Photo : Bilal Detailz — CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Alexandria · Karmouz
Catacombs of Kom el-Shoqafa
A Roman necropolis on three levels, where Anubis wears a legionary's armour.
The catacombs came to light in 1900, under a mound of potsherds that gave them their name. You go down a spiral stair wound around a central shaft, down which the bodies were lowered; at the bottom are a rotunda, a funerary banqueting room and the main chamber, all cut in the second and third centuries. Nowhere is the Alexandrian blend clearer: Egyptian gods carved in Roman fashion, Anubis in legionary uniform, bearded serpents and shields bearing Medusa's head. The third level lies below the water table and is not open.
The extra bit
The detail worth the descent is at the door of the main chamber: two figures of Anubis guard it, one of them in a Roman cuirass and greaves. Come at opening — the passages are narrow, and one coach party fills them completely.
Know before you go
It is damp and airless: water seeps from the walls, it is warmer at the bottom than at the top, and the air does not move. The spiral stair is the only way in, with no continuous handrail and no lift — the visit is out of reach in a wheelchair and hard on weak knees. Photography sometimes carries a separate charge: ask at the ticket window rather than downstairs.
