Half way through the season, we present our site plan for those of you following our work.
We have halted the work on the east room of the House of Tyche. More to follow in 2013.
But work will continue for the next two weeks on the Beta Building, especially in squares DI39 and DJ40
With the conclusion of the second week, we say “farewell” to the Canadian contingent as we welcome returning volunteers.
With the second week, portions of the Beta Building are coming into focus. The southeast portion of the building is an enclosed courtyard with a simple staircase of limestone.
The paved courtyard proceeds north from the staircase. Sitting on the courtyard were two basalt bowls and two grinding stones of varying design.
To the north of the paved courtyard is a room with a packed earth floor.
Probes in the northerly room revealed an early floor at the base of three courses of an earlier floor.
Part of our work in week 2 involved repair to the Alpha Building, the northwest corner of which collapsed. To date we have reset the foundation course and the first major course of stones.
Week two saw the end of the work on the east room of the House of Tyche. Mysteries remain in the northern part of the room, to be revealed in a future season.
After two weeks in the heat, we ended the day with popsicles in the field. Delicious!
While uncovering the southern section of the east room of the House of Tyche, excavators retrieved fragments of an ancient fresco decorating the room. The fragments were no longer attached to the walls of the room, but a reconstruction of a portion of the fresco is possible.
Dr. Stephen Chambers was the primary excavator involved.
We are currently looking for similar Byzantine frescoes from other sites.
As I work on data from the 2011 season, I appreciate more the wealth of the peristyle house to the east of the Northeast Church. Now that we have a beautiful garden entrance with an inscription in tabula ansata wishing “Good Fortune” for the builder, this second reference to “Fortune (Tyche)” motivates us to rename this peristyle house as the House of Tyche.
Imagine entering the garden from the street . . .
After four weeks of work, the archaeology team from Concordia University has successfully completed its work in two excavation zones.
In the Northeast Zone, the team uncovered a dramatic entrance to the garden of the House of Tyche graced by an inscription.
From this entry, the ancient visitor would turn south and pass through a doorway into the Entrance Hall of the house, where another inscription would hail the visitor, “Enter for good.”
In the Southwest Zone, the team excavated the Building Alpha complex by digging through 2.5 m of heavy fill. In its final stage, the structure had four rooms: two the the east separated by a window wall,
and two on the west, divided by a central wall.
Interestingly, no doorway to the exterior exists from this level and no evidence of a staircase survives.
Watch for more detail and an interim report in the weeks ahead.
Thanks to students and volunteers for their hard work, and to our readers and followers for their support.