuperstructures[cf.Fig4onp.26inthis
volume].2Oneofthefurnacesisstill
1
R.Kucharczyk,"IslamicglassfromtheauditoriaonKomel-DikkainAlexandria",PAMXVI,Reports2004(2005),
31-41.
2
Excavationsareplannedfortheupcomingseasonofdigging.
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