in the house always pleasant and comfortable.
Additional thanks go to the anonymous reviewers, who provided valuable comments and suggestions for additions and clarifications on the manuscript.
A portion of this volume was written during my post-doctorate research position in the Collaborative Research Centre 933 “Material Text Cultures. Materiality and Presence of Writing in Non-Typographic Societies” at the Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg (Germany), as part of the subproject A09 “Writing on Ostraca in the Inner and Outer Mediterranean.” I would like to thank all the members and scholars I met between 2016 and 2019 in Heidelberg, who provided assistance, motivation, and good humor to me during the period in which I completed this volume. The CRC 933 is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG), which I thank for supporting my research during these years.
Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to my family, my greatest shelter, and particularly to Stefania Alfarano and Roberta Casagrande-Kim for their constant encouragement and help. This work could have not been completed without the love, care, and understanding of my husband Gianni, who gave me the strength to continue day after day in the most difficult moments. It is to him that this book is dedicated.
List of Figures, Tables, and Plates
Figure 1: The Great Oasis with Amheida/Trimithis in northwest corner.
Figure 2: General map of Amheida/Trimithis divided in 11 areas.
Figure 3: Plan of Area 2.1 with the House of Serenos (B1), the stable (B5), and Streets 2 and 3.
Figure 4: Roman thermae (laconicum and latrina) below B1 and B5.
Figure 5: Macro photos of some Amheida fabrics.
Figures 6–9: Some complete or almost complete vessels from B1, S2, and S3.
Figure 10: Section drawing of Room
Figure 11: Small stove (F31) in Room 4.
Figure 12: Plan of Rooms 9 and 10.
Figure 13: Plan of Room 13 showing the distribution of ceramic fragments.
Figure 14: Almost complete unfired clay disc in Room 13 (DSU 216).
Figure 15: The double bin (F151+F174) in Room 13.
Figure 16: Section drawing of Room 14.
Figure 17: Plan of Room 15 showing the distribution of ceramic vessels that received a Field Number (FN) during the excavation.
Figure 18: The stibadium outside the House of Serenos.
Figure 19: Section drawing of Street 2.
Figure 20: Vessels found in a dumped layer (DSU 163) lying on the floor (F117) of the laconicum.
Figure 21: Cooking pot (no. 129 = Inv. 10264) from DSU 170 in the laconicum.
Figure 22: The closed alley (R43) to the south of Building 6 (Area 2.2).
Figure 23: Illustration of Serenos’ social network.
Table 1: Fabric and Ware desciptions.
Table 2: Total kilograms for each fabric found in B1, S2, S3 (above floors).
Tables 3–17: Quantification of ceramic types and distribution by functional categories for selected contexts above floors of B1.
Table 18: Quantification of ceramic types from Serenos’ dump (Room 43, DSU 160, Area 2.2).
Table 19: Percentage of pottery from B1, S2, S3 (above floors).
General Catalogue
Plate I: Small footed bowls (nos. 1–9); Bowls (nos. 10–27).
Plate II: Bowls (nos. 28–38); medium bowls (nos. 39–41); dishes (nos. 42–46).
Plate III: Oasis Red Slip Ware (nos. 47–55); vessels for liquids (nos. 56–72).
Plate IV: Vessels for liquids (nos. 73–79); kraters (nos. 80–85).
Plate V: Krater with decoration from Room 15 of House B1 (no. 86).
Plate VI: Deep bowls (nos. 87–88); basins (nos. 89–94).
Plate VII: Basins (nos. 95–98); sieves (nos. 99–100); funnel (no. 101).
Plate VIII: Cooking plates (nos. 102–103); casseroles (nos. 104–111); cooking pots (nos. 112–122).
Plate IX: Cooking pots (nos. 123–147).
Plate XI: Jars (nos. 175–194).
Plate XII: Kegs (nos. 195–203); Yellow slipped flasks and jars (nos. 204–212).
Selected Contexts above Floors (B1, S2, S3)
Plate XIV: Room 1–DSU 4.
Plate XV: Room 4–DSUs 9 and 23.
Plate XVI: Room 6–DSUs 67, 75, 76, and 78.
Plate XVII: Room 8–DSUs 63, 74, and 77.
Plates XVIII–XIX: Room 9 and Room 10.
Plate XX: Room 11–DSU 235 and Room 12–DSUs 245 and 247.
Plate XXI: Room 13–DSUs 208, 209, and 216.
Plate XXII: Room 14–DSUs 221 and 233.
Plates XXIII–XXVII: Room 15–DSUs 140, 145, 152, 157, and 181.
Plate XXVIII: Rooms 16 and 17–DSUs
