Krzysztof Jakubiak

Recent excavations in the northern part of the Marina el-Alamein archaeological site have uncovered architectural features shedding light on the functioning of this part of the town located close to the putative harbor. It now appears to have been a residential district of an affluent elite, exemplified by House H39 incorporating a small bathhouse. In view of these findings, the location in this part of the town of a large house with a commemorative complex dedicated to the Commodus cult, together with an adjoining banquet hall, does not seem to be accidental.

The 2019 season in Metsamor confirmed the functioning of the settlement in the Urartian period. House II, discovered during the fieldwork, is the first architectural structure built at the beginning of the Early Iron Age period which, after some possible rearrangements, retained control over the Araxes valley during the Urartian kingdom. Pottery discovered there confirms that the already excavated part of the settlement was extensively used after the fall of Urartu. A pit grave dated to the 7th century BC yielded a late Urartian cylinder seal.

Urartian religion, like other religions originating from the Middle East, gave fundamental importance to finding equilibrium in the world. The task of keeping cosmological order and peace was impossible to bear by priests only. Priestesses also served an essential role in the development of religious behaviour, particularly the celebration and veneration of deities in the Urartian pantheon.

In Hatra, which was one of the most significant Middle Eastern cities, settled by the Aramaic speaking Arab community, was strongly associated with the well-known religious architectonic complex situated in the city centre. The so called Great Temenos was the place where the most important deities of the Hatra pantheon were originally adored. The access to this sacred area was most probably strongly limited to an exclusive group of worshippers who have been the only ones allowed to take part in the ceremonies and festivals practiced behind the walls separating sacrum from profanum. Numerous members of the community dwelling in Hatra and its vicinity, who could not enter the limited sacred area of the Great Temenos, were also participating in religious ceremonies. How did they manage it without the access to the most sacred area? The answer to this question probably lies in the meticulous analysis of small city temples. Plausibly, the worship of deities in these small cultic structures reflected on a small, local scale the cultic and religious practices performed in the Great Temenos of Hatra. The lecture shall be focusing on the available evidences which could shed some light on the possible roles of small temples in the city's religious life

Archaeological exploration of the eastern part of the settlement in Metsamor in 2018 uncovered several rectangular structures. Most of these structures were dated to the early Iron Ages I and II. Roman-period graves were recorded in the ruins of the Iron Age settlement. An anthropological assessment of human remains from three of the burials (sex, age, cranial and postcranial measurements as well as the selected paleopathologies) is presented in the appendix.

The Marina el-Alamein Archaeological Project concentrated on excavating the area in the northern part of the harbor town, where a street (S1) existed, running north–south toward the harbor, lined by buildings on both sides. A test trench was dug across it to study the stratigraphy. It helped to identify several street levels and at least two major building phases in this area. One of the structures (H39) contained a hypocaust furnace that led to the building interpreted as a bathhouse. A pebble mosaic was uncovered immediately west of the furnace. Opposite Building H39 and across street S1, there was a large and richly furnished residential house (H42). It encompassed two paved courtyards, which were in use in the first half of the 2nd century AD. Three seasons of excavations (2012, 2013 and 2014) were followed by a season devoted in its entirety to documentation of the pottery and other small finds from the excavations and checking of the documentation from earlier seasons.

Excavation in Metsamor in 2016 was focused on the settlement area as well as necropolis. Extended trenches uncovered a substantial part of the settlement and contributed new stratigraphic and chronological data on the three phases of occupation, especially the heavy fire that appears to have destroyed the buildings in the early 8th century BC. A unique find from this level of destruction was a necklace made of sardonyx, agate and gold beads. In the post-Urartian period, the northeastern part of the settlement was clearly rearranged. Exploration of a kurgan tomb in the cemetery showed that the tomb had been reused for the most recent burial, looted, which may have included a symbolic horse burial. The construction of the tomb, based on finds from a layer at the bottom of the burial chamber, which included several golden adornments and beads of different materials, can be dated to the Middle Bronze Age, the latest burials to the Iron I period.

The Metsamor excavation project is a Polish–Armenian effort to investigate a Bronze Age citadel site located about 35 km west of Yerevan, on a hill dominating the Ararat plain. Fieldwork started in 2013 and was aimed during the first three seasons at clarifying site chronology in the citadel as well as the northern lower town. An unbroken sequence from the Kura Araxes culture (Early Bronze Age) to medieval times was confirmed. Settlement remains of Early Iron Age buildings included an almost square structure NSB 2 and a dwelling NSB 1, furnished with a relatively large storage room. Four human skeletons, two of young men, were also recorded, suggesting they were victims of a raid on the settlement. The results of recent field observations coupled with pottery analysis postulate occurrence of two destructive events, first during the Urartian invasion led by Argishti I and the second one at the beginning of the 6th century BC.

The Metsamor site in the 2017 season was excavated in two areas. The main area was the so-called town area where several dwellings from the Early Iron Age were cleared. Evidence of violent site destruction included two human skeletons belonging most probably to victims of a sudden attack, left unburied after the town had been destroyed. The cemetery was the second investigated area. Exploration of kurgan XIX demonstrated that it had been looted. Nevertheless, some human remains and several artifacts in the form of bronze snake head bracelets were recorded inside the burial chamber.

Archaeological exploration of the eastern part of the settlement in Metsamor in 2018 uncovered several rectangular structures. Most of these structures were dated to the early Iron Ages I and II. Roman-period graves were recorded in the ruins of the Iron Age settlement. An anthropological assessment of human remains from three of the burials (sex, age, cranial and postcranial measurements as well as the selected paleopathologies) is presented in the appendix.

Marina el-Alamein, a small town situated around 100 km west of Alexandria, is a good example of a middle-sized settlement flourishing during the first three centuries AD. The present paper analyses the urban layout and plan of the settlement. The main hypothesis proposed here is based on the results of excavations conducted on the site since 1986. Thanks to the observations from the field, in addition to analyses of the already excavated structures, it was possible to reconstruct the street system and divide the urban space into three zones: the coastal zone (port area), the residential quarters, and the necropolis. All of them were situated on three natural terraces. The northern part, located along the seashore, was occupied by the port and warehouses. On the second terrace, wealthy residential quarters with a relatively large bathhouse complex were spread along the coast. Finally, a large necropolis with several types of monumental tombs created a border between the town and the desert.

The Metsamor archaeological site is one of the most important material relics of ancient Armenia. Regular excavations were conducted there from the beginning of the 1960s until 2003, but the results failed to get much publicity, being published mostly in Armenian and sporadically in Russian. The most spectacular buildings discovered on the site were small oval shrines (dated to the Early Iron Age) located on the southern slopes of the citadel hill. The settlement from this time (about 1150-850 BC) was located on the opposite side of the hill. The article reconsiders the evidence from old excavations as well as new research of a current Polish-Armenian project in an attempt to reconstruct the organization of internal space in this small town. It has been established that, compared to similar sites from ancient Armenia,

Most of the activity during the 2017 season at the archaeological site of Marina el Alamein was focused on two areas situated in the northern part of the town. Building H 40 was one of the main excavation targets: two rooms were cleared, originally part of a large, multi-roomed and most probably prosperous house. The other target was the structure H 39, already explored in earlier seasons, which was now confirmed as a small but richly decorated bath complex with traces of wall painting and geometric mosaic floors.

The conquest of the fertile Arax valley by Argishti I in the mid 8th century BC was a major point in Urartian imperial policy, the valley having been a target of Urartian expansion from the start. The article outlines Argishti's actions, including the evidence of violence discovered during recent excavation at Metsamor in Armenia, thus highlighting the dynamics and significance of Urartian expansionism. A contribution is also made to a study of the emergence and development of urban settlement in the Arax valley through an examination of surviving Urartian inscriptions.

The Marina el-Alamein Archaeological Project concentrated on excavating the area in the northern part of the harbor town, where a street (S1) existed, running north–south toward the harbor, lined by buildings on both sides. A test trench was dug across it to study the stratigraphy. It helped to identify several street levels and at least two major building phases in this area. One of the structures (H39) contained a hypocaust furnace that led to the building interpreted as a bathhouse. A pebble mosaic was uncovered immediately west of the furnace. Opposite Building H39 and across street S1, there was a large and richly furnished residential house (H42). It encompassed two paved courtyards, which were in use in the first half of the 2nd century AD. Three seasons of excavations (2012, 2013 and 2014) were followed by a season devoted in its entirety to documentation of the pottery and other small finds from the excavations and to check the documentation from earlier seasons.