Peter Grossmann

English summary: The Ostraca House in Abu Mena is a medium-sized multi-story building, which was badly destroyed by fire after the Arab conquest of Egypt (at around 639/42). Despite being used by neighboring inhabitants as landfill, it led archeologists to the discovery of nearly 2000 Greek ostraca. In this volume Peter Grossmann examines the origins of these ostraca. The house was an official building owned privately and not by the state, which had, among other things, something to do with the organization of the grape harvest and the payment of grape pickers in the surrounding vineyards. In addition, there was a larger abutting complex of buildings in the immediate vicinity of the building, with five closely-packed presses built at different times, which would suggest that it makes sense to link the excavated ostraca to the existence of these presses. These are the only presses that were allowed to remain under Roman control within the holy precinct (temenos), which suggests that they were, in part at least, private ecclesiastical possessions. This is also confirmed by the fact that the ostraca are written exclusively in Greek. German description: Das Ostraka-Haus von Abu Mina ist ein mehrgeschossiger Bau mittlerer Grosse, der nach der arabischen Eroberung Agyptens (um 639/42) durch Feuer stark zerstort und von den angrenzenden Bewohnern als Mulldeponie genutzt wurde, den Ausgrabern aber gleichzeitig die Entdeckung von nahezu 2000 griechischen Ostraka bescherte. Peter Grossmann untersucht in seinem Band die Herkunft der Ostraka. Bei dem Gebaude handelte es sich um ein privates, nicht in staatlichem Besitz befindliches Amtsgebaude, das u.a. mit der Organisation der Traubenernte (Weinlese) und der Entlohnung der Erntearbeiter in den Weinbergen zu tun hatte. Daruber hinaus fand sich in unmittelbarer Nachbarschaft dieses Gebaudes ein grosserer zusammenhangender Gebaudekomplex, der funf dicht aneinanderstossende und zu unterschiedlichen Zeiten erstellte Presseinrichtungen aufwies, so dass es nahelag, die ausgegrabenen Ostraka auf diese Pressen zu beziehen. Es sind die einzigen Pressen, die unter romischer Verwaltung innerhalb des kirchlichen Bezirks (temenos) verbleiben durften, was dafurspricht, dass diese Pressen gewissermassen zum privaten kirchlichen Besitz gehorten. Dies wird auch dadurch bestatigt, dass alle Ostraka ausschliesslich in griechischer Sprache verfasst sind.

The book deals with the publication of two late antique or early Christian building complexes which according to their shapes and records in the sources are interpreted as two ecclesiastical palace buildings. They are both not anymore existing, but thanks to the carefully produced survey records of the buildings at least the floor plans on paper could be re-gained. Both palaces date to the tolerant Arab governor Abdal Aziz ibn Marwan (A. D. 685-705) and give thus an idea how an ecclesiastical palace at the end of the late antiquity would have looked like. They contained living quarters, churches, each a large reception hall or dining-room etc. and demonstrate in this way that during the Umayyade time the erection of churches was still not principally forbidden. But on the other hand both palaces offer only an uncomplete picture of the architecture during the period of the late antiquity. Examples of the earlier period have been still not discovered. They stay thus at the threshold from the classical antiquity to the Byzantine Middle Ages. Until the middle of the 8th century the Christian architecture in Egypt followed still the tradition of the local examples as it becomes obvious in the two triconchoi. After this date, however, the architecture became Byzantine. Small churches came into being with cruciform floor plans and four-pillar churches of similar sizes or the spatial a bit larger octagon-domed churches in which the central dome rested on eight pillars. Examples of the latter are to be found nearly exclusively in Greece. Only from the region of Aswan in Egypt some further examples are known.