During restoration and renovation work at the Greco-Roman Museum in Alexandria, a cache of hundreds of pottery vessels was discovered under the interior garden known as the Patio.
A statement by the Ministry of Antiquities said that the cache included vessels that date to back to an extended period of Egypt’s history: the earlier Greco-Roman era, the Coptic era and the Islamic era.
Muhammad Metwalli, General Director of Islamic, Christian and Jewish antiquities in Alexandria, told Watani that the pottery collection was unearthed during the restoration work executed by the construction department of the Armed Forces, which was doing the work according to a cooperation protocol with the Ministry of Antiquities.
According to Nadia Khedr, Head of the Central Administration of Egyptian, Greek and Roman Antiquities in the Delta, Sinai and the North Coast, some of the pieces discovered include vessels that contained ashes of dead people; such vessels were used to bury the ashes during the Hellenistic period. Other pieces include a large collection of various shaped and sized vessels to hold liquids, as well as tableware and coloured pots, and a large number of plates that go back to Greek, Roman and Byzantine times. Large numbers of glazed pottery decorated with geometric and botanical designs, and dating back to the Islamic era were among the collection unearthed.
“This cache which was found by pure chance,” she said, “is very important because it had never undergone any study and may constitute a reference for future studies on Alexandrian artefacts.”
Watani International
3 July 2018