Marea (Egypt)
Dates of work: 1 July–10 August 2009
Team:
Director: Dr. Hanna Szymańska, archaeologist (Research Center for Mediterranean Archaeology, Polish Academy of Sciences)
Deputy director: Krzysztof Babraj, archaeologist (Archaeological Museum in Kraków)
SCA representative: Salwa Sayed Aly
Archaeologist: Anna Drzymuchowska (Archaeological Museum in Kraków)
Architect: Daria Tarara (freelance)
Geodesic supervision: Dr. Janusz Kogut (University of Technology in Kraków)
Restorers: Joanna Babraj, Tomasz Skrzypiec (both Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków)
Photographer: Piotr Suszek (freelance)
Two areas of the Byzantine basilica in Marea were investigated as part of the ongoing archaeological project. In the eastern part of the nave and aisles an intriguing water installation was discovered and an entrance in the south wall was investigated. More units identified as shops were found lining the southern side of a courtyard in front of the main western entrance to the church. One of the rooms yielded a coin weight of copper alloy, another a rare glass handle attachment in the shape of a comic actor’s mask. A cellar found in this area produced many small jugs used for distributing wine in small quantities.
[Text: PAM]