Anfoushi Research

7/30/2019 Anfoushi Research

1/6

The Tombs of Anfoushy

The Tombs of Anfoushy lie in the west of Alexandria at el-Anfoushy district near

Ras el-Tiene Palace. This necropolis contains five main tombs and it is regarded as one of

the most important necropolises of the late Ptolemaic and early Roman period as it datesback to the first half of the third century B.C. The first two tombs of this necropolis were

discovered in 1901, when Prince Omar Toson gave his orders to excavate in this area

which he had owned. The other three tombs were excavated later in 1921.

The forms and plans of these tombs resemble in their design the form of the

ancient Greek houses. Each consists of a staircase which leads to down to an open court

(Ole), which gives an access to a reception hall (Prostas) then to a smaller room which is

the burial chamber (Oikos).

Tomb No.1

This tomb consists in its turn of two groups (A and B) of funeral chambers. Itstarts with a descending staircase which is cut in the rock leading to an open court. This

stairway is ceiled and its walls are covered by thin layer of plaster with traces of colors

imitating marble, but most of these colors have vanished. There are also traces of a

decoration of three rows of rectangles in the form ofOpus isidomos or Opus quadratum,

which mean imitating the construction of rectangular stone blocks one beside the other in

one row of which the notch between the two is surmounted by another block in the upper

row. Immediately after the staircase, on the right hand side there is a niche that might

have been used to contain two wooden slabs on which statuettes or lamps were placed.

Most of the walls of the open court were damaged and restored. these walls had

been originally made of very well cut limestone blocks. This is well seen in the lowerparts of the walls.

In the south eastern side of the court beside the niche there is a burial opening (Loculus).

Meanwhile, in the south eastern corner of the same court is a square well used to provide

the tomb with the water as water for traditional funeral rituals and purification

ceremonies.

The open court then gives access to two burial chambers (the two groups of A and

B). The doorways of both are surmounted by an Egyptian cornice above which is a form

of a pediment that used to be on the faade of the Greek temples.

Group AThis group consists of two rooms: Prostas (the reception) and Oikos (the burial

chamber).

TheprostasIt is much bigger than the Oikos and it is a sort of a rectangular vestibule provided

with broad benches cut in the rock slightly raised above the level of the floor. The roof of


2/6

this room is vaulted and decorated with geometrical designs in the form of lozenges

inside rectangles painted in red and white. These in their turn are surrounded by friezes of

yellow, red, white and black. As for the walls of this Prostas , they are all coated with a

layer of painted plaster imitating the marble with its wide veins. This style of decoration

is known as "First Pompey's Style" in which colors are used to imitate a wall made of

marble. Above this decoration are three successive rows of rectangles on the form ofopus Isidomos or Opus Quadratum imitating the construction in buildings.

The OikosAs for the second room, or the burial chamber (the Oikos): it is smaller than the

previous Prostas and lies in a lower level than the first. At the far end of this room is a

big limestone sarcophagus. It is not very well executed and it lacks decoration. On both

sides of this room are two long openings probably used for burring dead as well. The roof

is also vaulted and decorated with geometrical patterns in the form of octagonal shapes

connected with one another by small squares. The side walls of this room are decorated

with white and black squares imitating the chessboard and between the rows of these

squares are long strips imitating marble with its wide veins painted in red, yellow andbrown. At the back wall of this room there are remains of Egyptian scenes showing

Egyptian crowns inside big squares and traces of paintings of two birds.

Group BThis group lies to the north and it also consists of two parts like the previous one.

Originally it was only one room and then in the Roman era a red brick wall was built

dividing it into two separate rooms. In addition, three sarcophagi were added. Each

sarcophagus is topped by a vaulted hole which still retains some traces of decoration and

colors. Between the right hand sarcophagus and the one at the back wall there is a

passageway leading to an interior chamber. This interior chamber contains twelve Loculiopenings. Its walls are coated with a layer of white plaster, while its vaulted roof is

decorated with geometrical designs.

Tomb No. 2This tomb is similar to the previous one. It is reached by a staircase leading down

to an open court.

The staircaseThe staircase of this tomb consists of two parts perpendicular on each other with the form

of ( L ) letter. The first part has a vaulted roof without any decoration, while thedecoration of the walls of this part is divided into two parts as follows:

a) The decoration of the upper part: three rows of rectangles arranged in the style ofOpus

Isidomos.

b) The decoration of the lower part: a layer of painted plaster imitating marble with its

wide veins.


3/6

The scene on the first turn of the wall :It is a purification scene showing the deceased standing in the middle wearing a

long robe. On the left stands the falcon headed god Horus placing one hand on the

deceased and points with the other to the west "The land of the Dead" as if he is guiding

the deceased to his supposed way. To the right of the same scene stands Osiris and Isis;

Osiris is represented wearing a short robe while the royal serpent is attached to hisforehead. He places one hand on the deceased and holds in the other a vase containing

water for purification.

The second part of the staircaseThis part of the staircase has a vaulted roof too. It is also decorated with lozenges.

The walls are decorated with the same decoration of the first part

The scene of the second part of the staircase :This is a damaged scene, but the remaining part shows Osiris mummified sitting

on the throne wearing theAtefcrown. His arms are crossed on his chest. He holds in one

hand the scepter HkA and in the other hand he holds the flail nxx. Behind him is the godAnubis, the god of the dead in the Jackal form. This scene represents the trial of the

deceased in the neither world. In case the deceased failed in passing through this trial,

Anubis would eat his heart.

The open courtThe staircase leads to a square open court. Its decoration is completely ruined except in

some places where we can see that it was once decorated with the same style of that of

the staircase. On the left side of the court there is a niche cut in the wall. This tomb also

can be divided into two groups of chambers: group A and group B.

Group AThis group contains two chambers: Prostas and Oikos ; the two rooms have

vaulted roofs, but the inner is smaller than the outer chamber.

TheProstasEntering the first room we notice on the two sides two small rectangular holes. Each has

an incised line in the wall to receive a wooden slab on which statuettes or lamps were

placed. In this room there are two layers of decoration; an old one which was later

covered by a layer of stucco on which a modern decoration was executed. The modern

layer of plaster fell down so the old decoration can be seen. This indicates that when this

tomb was reused in a later time it was simply redecorated.

The Oikos

At the end of the Prostas we find the entrance of the Oikos. The decoration of the

entrance of this chamber shows an Egyptian influence as it is flanked by two pedestals on

which sphinxes were placed, but unfortunately these sphinxes have disappeared. On both

sides of the doorway are two pillars consisting of black and white blocks and they have a

loti-form capitals. These two pillars carry a pediment without decoration except the solar

disk in the middle. On the lintel of the door there is a raw of sacred uraeui. As for the


4/6

decoration of the walls, they have the same decoration style of the walls of the Prostas. In

the middle of the black wall there is a representation of a small Naos containing another

smaller one inside. The outer is flanked by two columns. The small naos contains a

rectangular hole may be for housing a statuette for a god or for the deceased himself.

Moreover, perhaps there was an alter at the center of this room that disappeared.

Group BThis group also consists of two rooms. The scribbling on the walls of the first

room are the most amusing. They are made over 2000 years ago by a visitor or a

workman. They help us to imagine the life of the city during the Grco-Egyptian period.

The roof of the two rooms are vaulted and the walls were painted with calcimine without

decorations.

TheProstas

As for the first room in this group (theprostas), the walls flanking the doorway to

this room imitate marble and made in Egyptian technique. This door consists of two large

supports and a lower lintel. On the top of the doorway there is a cornice inside a frieze,centered by the decoration of a winged solar disk.

On the side walls of this room there are many drawings painted in black:On the left hand side wall starting from the left, there are remains of a scene

showing a boy's head beside some Latin inscriptions. Further more, there are traces of a

sailing boat around which there are drawings of a small ram, birds and a lady's face

which was drawn in an infantile technique. On the right hand side wall there are remains

of a small tower and a clear drawing of a human's face besides three or four lines of

inscriptions upon which there is a big fish and a drawing of a battle ship with a turret

(military and defensive tower). This battle ship might have the look of the ship that had

accompanied queen Cleopatra during the battle of Actium.

The Oikos

As for the interior chamber of this group, which is the Oikos, it is smaller than theProstas and can be reached through three steps of staircase. In the middle of the back

wall of this room there is a Naos like similar to that in the Egyptian temples. It has a hole

which may be have contained a statuette for a god or for a deceased himself. On both

sides of this room, there are two long and narrow openings, which were probably made to

house the sarcophagus of the deceased.

Tomb No. 3The major part of this tomb is destroyed. the superstructure part has longdisappeared as it was reused in other buildings. The design of this tomb differs from the

previous two as the staircase leads to a road corridor, which leads in its turn to the open

court. In addition, this tomb contains more than one chamber on different levels. To the

north there are two successive rooms: the first is Prostas and the second is Oikos. To the

south there is a room that is provided with Loculi openings in its walls. To the east we


5/6

find a rectangular hall which leads to a small room containing three loculi openings and a

smaller room in its western side.

Tomb No. 4

This tomb is in a very poor state as it is the most damaged one. It is different in itsdesign as it consists of a slope that leads to an open court. In the eastern side of this court

opens two doors: The first leads to a room which seems to have been a Triclinium as it

has a big bench carved in the rock besides three loculi openings and traces of unfinished

fourth opening. The other door leads to two rooms: the first is Prostas and the second is

Oikos. Theprostas has a vaulted roof and the remains of two low benches. At the end of

the Prostas there is a door leading to the Oikos which contains a number ofLoculi

openings. To the left there are two rooms, which seem to have been added later. The first

is rectangular with vaulted roof provided with a loculus opening. The other is also

rectangular with a sarcophagus and it ends with three loculi openings on each side.

Tomb No. 5This tomb is considered one of the most decorated in this complex. It is closed

now because of the problem of the licking underground water. However, it contains a

staircase that leads to an open court which gives an access to two groups of rooms. The

first consists ofProstas and Oikos. The Prostas was used as an offering hall with loculi

openings in its walls which were decorated with the Pompey's Style (imitation of

marble). The Oikos has a sarcophagus ofKline (funerary bed) style coated with plaster.

The walls and the roof have well preserved colored decorations of Pompey's Style,

geometrical patterns, plants and flowers decorations.

The other group contains Prostas and Oikos separated by a doorway with Greekdecorations and topped with a pediment. The roof of theses two chambers is decorated

with geometrical designs.


6/6

Bibliography

!"#$!"#$%&'&%&'&((

)*+,-)*+,-./0./01123456372345637-83/-83/345634569::%9::%(( );?@5AB3C4D!!!!0E0E)FGH4)FGH4II99%&J'%&J'((

Breccia, E. V., Alexandria Ad Aegyptum, Bergamo,1922.

Hassan, F., Alexandria Graeco- Roman Museum, A Thematic Guide, Cairo, 2002.

Forster E.M., Alexandria A History and A Guide, London, 1982.

Passent Nabil ChahineE-mail: [email protected]

Sara Moustafa Ragab

E-mail: [email protected]

Anfoushi Research

Documents

Transcript of Anfoushi Research