Nisze z antycznych domów w Marinie el-Alamein. Przykłady zastosowania aleksandryjskich form architektonicznych

• Autorzy: Czerner R.

Warianty tytułu

EN

Niches from antique houses in Marina el Alamain. Alexandrian architectonic forms - examples of use

• Języki publikacji: PL

Abstrakty

PL

Prezentowane opracowanie stanowi część szerzej zakrojonych studiów nad tak zwanym aleksandryjskim, antycznym detalem architektonicznym. Podjąłem je na terenie wykopaliskowym w Marinie, niedaleko el-Alamein, w północnym Egipcie, gdzie od kilkunastu lat są prowadzone przez polskie i egipskie misje badania archeologiczne i konserwacja reliktów hellenistycznego miasta i nekropolii1. Osada, której relikty odkryto w Marinie, jest identyfikowana na podstawie antycznych opisów wybrzeża Morza Śródziemnego z miastem Leucaspis i portem Antiphrae [5, s. 14-16], [12, s. 108-118]. Na podstawie znalezisk oraz wyników badań sądzić można, że funkcjo-nowała ona w długim okresie od II w. p.n.e. do VI w. n.e. [3, s. 12], [10, s. 5]. Domy mieszkalne, w ich głównej masie, w najstarszej fazie roboczo można datować na koniec I i na II wiek [8, s. 117-154], chociaż są również znajdowane nieliczne relikty pochodzące z czasów wcześniejszych. Później, chociaż niewiele zmieniało to ich układy, również domy były przebudowywane. Czas powstania struktur, w których były umieszczone opisywane nisze, jest jednak określany na koniec II i na III stulecie. Podobnie na 2. połowę II wieku lub początek III stulecia jest określany na podstawie stylistyki czas wykonania polichromii, która pokrywała wnętrze jednej z nisz.

EN

Studies of the antique socalled Alexandrian architectonic detail, are the subject of this article. The results of these studies, in the area of archeological excavations in Marina near El-Alamain in north Egypt, have been presented. They were carried out on the examples of wall niches (aedicula), situated in representative accommodations, called an andron, of antique Greek-Roman houses. In Marina, relics of five such niches were found, variously preserved and allowing reconstruction in different degrees. A sixth niche is known to have existed. The architectonic setting of the niches was created by elements of the Corinthian order in its particular modification, described as Alexandrian. Simplification and stylization is characteristic to it. The architectonic detail stylized in this manner was earlier called Nabataean. This was due to the discovery of the first examples in Petra (the land of the Nabataeans). The special architectonic order occurring there is still the Nabataean. It also appears in Marina, in Cyprus and in the region of Alexandria. However, more frequent in those places is the occurrence of three similarly stylized, different orders. They correspond to the classic Doric, Ionic and Corinthian orders. It is lately believed that Alexandria and the neighbouring region was the centre where these forms took shape. Hence, the definition of these orders as Doric, Ionic and Corinthian in the Alexandrian modification. The framework of the niches described was executed in the Corinthian order. These niches being small objects, on the borderline between sculpture and architecture, allow us almost complete reconstruction. This is why they constitute a better material for studies on the arrangement and architectonic proportions of an order than objects of a larger scale and more monumental. Such are, for exampie, the columns and other portico elements only partly preserved in Marina. After finding the elements of a complete aedicula and its reconstruction, studies aiming at recreating the canon of construction of the Alexandrian-Corinthian order were undertaken by the author, in the years 1999-2000. For a more convincing recreation of these rules an analysis of more than one object is necessary. It has been conducted in this article. The proportions of several niches and individual elements of portico columns have been compared. All the niches compared had an almost identical architectonic arrangement of the framework. On either side, on the sill, were placed attached columns, which stood out from the wall face. From the interior side of the niche each column had a flat pilaster of the same height and properties. On the capitals of the attached columns and pilasters and inside the niches, against the wall, rested architraves. In plan they had the shape of a horseshoe embracing the aedicula from three sides. Above the architraves there were no friezes, apart from one niche. Higher up, were mouldings. They ran around the niche, repeating with their outline the architraves' arrangement. On the bottom surfaces of the mouldings, extending beyond the architraves, a stylized decoration was placed. It had the form of simplified consoles or an offset profile composed of such consoles, squares and sometimes rhombs. One of the niches had a moulding of classic forms. The edges of the tympanums rested on the outer, extreme sections of the mouldings. They were triangular or arched. The comparison of the niches' proportions showed that they all had the same ratio of attached columns' height to the diameter of their base and to the width of the niche. The height of the attached columns was nine times the diameter of the base and equal to the whole framework of the aedicula. The ratio of their height to the distance between thtm was also constant for all the niches described. This was not dependent on their size. The distance between the largest and the smallest niche differed fivefold. Obviously, there must have existed a canon of constructing the architectonic order, which created the niches' framework. Such a canon also existed in the classic Corinthian order. It has been described by Vitruvius and comparison with his description was the basis of reconstructing of the Alexandrian-Corinthian canon. This canon, as it appears, was not always fully respected. Sometimes, in small objects, an attempt was made to make up for the small proportions of the whole by increasing the size of certain elements. It was so in the case of the aedicula from the house denoted as H10, reconstructed in the years 1999-2000. Proportions of the orders creating the settings of the other niches are more regular, very near to the classic, Vitruvian proportions and recurring in all of them, A drawn reconstruction presents the theoretical measurements of the canon of the Alexandrian-Corinthian order.

Słowa kluczowe

PL

nisza; antyczne domy; aleksandryjskie formy architektoniczne

EN

niche; antique houses; alexandrian architectural forms

• Wydawca: Oficyna Wydawnicza Politechniki Wrocławskiej
• Czasopismo: Architectus
• Rocznik: 2002
• Tom: Nr 1(11)
• Strony: 7--21
• Opis fizyczny: Bibliogr. 13 poz.

Twórcy

autor

Czerner R.

• Wydział Architektury Politechniki Wrocławskiej

Bibliografia

• [1] Czerner R., Aedicula z domu H10 w Marinie el-Alamein w Egipcie. Analiza architektoniczna, rekonstrukcja, „Architectus” 2000, nr 2(8), s. 3-14.
• [2] Czerner R., Medeksza S., Konserwacja grecko-rzymskiej osady w Marinie el-Alamein, „Architectus” 1999, nr 2(6), s. 13-20.
• [3] Daszewski W.A., Marina el Alamein. The Sile of an Unknown Graeco-Roman Settlement on the Mediterranean Coast of Egypt, [w:] Marina el Alamein. Archaeological Background and Conservation Problems. The Polish-Egyptian Preservation Mission at Marina 1988. The Polish Excavation Mission at Marina 1987-1989, vol. 1, Warszawa 1991.
• [4] Daszewski W.A., Nouvelles recherches sur la cóte Nord de 1‘Egypte. Un type meconnu de chapiteaux, „Etudes et Travaux”, Travaux du Centre d’Archeologie Mediterraneenne de 1’Academie Polonaise des Sciences, 1990, XV, s. 109-124.
• [5] Daszewski W.A., Temoignage de l ’urbanisation de la Cóte Mediterraneenne de l'epoque hellenistiąue et romaine dans la lumi re des fouilles de Marina el Alamein, „Bulletin de la Societe Franęaise d’Egyptologie”, 1995, 132.
• [6] Kammerer A., Petra et la nabat ne. L 'Arabie Petree et les Arabes du nord dans leurs rapports avec la Syrie et la Palestine ju są u ’ 1’Islam, Paris 1930.
• [7] Mała encyklopedia kultury świata antycznego, t. 1, Warszawa 1958.
• [8] Medeksza S., Marina El-Alamein grecko-rzymskie miasto w Egipcie. Badania architektoniczno-urbanistyczne i restauracja reliktów architektury mieszkalnej, [w:] Conservatio est aeterna creatio (Księga dedykowana Janowi Tajchmanowi), Toruń 1999, s. 117-154.
• [9] Medeksza S., Konserwacja reliktów architektury i malarstwa ściennego w Marinie el-Alamein, „Architectus” 2000, nr 1(7), s. 5-18.
• [10] Pensabene P., Elementi Architettonici di Alessandria e di altri sili egiziani, „Repertorio d’Arte delTEgitto Greco-Romano”, Serie C, Vol. Ili, Roma 1989.
• [11] Radzik J., Aedicula, [w:] Archaeological background and conserration problems. The Polish-Egyptian Preservation Mission at Marina 1988. The Polish Excavation Mission at Marina 1987-1988, vol. 1, Warszawa 1991, s. 45-46.
• [12] Twardecki A., Marina — nowe polskie stanowisko archeologiczne w Egipcie. Próba lokalizacji na mapie Egiptu greckorzymskiego, „Studia i Materiały Archeologiczne” 1992, t. 9, s. 107-118.
• [13] Witruwiusz, O architekturze ksiąg dziesięć, Warszawa 1956.