REPORT ON THE EXCAVATIONS AT

AB MN IN APRIL 2014

BY

PETER GROSSMANN, AND JACEK KOŚCIUK

The season of excavation at Abū Mīnā in April 2014 lasted from

April 6 to April 23. The permission was kindly granted by the
Competent Permanent Committee (lagna dayma) of the Supreme
Council of Antiquities (SCA) at its session on April 11, 2014.
Members of the crew were PETER GROSSMANN as the head of the
Mission, JACEK KOŚCIUK (Wrozlav) as architect and CORNELIA
RÖMER as epigraphist. Inspector of Antiquities, MOHAMED AH-
MED SABBAH ABDEL HAMID KHATTAB joined the Mission as repre-
sentative of the SCA, supported by his colleague MOHAMED MA-
HER IBRAHIM. In addition the Mission enjoyed the frequent and
encouraging visits of Shaykh Hassan.
Main object for archaeological investigations during this season
was the clearance of the large fermentation vat of the press instal-
lation no. I in the large wine factory within the ecclesiastical centre
of Abu Mina, just opposite the since long known Double Bath of
the town1. Secondly the clearance of the architectural relations
between the richly decorated burial chapel to the north of the great
Basilica and the surrounding mostly private houses.

1. Clearing the fermentation vat of the large pressing unit no. I

of the wine factory in the ecclesiastical centre of Abū Mīnā

The work in the large wine factory with five press units inside
the boundaries of the ecclesiastical centre of Abū Mīnā2 was faced

1 W. MÜLLER-WIENER ET AL., Abu Mena. 4. Vorläufiger Bericht, MDAIK 21

(1966) 171-187, esp. 173ff. fig. 1.

2 It was the only wine factory in this limited area and apparently belongs thus

to the property of the church, see also N. LITINAS, Greek ostraca from Abu Mina
60 P. GROSSMANN–J. KOSCIUK BSAC LIII 2014

with the problem that due to the artificially risen ground water
table the area of the wine factory was covered with a heavy con-
centration of tall bushes, making the area practically inaccessible.
Several days of work were needed to get at least the central area of
the vinery free of those bushes. During our first investigation of
the wine factory of several years ago3 the fermentation vat of the
press unit no. I was only partly excavated while the northern part
with the additional installations remained covered with earth.
After its full excavation the vat appeared as a basin sunk deeply
into the ground and was covered on all sides with several layers of
hydraulic plaster for which as usual a plaster composed of a mix-
ture of lime, gypsum and small fragments of fired bricks, the so-
called opus signinum,4, was used. The size of the vat is 3.70 m by
3.25 m and has a depth of 1.30 m. The part above this lower part
comprises 0.60 m and reaching until the general floor level of the
press is slightly widened on all sides. In correspondence with the
other press units of this factory the fermentation vat was the place
where the mustum of the treaded grapes – as it was called by the
classical authors – would flow together to endure the fermentation
process and where it remained during the following roughly ten
months lasting development to potable wine.
The hot foam producing fermentation process proper at the be-
ginning lasts generally ca. four weeks (30 days) during which pe-
riod the mustum has to stay under permanent control. After this
process came to an end the vat with the inside remaining mustum
should be hermetically closed to avoid all possible connections
with the air because otherwise the wine would develop to vinegar.
Roughly a month before the next harvest the vat had to be emp-
tied to allow the producer to clean everything and carry out some
eventually necessary repairs. The process of emptying the vat
went along according to the principle of communicating tubes as
described by Philon of Byzantium (2nd cent. B.C.)5. In the north-

(O.Abu Mina) [Archiv für Papyrusforschung und verwandte Gebiete, Beiheft 25, 2008]
16f.
3 P. GROSSMANN ET AL., Report on the excavations at Abu Mina in spring 1995,

BSAC 36 (1997) 83-98, esp. 87ff. fig. 2.

4 Described by Vitruv, de arch. 2, 4, 3 and Pliny the elder, nat.hist. 35,12.

5 Philon of Byzantium, pneumatica, translation of the Latin and Arabic manu-

script by F.D. PRAGER (Wiesbaden 1974) VI (= pp. 132ff.).

 EXCAVATION AT ABU MINA 2014 61

eastern corner of the fermentation vat some high steps are at-
tached which evidently serve to descend down into the vat.
The floor of the fermentation vat contains in the middle a fur-
ther, but smaller deepening of ca. 0.60 m in which the remaining
rest of the wine would flow together in order to get it easier col-
lected.
Problematical and still under consideration are two small con-
cave depressions at the upper margin of the vat which according
to our new interpretation, apparently served to hold some larger
vessels with rounded bottoms filled with fluid substances to be
added to the mustum in cases the fermentation process would not
proceed normally. These depressions were at first understood by
us as vessels of themselves to let some syrupy liquids slowly go
down to be mixed with the mustum in the fermentation vat. But
later this understanding proved to be incorrect. Already the sizes
of these depressions are too small and no provision is to be seen in
form of a small channel to let theses substances continuously pro-
ceed into the fermentation vat. Supported is this interpretation by
obervations at the considerably older press (early 5th cent. A.D.) at
the eastern margin of the nearby situated modern village ’Izbat
Mohamed Farid, where similar depressions did not have left any
traces of channels leading to the fermentation vat6 and could thus
serve only for holding other vessels of different sizes, and filled
with liquids to be added – probably mainly by hand – to the fer-
menting mustum in the fermentation vat.
The remains of this fermentation vat were described, measured
and photographed to be prepared for the publication. We hope
that its publication will contribute to the understanding of the sys-
tem of wine production in Late Antiquity. (P.G.)

2. The eastern margin of the settlement

around the chapel with a family tomb

The area (Fig. 1) where the previously described chapel is locat-

ed7 borders at the east8 with a broad depression which once was
6 P. GROSSMANN–A.A. SHINAWY, Report on the excavations at Abū Mīnā in

spring 2001, BSAC 41 (2002) 15-31, esp. 25ff. fig. 5-6A.

7 See our report of the 2013 season.
62 P. GROSSMANN–J. KOSCIUK BSAC LIII 2014

probably an area of gardens and orchards. From the west it is de-

limited by an old test trench from the time of C.M. KAUFMANN. A
similar, E-W orientated trench splits the area into two parts. At
the northern slope of it, the chapel with family tomb (EA 01) is
located. On three sides it borders with houses of an earlier prove-
nance (EA 02, 03, 04 and 15) while from the west it was probably
delimited by a narrow street of roughly N-S orientation.
A surface survey which has been carried out in this region re-
vealed traces of densely built houses over the whole area. All of
them are built of mud bricks with socles and/or more important
parts as for example door jambs, built of stones. However, in
some places we noticed also walls built entirely of rectangular
stone blocks. Usually their thickness is between 30 and 35 cm,
while mud brick walls are often more than 1 meter thick. Apart
from a few instances, fragmentarily preserved remains of houses
do not permit the reconstruction of the layouts and arrangements
of the houses. However, some of them can be described in a more
detailed way.
The house EA 07 located to the west of N-S Street had probably
more than one storey. Only one room of this house has been de-
limited, but scant fragments of walls on its southern side represent
obviously the relicts of a staircase. Even more evident traces of a
staircase are preserved in the southern part of house EA 13. The
southern neighbouring house EA 14 is the only case where we can
draw out some conclusion about the house’s plan. The preserved
remains consist of a spacious (roughly 5.15 by 5.15 m) square room
which is entered from the east by two doors, both furnished with
doorjambs. From this room, a much smaller one located to the
west can be reached. At the northern side of these rooms, a nar-
row space with traces of installations for a kitchen(?) is preserved.
It is likely, that a courtyard might have once existed to the east of
this group of rooms but no indications of its limits are in evidence.
A corresponding courtyard can be expected in the example of the
above mentioned house EA 13.
The double doorway leading to the largest room of house EA 14
may suggest a more important function located there, perhaps it

8 Nominal compass directions as on Fig. 1 are used for the following descrip-
tion.
 EXCAVATION AT ABU MINA 2014 63

was the main reception room of this house. A similar function can
be suggested for a room located to the north of the staircase of
house EA 13. In this case, the doorway leading to this room is ar-
ticulated with outwardly projecting doorjambs, which is not a typ-
ical feature for ordinary rooms.
In the north-western part on the whole area, only scattered
fragments of walls which do not constitute any consistent layouts
are extant. Among them, in a region marked as houses EA 10 and
11, a complicated arrangement of narrow stone walls and mud
brick walls with interiorly rounded corners9, can be worth men-
tioning. In house EA 10, a door flanked symmetrically with two
niches in stone masonry may also attract our attention. Also house
EA 08 can be a focus for further examination because of its unusu-
al number (four) of doorways (windows?) in the north-western
corner of the room. A similar arrangement, but with two door-
ways can be traced also in house EA 09. (J.K.)

3. Further examination of rooms

around the chapel with the family tomb

A small test trench in the north-western corner of EA 04 re-

vealed in the corner a narrow (less than 60 cm between doorjambs)
doorway leading to the north (Fig. 2) with wooden headers still
preserved behind the plaster. The door was accompanied by a
small niche (36 by 36 cm) located further to the west. Both belong
to an earlier building phase preceding the chapel. Its level of use
(gypsum, cement floor) associated with them was found roughly
1.55 m below a stone paved courtyard from where the chapel was
accessible10. Only one wall has been detected until now on its
northern side (Fig. 3) which delimited the possible extension of
this room. The wall was decorated with red dado which ended
with a zigzag pattern ca. 1.18 m above floor level.
In front of the door three steps covered also with red painted
gypsum screed were found, while the door opening has been dec-
orated with a ca. 12 cm broad red frame and with the same zigzag
9 Perhaps an indication of domed rooms with side walls preserved high

enough to show hounches.

10 For detailed description of the chapel see our report of the 2013 season.
64 P. GROSSMANN–J. KOSCIUK BSAC LIII 2014

pattern on the top. The richness of this opening framing suggested

that it might have lead into an important room, equally splendidly
decorated. To some disappointment, however, the room proofed
when unearthed11, to be very modest. Its floor consisted only of
beaten clay and its walls were only covered with ordinary plaster
without any decoration. The only exposed feature was another
doorway leading to the east and a small niche (ca. 45 by 60 cm)
built into its western wall (Fig. 4). Originally, the niche was divid-
ed into two shelves by wooden boards placed in the middle of its
height. Probably the function of this room was very auxiliary.
The rich decoration of its doorway should rather be associated
with the larger room from the south.
When extending the small test trench further to the east, anoth-
er doorway, however of much later origin, was unearthed. This
doorway was cut through the E-W wall to provide a passage in the
northern direction. From the southern side, the door opening is
relatively broad (1.55 m) but further to the north its width gets
limited to 1.18 m only. So the whole door passage has a trapezoid
ground plan. In front of the door, two steps were found, resting
directly on the pavement in the courtyard from where also the
chapel could be entered. From the west, the steps were flanked
with a small, carelessly built column. Probably another one might
have been erected on the eastern side of the door. This doorway is
of later date than the chapel’s origin and must have led to premis-
es located further to north, perhaps associated with the house EA
0512. (J.K.)

4. Small finds from room EA 02

The excavation of the southern part of room EA 02 yielded sev-

eral small finds. Among them were many fragments of plaster
decorated with opus sectile imitation, belonging without doubt to
the inner decoration of the chapel. Also four interesting pieces of
what might be interpreted as fragment of figural decoration were
found (Fig. 7). Pars of reddish and pink strips are interlaced with

Only its southern part was excavated.

11

12This part of the site was surveyed by close range digital photogrammetry
(Fig. 5 and 6) combined with traditional hand drawings.
 EXCAVATION AT ABU MINA 2014 65

strips from which paint and the paint’s background were mechan-
ically scratched to expose fine grain plaster. The evenness and
accuracy of scratching suggest that it could have been done pur-
posely as a part of the decoration programme. Fragments of
rounded cross-like emblems, scratched in a similar fine grain plas-
ter were also found (Fig. 8), but this time the scratched areas were
painted red. Among other fragments of plaster and mortar, a cor-
ner piece of the upper floor construction with impressions of rec-
tangular (in section) floor beams was secured (Fig. 9). The area
yielded also several fragments of stony household instruments like
mortars or game boards (or counting tablets?) (Fig. 10).
Further works are planned in this region in a coming season.
(J.K.)
66 P. GROSSMANN–J. KOSCIUK BSAC LIII 2014

zuerst, später bis auf Symbol löschen

Fig. 1. The eastern margin of the settlement around the chapel with family tomb
 EXCAVATION AT ABU MINA 2014 67

zuerst Fig 2

Fig. 2. Southern face of the E-W wall with red dado decoration
68 P. GROSSMANN–J. KOSCIUK BSAC LIII 2014

zuerst Kosciuk Fig. 3

Fig. 3. The junction between houses EA 01 (chapel) and EA 02 ÷ 04

 EXCAVATION AT ABU MINA 2014 69

zuerst Pl. I

Pl. Ia. Fermentation vat and treading floor of press unit I

Pl. Ib. Grooves in the floor of the bag press
70 P. GROSSMANN–J. KOSCIUK BSAC LIII 2014

Pl II

Fig. 4. Orthophoto of the western wall of room EA 03 with the niche

 EXCAVATION AT ABU MINA 2014 71

Pl. III

Fig. 5. Isometric view (computer 3D model) of the junction between ho uses EA

01 (chapel) and EA 02 ÷ 04 as seen from the west
72 P. GROSSMANN–J. KOSCIUK BSAC LIII 2014

Pl. IV

Fig.6. Isometric view (computer 3D model) of the junction between houses EA 01

(chapel) and EA 02 ÷ 04 as seen from the east
 EXCAVATION AT ABU MINA 2014 73

Pl. V

Fig.7. Fragments of (figural?) wall paintings found inside of house EA 03

Fig. 8. Fragments of incised in plaster cross-like decoration found inside of
house EA 03
74 P. GROSSMANN–J. KOSCIUK BSAC LIII 2014

Pl. VI

Fig. 9. Fragment of upper floor construction (note impressions of rectangular in

section floor beams)
Fig. 10. Fragment of stone game board (or counting tablet?)