The “Square Feature” in the harbor: Excavations in Berenike 2010–2011

Abstract

The Berenike Project team explored, as one of a number of objectives, a square feature situated on an island or promontory in the southwestern harbor bay of the Berenike port, directly to the northwest of the “Lotus Temple”. The report is a preliminary assessment of the results of excavations carried out in 2010 and 2011, which uncovered the inside of the structure as well as a continuous surface of melted gypsum anhydrite around it that was proved to be at least in part a tumble of large wall ashlars. A provisional dating of the remains suggests an early Roman origin for the structure, which may have been a sanctuary. The findings indicate that it was already abandoned in the 4th–5th centuries when the neighboring “Lotus Temple”, uncovered concurrently by the Polish–American team, was at its peak. Finds included an inscribed altar dedicated to Domitian(?), discovered among the tumble of a stone basin and unidentified installation, and some remains of bronze statuary, oil lamps, glass beads and other finds.