Kom esh-Shugafa Roman, 1st/2nd century A.D.

On the slopes of a hill not far from the ruins of the Sarapeion lies the entrance to the catacombs of Kom esh-Shugafa (Arabic: the hill of fragments), which is the largest and most important burial site of Roman times in Egypt. It is decorated in the mixed Egyptian-Roman style and was discovered in 1900. It consists of three storeys hewn out of the rock, one below the next (the lowest level is in danger of being flooded with ground water). Probably it was once owned by a non Christian cult community who claimed responsibility for constructing the central section in the 1st century A.D.

View of the Vestibule
A spiral staircase leads from the entrance down into the depths. After reaching the first lower storey with its central rotunda, the visitor finds the triclinium on his left. This is a large room with wide couches where the burial ceremonies were held. Another stairway in the axis leads to the burial chapel with a small vestibule. The façade has a flat, rounded gable supported by two columns decorated with plants. The rear passage to the chapel is flanked by two great snakes, each bearing above its head a round shield with the head of Medusa. Both snakes represent the mysterious Agathos Daimon, the patron saint of Alexandria, assimilated with Serapis.

Relief in the burial chapel (right niche)
The burial chapel, which is now in danger of being flooded with ground water, has three large niches that contain false sarcophagi. The chests and lids were hewn in sandstone and decorated with elements like garlands, masks and bulls’ heads. Sarcophagi of this type, freely worked in hard stone, can be seen in the foreground of the catacombs. All the rear walls of the niches bear high reliefs showing religious scenes on themes derived from the pure old Egyptian tradition. The depiction in the right niche, for example, shows the Roman emperor wearing the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt and presenting a great necklace to the cult statue of the god Apis, who appears in the form of a bull. The god was native to Memphis and here he stands on a high plinth, wearing a pectoral and with the disc of the sun between his horns. A small sacrificial stand is placed between the ruler and Apis, and on the extreme left the goddess Isis is approaching with great outspread wings. This is a classical temple scene but here, in a private burial chamber, it is largely robbed of its cult significance, appearing only as an image of the general hope for a life after death.