water system, typo-morphology of the cisterns

The study of Alexandria's water system

4th century BC to 19th century AD.

A TYPO-MORPHOLOGY OF THE CISTERNS

Isabelle Hairy

Data concerning the morphology of the cisterns, taken from the drawings of the Kamil files, has been recorded within a FileMaker Pro database. This database at present holds 144 cisterns of 1 to 4 levels, from 6 m3 to 2500 m3. There are:

27 cisterns on 1 level
50 cisterns on 2 levels
49 cisterns on 3 levels
9 cisterns on 4 levels
9 cisterns whose exact morphology is unknown to us

Looking at the morphological data recorded, five broad types of Alexandrian cistern can be recognised. The question as to their chronological order remains difficult. In fact, it is by comparing these forms with substructures that have been discovered in defined and dated contexts that we will be able to respond to this question. For the time being, the elements that we possess will only allow us to approach the subject in broad terms (see the page - Conclusion).

Type I

Reservoirs of a single chamber and small capacity carved into the rock and often lying deep within the earth (between 6m and 13.5m below 19th century ground level)..

Type I - El Derdaa cistern
Drawing by A. Kamil, 1896
Archives CEA - © CEA

Situated under a street next to the tomb of Sidi Abu el Derdaa. In the 19th century this cistern was within a garden surrounded by three tombs, one of which being that of Abu el Derdaa. The bottom of the cistern is a little more than 8m below the 19th century ground level. This cistern functioned with at least two different ground levels, which can be remarked thanks to the DECROCHEMENT indicated on the section.

Type I - El Tawil cistern
Drawing by A. Kamil, 1896
Archives CEA - © CEA

Situated in Kom el Dikka district beneath a small public square next to Abu Azeifa Alley, which in 1896 was an empty lot. The cistern runs beneath a still extant house that was then occupied by one Hag Ragab.

Type II

Reservoirs of one or more connected chambers of small capacity and roofed by a vault - as the recently discovered cistern of the Serapeion dated to the 5th century.

Type II - Serapeion cistern
Surveyed and drawn by Isabelle Peguet, 1998
Archives CEA - © CEA

This cistern was excavated by a team from the Graeco-Roman Museum, led by its director, Mr Ahmed Abdel Fatah. It dates to the Roman era and consists of three regular polyhedral chambers of different volume, each covered by semicircular vaulting. Two of these chambers are connected to the larger third by brief corridors of identical dimensions, also roofed by semicircular vaulting, which are oriented one to the east, the other to the south, following the longitudinal and transversal axes of the central space. To the north-west, the access well is also connected to this chamber by an even shorter corridor.

Type III

Large reservoirs on one level with vaulted roof supported by rectangular pillars; an extremely durable hydraulic plaster protects the masonry. Examples include the large cistern beneath the parcel of the cathedral Evangelismos, that of the Roman baths at Kom el Dikka and the cistern in the southern part of the Serapeion plateau.

Type III - Evangelismos cistern
Surveyed and drawn by Isabelle Hairy, 1998
Archives CEA - © CEA

Type IV

All those cisterns that have been seen and/or excavated. The database is enriched with each new discovery.

This cistern of roughly 215 m3 is completely atypical in its layout. It is a large hypostyle chamber cut into the rock, one wall of which is constructed of rough cut masonry blocks. The holes that have been hacked into the walls may be the beginnings of loculi. However, without claiming that this was a hypogeum, these niches indicate with certainty that the space had another function before being transformed into a cistern.

In the file of the Doueb cistern, situated in the same district as the Nagguee Sidi Wanas cistern, a note reads, "as this form is not in that of a cistern, it could be considered a hypogeum. It is cut into the rock some 8m beneath the level of the garden."

Type V

Large vaulted reservoirs on 1 to 4 levels with vertical supports and braced arches holding up the structure. The most beautiful example visible today is the El Nabih cistern. An analysis of re-used architectural elements in the masonry would suggest that construction of this substructure was certainly later than the 7th century. (See Introduction photograph)

With a capacity of around 1240 m3, this is one of the great cisterns of Alexandria, as is noted on the file: "This cistern is one of the largest of the town and is quite good condition. It merely needs some repairs to its plastering and concrete for the floor foundation. It is situated in Mr Green's garden on the rue Rosette, between rue Cérisy and rue Corinthe."

Situated beneath the corner of Fouad and Ptolemies Streets, with a volume of more than 2000 m3, this cistern is the biggest of all those documented in the Kamil files. It is composed of 3 transversal and 12 longitudinal bays on 3 levels (2 levels of pillars and one of longitudinal barrel vaults which form the roof), creating a total volume of approximately 2500 m3. During the Second World War it was transformed into an air raid shelter. When the building on the side of the street was constructed the third longitudinal bay was destroyed.