Alexandria: Excavations and preservation work on Kom el-Dikka, seasons 2012 and 2013

Archaeological research in the 2012 and 2013 seasons was focused on excavations in area U in the northwestern part of the site of Kom el-Dikka in Alexandria. Previously discovered structures of early Roman age continued to be explored. A large forica and other buildings have been found to follow an unusual, strictly geographical orientation, the reason for which has yet to be ascertained. A large group of burials belonging to three successive phases of the early Islamic cemetery (8th–12th century AD) was excavated in the same area. Additional testing in already cleared auditoria T, U and B as well as next to auditorium H helped to verify issues of stratigraphy and chronology of the academic complex to which these auditoria belonged. Preservation work focused mainly on an overhaul of the mosaic shelter (Villa of the Birds), including treatment of mosaic floors. Equally important tasks were the conservation of remains of domestic architecture in area W1N, restoration of a well in the cistern (area L), and finally preservation of auditorium RS.