Theatre of Pelusium: A Roman Urban Theatre in Egypt

Site at a Glance

Rating

★4.8

Popularity

Very Low

Country

Egypt

Primary era

Classical

Eras represented

Classical

Civilizations

Roman

Site type

Entertainment

Remains

Theatre

History

The Theatre of Pelusium is a Roman theatre in Egypt, built during the Roman imperial period, the era of Roman rule under the emperors that conventionally began in 27 BC. As one of two urban theatres at Pelusium, an ancient city in the eastern Nile Delta near the Mediterranean coast, it reflects the city’s cultural importance during Roman rule. It is also among the few theatres in Egypt that can be identified archaeologically.

Excavations took place in 1992 and 1993, with the site examined again in 1993. A Polish archaeological team began further excavation in 2003 and continued work from that time onward. The foundations were restored in the modern period and remain visible at the site, allowing the theatre’s plan and surviving structural evidence to be studied.

Remains

Architectural remains

The theatre originally covered approximately 70 by 60 metres. Its surviving fabric consists mainly of foundations and supporting structures, which preserve the arrangement of the semicircular auditorium and the stage building.

Auditorium

Parts of the rear supporting walls of the semicircular auditorium survive. The seating has disappeared, but mud-brick structures remain beneath the former seating area, where they supported the rows of seats. These remains preserve evidence of the auditorium’s construction even though its visible seating structure no longer survives.

Stage building

The foundations of the scena, the stage building or architectural backdrop behind the performance area, survive well enough to permit part of its form to be reconstructed. No standing wall elevations remain, but excavated architectural elements indicate aspects of the building’s original appearance. The stage front was elaborately arranged with granite columns, several of which survive to heights between 4.81 and 5.99 metres. Marble column bases were also recovered, along with a heavily eroded capital probably belonging to the Corinthian order, whose columns are recognized by elaborate leaf ornament traditionally based on acanthus foliage.