ABSTRACT
The hypogeum of Kawm al-Shuqafa in Alexandria is best known for its principal tomb, carved out of the rock in Greco-Egyptian style. A neighbouring chamber, known as the Hall of Caracalla, contains four individual rectilinear rock-cut tombs, arranged in two pairs on facing walls. A careful examination using ultra-violet light has allowed us to reconstitute the painted decorations of Tombs 1 and 2. The paintings on these two tombs provide us with new evidence of the multicultural character of Alexandrian life. A comparison of the Egyptian and Greek scenes reveals a clear parallelism in their religious conception. The mixing of Egyptian and Greek styles was common in Egypt at the beginning of the imperial period. The religious syncretism is not expressed through a mixed iconography; instead the authors see a myth in two forms, Egyptian and Greek.
