“semitisches pantheon”. eine “männliche tyche” - MOSAIKjournal.com

DOMESTIC SPACE AND COMMUNITY IDENTITY |87
than we would expect from a private house which then leaves the
option of it being used as a hall for gatherings or feasting, but the
lack of pottery to support this idea leaves the question open. For
these reasons I want to concentrate on the examination of the lower
megaron (fig. 8). 46
Fig. 8: Emporio, lower-megaron and house A complex during
their final phase of construction.
The lower megaron and house A lay side by side on a terrace above
the most important of the north-south paths in the town. Inside
the megaron two stone disc bases found at its centre served as roof
supports. Possibly a clay roof existed, as witnessed by a thick level
of hard yellow clay along the east half of the room. Indications of a
hearth come from the setting of a slab on its edge, which might
have been the curb of a central hearth. The floor is represented by
a hard grey level of trodden earth overlaying the terrace fill. Finally,
there are signs of rebuilding in the north-eastern corner, when
house A was added to the complex. House A is of irregular shape,
oriented east-west. Part of its south wall is also the back of the
lower megaron (fig. 9). House A was the finest of the bench-houses,
featuring two doors, one main opening in the north wall and a se-
46 BOARDMAN (1967) 40–42, fig. 18–19. pl. 8–9 a–c.