MARINA ELALAMEIN

Modern name for an ancient site on the Mediterranean coast near modern el-Alamein where Egyptian and Polish excavations since 1986 have uncovered a town from the Graeco-Roman Period with nearby tombs. The tombs consist of burial chambers off a central altar and a room for the funeral and subsequent feasts in honor of the dead. Mummy portraitshave been recovered with some of the burials, indicating that this practice was also carried on in northern Egypt; this had not been hitherto attested due to the wetter climate here.