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Further excavations around the chapel with family tomb

at eastern margins of Abu Mina – preliminary draft

JACEK KOŚCIUK1

The area where previously described chapel is located2 borders from the east3 with a

broad depression which once was probably an area of gardens and orchards (Fig. 1). From

the west it is delimited by the old test trench from times of C.M. Kaufmann activities. A

similar, E-W orientated trench splits the area into two parts. On the northern slope of it, the

chapel with family tomb (EA 01) is located. From three sides it borders with houses of an

earlier provenance (EA 02, 03, 04 and 15) while from the west it was probably delimited by

a narrow street of roughly N-S orientation.

Fig. 1. The eastern margins of Abu Mina settlement.

A surface survey which has been carried out in this region reveals traces of densely build

houses over the whole area. All of them are build of mud bricks with socles and/or more

1 Department of History of Architecture Arts and technology, Faculty of Architecture, Wroclaw University of

Technology. 2 See our report from 2013 season.

3 Nominal compass directions as on Fig. 1 are used for the following description.

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important parts as for example door jambs, build of stones. However, in some places we

noticed also walls build entirely of rectangular stone blocks. Usually their thickness is

between 30 and 35 cm, while mud brick walls are often more than 1 meter thick. Accept for

few instances, fragmentary preserved relicts do not permit reconstruction of houses layouts

and arrangement. However, some of them can be described in a more detailed way.

The house EA 07 located to the west of N-S Street had probably more than one storey.

Only one room of this house has been delimited, but scant fragments of walls on its

southern side obviously represent relicts of a staircase. Even more evident traces of a

staircase are preserved in southern part of house EA 13. The neighbouring from the south

house EA 14 is the only case where we can draw out some conclusion about the house plan.

The preserved relicts consist of spacious (roughly 5.15 by 5.15 m), square room which is

entered from the east by two doors, both furnished with doorjambs. From this room, a

much smaller one located to the west can be reached. On the northern side of those rooms,

a narrow space with traces of kitchen(?) installations is preserved. It is likely, that to the east

of this group of rooms, a courtyard might have once existed, but no indications of its limits

are extant. A corresponding courtyard can be expected in the case of previously mentioned

house EA 13.

The double doorway leading to the biggest room of house EA 14 may suggest a more

important function located there – perhaps it was the main reception room of this house. A

similar function can be suggested for a room located to the north of the staircase of house

EA 13. In these case, the doorway leading to this room is articulated with extended outward

doorjambs, which is not typical feature for ordinary rooms.

In the north-western part on the whole area, only scattered fragments of walls which do

not constitute any consistent layouts are extant. Among them, in a region marked as houses

EA 10 and 11, a complicated arrangement of narrow stone walls and mud brick walls with

inner corners being rounded4, can be worth mentioning. In case of house EA 10, a door

flanked symmetrically with two niches in stone masonry may also attract our attention. Also

the house EA 08 can be a focus of further examination because of unusual number (four) of

doorways (widows?) in the north-western corner of the room. A similar arrangement, but

with two doorways can be traced also in house EA 09.

4 Perhaps an indication of domed rooms with site walls preserved high enough to show hounches.

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Fig. 2. Southern face of the E-W wall with red dado decoration.

Further examination of rooms around the chapel with family tomb.

A small test trench in the north-western corner of EA 04 revealed a narrow (less than 60

cm between doorjambs) doorway leading to the north (Fig. 2) with wooden header still

preserved below the plaster. The door was accompanied be a small niche (36 by 36 cm)

located further to the east. Both belong to a earlier building phase preceding the chapel.

The level of use (gypsum screed) associated with them was found roughly 1.55 m below a

stone paved courtyard from which the chapel was accessible5. Only one wall delimiting

possible extent of this room has been detected until now on its northern side (Fig. 3). The

wall was decorated with red dado which ended with zigzag pattern ca. 1.18 m above the

floor level.

5 For detailed description of the chapel see our report from 2013 season.

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Fig. 3. The junction between houses EA 01 (chapel) and EA 02 ÷ 04.

In front of the door three steps covered also with red painted gypsum screed were

found, while the door opening has been decorated with ca. 12 cm broad red frame and with

the same zigzag pattern on the top. The richness of this opening framing suggested that it

might have lead an important room, equally splendidly decorated. To some disappointment

the room, when unearthed6, proofed to be very modest. It has only beaten clay floor and its

walls were covered with ordinary plaster without any decoration. The only exposed features

were another doorway leading to the east and a small niche (ca. 45 by 60 cm) build into its

western wall (Fig. 4). Originally, the niche was divided into two parts by wooden shelf placed 6 Only its southern part was excavated.

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in a middle of its height. Probably, a function of this room was very auxiliary and rich

decoration of its doorway should be rather associated with the bigger room from the south.

Fig. 4. Orthophoto of the western wall of room EA 03 with the niche.

When extending the small test trench further to the east, another doorway, however of

much latter origin, was unearthed. This doorway was cut through E-W wall providing a

passage in northern direction. From the southern side, the door opening is relatively broad

(1.55 m) but further to the north its width is limited to 1.18 m only, so the whole door

passage has trapezoid plan. In front of the door, two steps were found, resting directly on

the pavement of the courtyard from which also the chapel can be entered. From the west,

steps were flanked with a small, carelessly build column – probably another one might have

been on the eastern side of the door. This doorway is of a later than the chapel origin and

must have led to located further to north premises, perhaps associated with the house EA

05.

This part of the site was surveyed by close range digital photogrammetry (Fig. 5 and 6)

combined with traditional hand drawings.

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Fig. 5. Isometric view (computer 3D model) of the junction between houses EA 01 (chapel) and EA 02 ÷ 04

as seen from the west.

Fig.6. Isometric view (computer 3D model) of the junction between houses EA 01 (chapel) and EA 02 ÷ 04

as seen from the east.

Small finds

Excavating of southern part of room EA 02 yields several small finds. Among them were

many small pieces of plaster decorated with opus sectile imitation – without doubt belonging

to inner decoration of the chapel. Also four interesting pieces of what might be interpreted

as fragment of figural decoration were found (Fig. 7). Pars of reddish and pink strips are

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interlaced with strips from which paint and the paint background were mechanically

scratched to expose fine grain plaster. The evenness and accuracy of scratching suggest that

it could have been done purposely as a part of decoration programme. Fragments of

rounded cross-like emblem, scratched in a similar fine grain plaster were also found (Fig. 8),

but this time it were scratched areas which were painted red. Among other fragments of

plasters and mortars, a corner piece of upper floor construction with impressions of

rectangular in section floor beams was secured (Fig. 9). The area yields also with several

fragments of stone household instruments like mortars or game boards (or counting

tablets?) (Fig. 10).

Further works are planned in this region during 2015 season.

Fig.7. Fragments of (figural?) wall paintings found

inside of house EA 03.

Fig. 8. Fragments of incised in plaster cross-like

decoration found inside of house EA 03.

Fig. 9. Fragment upper floor construction (note

impressions of rectangular in section floor beams).

Fig. 10. Fragment of a stone game board (or counting

tablet?).