This is where the building materials for the modern city of Alexandria came from. Because of this, people have known for a long time that the area has ancient tombs. Archaeologists working in the second half of the 19th century found more graves that were later destroyed, even though a lot had already been destroyed.

Because they told us about it, we have sketches and descriptions that show that the building we see now was once part of a much bigger cemetery. Under the foundations of nearby buildings, there must still be signs of this cemetery.

Giuseppe Botti, the first person in charge of the Greco-Roman Museum in Alexandria, was in the order of the careful excavation of Kom al-Shuqaf. Alan Roe, who later became the director of the Museum, pumped underground water out of the catacombs to fill the lowest level and wrote down what he found. This was the end of the excavations.

This would be a big deal, but the excavations weren’t done until then. Since ancient times, people have known that there is a problem with water, and it is not by chance that this complex was built on one of Alexandria’s few hills.

 

Where people were buried in the hypogeum

To get down to the Hypoheim, you must wind your way through an ancient spiral staircase built around a large, round shaft. It was used for many different things. This shaft made it possible to drop dead bodies into the catacombs and gave the grave light and air. As can be seen, the tomb’s entrance was left open, even though the deceased may have had their tombs closed after they were buried there.

People still alive could get to it, just like when we go to the cemetery now. During the building of the structure, the shaft was used not only to let air into the building but also to move the stones that were taken from the excavation site. About three-quarters of the way down the steps, a square-shaped hole opens up in the outside wall of the building. Through this opening, you can look at the large cistern that collects water from the surface.

Water was led away from the tombs and into a cistern with the help of a gutter. This was done because it rained a lot in Alexandria during the winter, which made people worried about flooding. The water used in the funeral cult’s ceremonies came from the same cistern. But in ancient times, this cistern stopped doing what it was made for, and the entrance to the central shaft was destroyed. After that, more people were laid to rest in that area.

 

First level lobby

The entrance to the stairs has been in an area called the Vestibule for a long time. Between the central shaft and the dome, there is a foyer-like area. There are still pieces of alabaster flooring here, which shows that this spot was never a cemetery for beggars. There are a few shell-shaped, half-circle nooks on both sides, each with a seat inside. These little spaces look like benches.

 

First level rotunda

At first, the only way out of this circular room was to go to the left and into the trickling, then go forward until you reached the main tomb. When they needed more space, they cut more rows of graves into the wall. In the middle of the building, there is another shaft surrounded by six columns and a small parapet. This secondary shaft goes down to the third underground level, which is covered with water. It is not clear what this lower route is for, though.

A group of German archaeologists found five portrait sculptures at the bottom of this shaft in 1900. This was an exciting find. The Greco-Roman Museum later showed two of these statues. One of them shows a man with a crown on his head. On the front of the crown, there is a symbol with seven lines. Because of this, it was easy to figure out that he was a priest in the cult of Serapis, the most crucial god in Alexandria.

The other is a white marble painting of Empress Julia Longina. It shows that she has a funny face and a big nose. Her thick hair is braided and curled into a giant wreath around her face, looking beautiful and framing her features. This style is reminiscent of the Flavian era (69 to 96 AD).

 

The first level of the element triclinium

On the left side of the Rotunda is a door leading into a large room 8.5 meters wide and 9 meters deep. This is a triclinium, which is also called a dining room. Meals were served here in honor of the dead. This room is similar to the chambers in Pompeii that were used for the same thing simultaneously.

Celebrations were held here not only on the fortieth day after a person died but also on the day before their birthday and other important days in the Greek and Roman calendars.

 

The most important tomb is on the second level.

 

After leaving the dining room and going through the Rotunda, there is a set of stairs on the left that leads to the main tomb. The main tomb is the strange and exciting center of the Kom el Shoqqaf complex. As it goes down, the stairs split so they can go around something called a “Promoter box.” This is another doorway that leads down to the third level of the basement.

We’ve found a small funeral temple here. It has an entrance hall called the prongs in front of the naos, the inner sanctuary. It looks like a real church because the people who made it separated it from the rock on all four sides, making it look like a separate chapel, and because, depending on how high the water is, you can go all the way inside. This anus was used to put the dead in coffins made of rock.

The entrance to the hallway has a unique look that reminds me of how Egyptians decorated their homes. Under a jagged cornice is a frieze with two pictures of a falcon, which represents the god Horus, looking inward at the spread wings of another solar disc, which is surrounded by two cobras.

Two columns and two pilasters hold up this frieze. The columns and posts, in turn, are held up by a curved pediment that holds a solar disc. The bases of the columns and pilasters are carved with patterns of papyrus leaves, and the domes of the columns have carvings of lotus flowers, papyrus leaves, and acanthus buds. BThecolumns and the pilasters have the same decoration on them.

On the other hand, the styles start to blend as you get closer to the center. The two niches on each side are in the shape of rectangles. These are called “pharaonic aisles,” but the pictures they frame are more complicated. The woman on the left and the man on the right are both standing in a hieratic position, which means that their left foot is in front and their arms are close to their sides.

In the Greek and Roman styles, however, each of their heads is turned differently. The shape of the male figure and the way their hair is messed up remind me of a statue in the Greco-Roman Museum. On the other hand, the woman’s hair is braided and tied in a way that would have been common for Roman women in the late first century AD.

On each side of the entryway that leads to the main room, you can see more of the crazy mix of architectural styles. In Greek and Roman mythology, Agathodamun was a good god, and these snakes with beards are meant to represent him. They are holding the thyrsus, the symbol of Dionysus, who was also connected to life after death, and the caduceus, the character of Hermes Psychopopus, who was in charge of taking the souls of the dead to the next world.

But, even though there doesn’t seem to be any contradiction, they wear the twin crown that the Pharaohs of Upper and Lower Egypt used to wear. Above each one is a shield with the scary Gorgon Medusa’s head on it, and her eyes could turn anyone into stone if they looked into them.

A lot of the coffins in Alexandria have this symbol carved on them. Some of these coffins can be seen in the garden of Kom el Shokkaf. The purpose of this symbol was to stop people from robbing tombs by turning into stone anyone who went into a grave to do something terrible.

 

The second-floor room was used to bury people.

After dealing with Medusa’s anger, we can go to the burial chamber. This is where the people who built this complex are buried. This small chapel has three coffins, and the walls above each are decorated with carvings of Egyptian religious scenes.

The central sarcophagus is next to and across from the entrance. On the left side of its front are wreaths, garlands, and the heads of Medusa. This layout is the same as one that has been used before in other cemeteries.

On the right is Silenus, the guardian of Dionysus’s entrance. But the most interesting one is the figure of a woman lying down. Most people read this as if it refers to the person who has died, which would be the same woman who stands to the left of the pronaos.