Kom El Deka (Comb- L- Dehka)

Kom El Deka, also known as Kom el-Dikka, is a neighborhood and archaeological site in Alexandria. Kom El-Dikka was a well-off residential area in Graeco-Roman times, with villas, bathhouses and a theatre, most of which survive to this day. The area is sometimes known at the time as the "Park of Pan", a pleasure garden where citizens of Alexandria can indulge in various leisure pursuits. The neighborhood includes ruins of the 13 white-marble terraces of the only Roman theatre found in Egypt, in addition to several well-preserved auditoria, imperial baths, and late imperial houses.
In the richly decorated residences, which dominated the site in its heyday (1st–3rd centuries AD), archaeologists found wall paintings with depictions of Alexander the Great, sculptures, and mosaics. A group of multicolored mosaics was discovered in the so-called Villa of the Birds, dated to the 1st century AD.
Another feature of the site is a complex of auditoria dated to the 5th–7th century, the first ancient educational complex to be discovered. It consisted of about 22 lecture halls, with stone benches lining the walls and elevated chairs for the master teacher (philosophos). These halls give testimony to Alexandria's reputation for higher learning in the very heart of the ancient city.

Type

Arcology / Residential Complex