Glass finds from Area FW at the Kom el-Dikka site in Alexandria (2019)

Abstract

New glass finds from the Kom el-Dikka site in Alexandria come from the excavation of Area FW located in the central part of the site. The bulk of the recorded material, made up of conical lamps, beakers and bowls, and poorly fashioned bottles, belongs to the late Roman period (4th–5th century AD). The uniformity in colour, distinctive low quality of the fabric and simple workmanship, all point to a common origin in local workshops covering the needs of the local market. A few pieces, including luxury cast and facet-cut tableware, apparently from a non-local source, represent the late Hellenistic/mid-Roman chronological horizon (2nd century BC–3rd century AD). Meriting note is new evidence of mosaic glass, once again confirming that this type of glass was manufactured in Alexandria in the mid-Roman period. The importance of this assemblage derives from the presence of early Roman luxury tableware which has seldom been observed before at Kom el-Dikka.

Keywords

• Alexandria
• Kom el-Dikka
• late Hellenistic/early Roman cast glass
• late Roman glass
• mosaic glass