Glass finds and other artifacts from excavations of Area FW at the Kom el-Dikka site in Alexandria in 2018

Abstract

Excavations in 2018 of the central part of the Kom el‑Dikka site in Alexandria (Area FW) produced a collection of glass finds representing two broadly defined chronological horizons. The set from an early Roman house in the lower layers of the sector is representative of the early and mid‑Roman period (1st–3rd centuries AD) and is significant in that it broadens the known repertoire of vessels forms from the site in general. Examination of the context has also provided further firm archaeological evidence of gold-in-glass bead manufacture at the site. The upper layers, associated with an extensive dumping of ashes from the nearby late antique bath and waste from the working of a complex of lime kilns situated in this area, yielded material typical of late Roman/early Byzantine glasses (4th–6th century AD) already known from the site and comprising mainly simple free-blown utilitarian wares with limited ornamentation.