(c) Tous droits réservés ISIMU 2016
Ce travail est disponible sous licence Creative Commons Attribution - Pas d’Utilisation Commerciale 4.0 International.
Résumé
In the year 1913 F.Ll. Griffith brought to light a large building which he called "the Treasury". He dated it to the period between Pi(ankh)y and Aspelta, most of all on the basis of seals bearing the names of these sovereigns. The structure was enormous and Griffith excavated only part of it.
In 2001 the site was granted to the University if Cassino. Our first campaigns of excavations aimed to better define the entire plan of the building and try to clarify, if possible, some aspects left unresolved by Griffith. The building is 267 meters long and 68 meters wide and it was destroyed by a violent fire. The rooms seem to be situated around a long courtyard with a portico upheld by 112 sandstone columns 80 cm in diameter. There are 35 rooms in all; 17 on the north side, 17 on the south side of the courtyard and one at the end. This suggests that the entrance is on the west side of the edifice.
The rooms are rectangular and measure 14 x 21 m. The floor is composed of slabs of well-smoothened sandstone which are joined in a very precise manner. As many as 76 columns sustained the roof of each room.
Most of the ceramics is composed of large storage jars for transporting and storing foodstuffs. Ninety percent of these are of Egyptian origin or imitation of Egyptoan pottery. Phoenician amphore are also present. The two types are dated VII-VI century B.C.
The accumulation, transformation and administration of quality goods took place there but an ostentatious and perhaps celebratory use seems also probable.