The Tombs of Anfoushy

The Tombs of Anfoushy lie in the west of Alexandria at el-Anfoushy district near
Ras el-Tiene Palace. This necropolis contains five main tombs and it is regarded as one of
the most important necropolises of the late Ptolemaic and early Roman period as it dates
back to the first half of the third century B.C. The first two tombs of this necropolis were
discovered in 1901, when Prince Omar Toson gave his orders to excavate in this area
which he had owned. The other three tombs were excavated later in 1921.

The forms and plans of these tombs resemble in their design the form of the
ancient Greek houses. Each consists of a staircase which leads to down to an open court
(Ole), which gives an access to a reception hall (Prostas) then to a smaller room which is
the burial chamber (Oikos).

Tomb No.1
This tomb consists in its turn of two groups (A and B) of funeral chambers. It
starts with a descending staircase which is cut in the rock leading to an open court. This
stairway is ceiled and its walls are covered by thin layer of plaster with traces of colors
imitating marble, but most of these colors have vanished. There are also traces of a
decoration of three rows of rectangles in the form of Opus isidomos or Opus quadratum,
which mean imitating the construction of rectangular stone blocks one beside the other in
one row of which the notch between the two is surmounted by another block in the upper
row. Immediately after the staircase, on the right hand side there is a niche that might
have been used to contain two wooden slabs on which statuettes or lamps were placed.

Most of the walls of the open court were damaged and restored. these walls had
been originally made of very well cut limestone blocks. This is well seen in the lower
parts of the walls.

In the south eastern side of the court beside the niche there is a burial opening (Loculus).
Meanwhile, in the south eastern corner of the same court is a square well used to provide
the tomb with the water as water for traditional funeral rituals and purification
ceremonies.

The open court then gives access to two burial chambers (the two groups of A and
B). The doorways of both are surmounted by an Egyptian cornice above which is a form
of a pediment that used to be on the faade of the Greek temples.

Group A
This group consists of two rooms: Prostas (the reception) and Oikos (the burial
chamber).

The prostas
It is much bigger than the Oikos and it is a sort of a rectangular vestibule provided
with broad benches cut in the rock slightly raised above the level of the floor. The roof of

this room is vaulted and decorated with geometrical designs in the form of lozenges
inside rectangles painted in red and white. These in their turn are surrounded by friezes of
yellow, red, white and black. As for the walls of this Prostas , they are all coated with a
layer of painted plaster imitating the marble with its wide veins. This style of decoration
is known as "First Pompey's Style" in which colors are used to imitate a wall made of
marble. Above this decoration are three successive rows of rectangles on the form of
opus Isidomos or Opus Quadratum imitating the construction in buildings.

The Oikos
As for the second room, or the burial chamber (the Oikos): it is smaller than the
previous Prostas and lies in a lower level than the first. At the far end of this room is a
big limestone sarcophagus. It is not very well executed and it lacks decoration. On both
sides of this room are two long openings probably used for burring dead as well. The roof
is also vaulted and decorated with geometrical patterns in the form of octagonal shapes
connected with one another by small squares. The side walls of this room are decorated
with white and black squares imitating the chessboard and between the rows of these
squares are long strips imitating marble with its wide veins painted in red, yellow and
brown. At the back wall of this room there are remains of Egyptian scenes showing
Egyptian crowns inside big squares and traces of paintings of two birds.


Group B
This group lies to the north and it also consists of two parts like the previous one.
Originally it was only one room and then in the Roman era a red brick wall was built
dividing it into two separate rooms. In addition, three sarcophagi were added. Each
sarcophagus is topped by a vaulted hole which still retains some traces of decoration and
colors. Between the right hand sarcophagus and the one at the back wall there is a
passageway leading to an interior chamber. This interior chamber contains twelve Loculi
openings. Its walls are coated with a layer of white plaster, while its vaulted roof is
decorated with geometrical designs.


Tomb No. 2
This tomb is similar to the previous one. It is reached by a staircase leading down
to an open court.

The staircase
The staircase of this tomb consists of two parts perpendicular on each other with the form
of ( L ) letter. The first part has a vaulted roof without any decoration, while the
decoration of the walls of this part is divided into two parts as follows:
a) The decoration of the upper part: three rows of rectangles arranged in the style of Opus
Isidomos.
b) The decoration of the lower part: a layer of painted plaster imitating marble with its
wide veins.

The scene on the first turn of the wall :

It is a purification scene showing the deceased standing in the middle wearing a
long robe. On the left stands the falcon headed god Horus placing one hand on the
deceased and points with the other to the west "The land of the Dead" as if he is guiding
the deceased to his supposed way. To the right of the same scene stands Osiris and Isis;
Osiris is represented wearing a short robe while the royal serpent is attached to his
forehead. He places one hand on the deceased and holds in the other a vase containing
water for purification.

The second part of the staircase
This part of the staircase has a vaulted roof too. It is also decorated with lozenges.
The walls are decorated with the same decoration of the first part

The scene of the second part of the staircase :
This is a damaged scene, but the remaining part shows Osiris mummified sitting
on the throne wearing the Atef crown. His arms are crossed on his chest. He holds in one
hand the scepter HkA and in the other hand he holds the flail nxx. Behind him is the god
Anubis, the god of the dead in the Jackal form. This scene represents the trial of the
deceased in the neither world. In case the deceased failed in passing through this trial,
Anubis would eat his heart.

The open court
The staircase leads to a square open court. Its decoration is completely ruined except in
some places where we can see that it was once decorated with the same style of that of
the staircase. On the left side of the court there is a niche cut in the wall. This tomb also
can be divided into two groups of chambers: group A and group B.

Group A
This group contains two chambers: Prostas and Oikos ; the two rooms have
vaulted roofs, but the inner is smaller than the outer chamber.

The Prostas
Entering the first room we notice on the two sides two small rectangular holes. Each has
an incised line in the wall to receive a wooden slab on which statuettes or lamps were
placed. In this room there are two layers of decoration; an old one which was later
covered by a layer of stucco on which a modern decoration was executed. The modern
layer of plaster fell down so the old decoration can be seen. This indicates that when this
tomb was reused in a later time it was simply redecorated.

The Oikos
At the end of the Prostas we find the entrance of the Oikos. The decoration of the
entrance of this chamber shows an Egyptian influence as it is flanked by two pedestals on
which sphinxes were placed, but unfortunately these sphinxes have disappeared. On both
sides of the doorway are two pillars consisting of black and white blocks and they have a
loti-form capitals. These two pillars carry a pediment without decoration except the solar
disk in the middle. On the lintel of the door there is a raw of sacred uraeui. As for the

decoration of the walls, they have the same decoration style of the walls of the Prostas. In
the middle of the black wall there is a representation of a small Naos containing another
smaller one inside. The outer is flanked by two columns. The small naos contains a
rectangular hole may be for housing a statuette for a god or for the deceased himself.
Moreover, perhaps there was an alter at the center of this room that disappeared.

Group B
This group also consists of two rooms. The scribbling on the walls of the first
room are the most amusing. They are made over 2000 years ago by a visitor or a
workman. They help us to imagine the life of the city during the Grco-Egyptian period.
The roof of the two rooms are vaulted and the walls were painted with calcimine without
decorations.

The Prostas
As for the first room in this group (the prostas), the walls flanking the doorway to
this room imitate marble and made in Egyptian technique. This door consists of two large
supports and a lower lintel. On the top of the doorway there is a cornice inside a frieze,
centered by the decoration of a winged solar disk.

On the side walls of this room there are many drawings painted in black:
On the left hand side wall starting from the left, there are remains of a scene
showing a boy's head beside some Latin inscriptions. Further more, there are traces of a
sailing boat around which there are drawings of a small ram, birds and a lady's face
which was drawn in an infantile technique. On the right hand side wall there are remains
of a small tower and a clear drawing of a human's face besides three or four lines of
inscriptions upon which there is a big fish and a drawing of a battle ship with a turret
(military and defensive tower). This battle ship might have the look of the ship that had
accompanied queen Cleopatra during the battle of Actium.

The Oikos
As for the interior chamber of this group, which is the Oikos, it is smaller than the
Prostas and can be reached through three steps of staircase. In the middle of the back
wall of this room there is a Naos like similar to that in the Egyptian temples. It has a hole
which may be have contained a statuette for a god or for a deceased himself. On both
sides of this room, there are two long and narrow openings, which were probably made to
house the sarcophagus of the deceased.


Tomb No. 3
The major part of this tomb is destroyed. the superstructure part has long
disappeared as it was reused in other buildings. The design of this tomb differs from the
previous two as the staircase leads to a road corridor, which leads in its turn to the open
court. In addition, this tomb contains more than one chamber on different levels. To the
north there are two successive rooms: the first is Prostas and the second is Oikos. To the
south there is a room that is provided with Loculi openings in its walls. To the east we

find a rectangular hall which leads to a small room containing three loculi openings and a
smaller room in its western side.


Tomb No. 4
This tomb is in a very poor state as it is the most damaged one. It is different in its
design as it consists of a slope that leads to an open court. In the eastern side of this court
opens two doors: The first leads to a room which seems to have been a Triclinium as it
has a big bench carved in the rock besides three loculi openings and traces of unfinished
fourth opening. The other door leads to two rooms: the first is Prostas and the second is
Oikos. The prostas has a vaulted roof and the remains of two low benches. At the end of
the Prostas there is a door leading to the Oikos which contains a number of Loculi
openings. To the left there are two rooms, which seem to have been added later. The first
is rectangular with vaulted roof provided with a loculus opening. The other is also
rectangular with a sarcophagus and it ends with three loculi openings on each side.


Tomb No. 5
This tomb is considered one of the most decorated in this complex. It is closed
now because of the problem of the licking underground water. However, it contains a
staircase that leads to an open court which gives an access to two groups of rooms. The
first consists of Prostas and Oikos. The Prostas was used as an offering hall with loculi
openings in its walls which were decorated with the Pompey's Style (imitation of
marble). The Oikos has a sarcophagus of Kline (funerary bed) style coated with plaster.
The walls and the roof have well preserved colored decorations of Pompey's Style,
geometrical patterns, plants and flowers decorations.

The other group contains Prostas and Oikos separated by a doorway with Greek
decorations and topped with a pediment. The roof of theses two chambers is decorated
with geometrical designs.

Bibliography


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Passent Nabil Chahine
E-mail: passent_chahine@hotmail.com

Sara Moustafa Ragab
E-mail: sararagab_144@hotmail.com