Thursday 6 April 2017

Still in the Western Delta, Cristina Mondin, describes the work of the Italian Archaeological Mission at Kom el Ahmer/Kom Waset -  a double mound site, north of Damanhur. Previous work has produced limestone-lined cistern, a fired brick rectangular building with round structure inside it and early Islamic fragments mean that there was activity at the site until the 9-10th c. in the Islamic period. In Unit 4, 20m by 20m, many small walls were found dating to the Early Roman period, once decorated with painted plaster and thousands of glass fragments came from here. One room seemed to be an amphora store for 43 vessels - Egyptian types, some African Red slip-ware and coins dating it to late 4th c. AD. Unit 5 dates to the foundation of the site around 6th c. BC and a 7m thick wall runs through the unit. At Kom el Waset, a temple has been located with bronze objects including parts of statuettes; a bath-house complex, with a double tholos (circular bath with individual seats) and a tower-house. In the latter there were many horse terracottas, Greek fineware pottery, shells, bronze objects and amulets. The talk finished showing the team at work - a very varied and large team using many techniques to investigate the site.

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