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HannaSzymańska,KrzysztofBabraj
EGYPT
SHOPSNORTHWEST
OFTHEBASILICA
Anotherfiveunitswereexcavatedbythe
southwesterncornerofthebasilica(loci
23,24,25,26and28)[Fig.8],extending
therowofroomsexploredalreadyin
previousseasons(2005,2007and2008)
andcontributingdatatotheongoing
researchontheeconomyofByzantine
churches.Units25and26mayhaveserved
asakindofexchangeolce,wherepilgrims
ontheirwaytoAbuMinacouldchange
theirmoney(seeSzymańska,Babraj2005:
52).Excavationoftheseroomsyieldedover
300coins,mostofwhichweretoocorroded
forconservation,buttheirpresencealone
pointedtotheeconomicfunctionofthese
rooms.Acoinweightwasalsodiscovered
inunit26(forasimilarspecimen[six
nomismata]datedtothe4th-6thcentury,
seeWamser,Zahlhaas[eds]1998:161,
163,Cat.197;seealsoWamser[ed.]2004:
360-367)[Fig.9,topright].Bothrooms
wereneatlypavedwithlimestoneslabsof
roughlyequalsize.
Tesefiverooms,whichweremost
probablyshops,yieldedthelargestnumber
ofsmallfinds,includingaplethoraof
objectsofdailyuse.Teseincluded
boneplaquesforadornmentofwooden
boxes,someofthemskillfullycarved,
likeafragmentofaplaquedepicting
Fig.8.Shopsexploredbehindthesouthwesterncornerofthebasilica,lookingsouthwest
(PhotoT
.Skrzypiec)
66
PAM21,Research2009
