MARINA EL-ALAMEIN EGYPT 98 Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean 19, Reports 2007 THE COMMODUS MONUMENT FROM HOUSE H21C IN MARINA EL-ALAMEIN Rafał Czerner, Stanisław Medeksza The commemorative monument dedicated to Commodus, discovered in the course of archaeological and conservation work carried out on the site of Marina el-Alamein on the northwestern coast of Egypt, has undergone anastylosis and partial restoration. The present paper sums up the work that has gone in the reconstruction of this small but ornate piece of Roman-age architecture from Egypt. 1 The monument was set up in a house marked as H21c [see Fig. 1 on page 82], inside an official hall (unit 2) opening axially of the south side of a double-portico courtyard, against the west wall of the room [Fig. 1]. The base wall was all that was preserved in situ, 4.25 m long and 1.98 m wide, erected on top of the room pavement and with the two lateral sections affixed to the west wall. The wall was built of vertical limestone slabs, presenting one of the two typical sizes for Marina, that is, an average 54–60 by 30 cm and 20 cm thick. Two courses of these slabs stood in place, giving a total height of 0.71 m [Fig. 2]. The impression was of two small units without doorways, which were not identified at first 1 The Polish-Egyptian Restoration Mission commenced work in this area in 2000. The house was cleared originally in 1989–1992 in the course of Egyptian rescue excavations which followed the discovery of the site in 1986. Since then the following members of the PCMA conservation team have participated in the project: Rafał Czerner, architect-restorer, Wiesław Grzegorek, architect-building engineer and restorer (in charge of the work), Stanisław Medeksza, architect- restorer (Mission Director and co-author with R. Czerner of the anastylosis project), Małgorzata Ujma, artist and painting restorer, Piotr Zambrzycki, artist and stone restorer (responsible for choosing conservation technologies). Fig. 1. Position of the Commodus monument inside House H21c (Drawing M. Krawczyk-Szczerbińska, S. Medeksza)