Group of tetradrachmas from the reign of Diocletian discovered at Kom el-Dikka in Alexandria

Abstract

A set of more than 30 tetradrachmas from the second half of the 3rd century AD was discovered in Alexandria in Egypt, at the Kom el-Dikka site excavated by a Polish mission, in a zone of public buildings constructed in the 4th century AD. A row of lime kilns from the construction site of this complex stood on top of the ruins of an early Roman domestic quarter and, after they ceased to be used, were covered with earth and rubble, the latter partly from the destruction layer of these houses. Excavation of the kilns in 2008 and 2009 produced large quantities of 4th and 5th century pottery as well as pieces of marble revetment that had been fed to the kilns, and isolated late Roman coins. The tetradrachmas from two of the kilns (Fc and Fd), which were hoarded apparently in AD 293–295, seems to have preceded the destruction of the early Roman houses and may have been hidden in one of them.