The Architecture of the Colonnaded Streets in the Romano-Egyptian Cities

The colonnaded streets were an architectural landmark in the urban structure of Roman Egypt. They served as a connection mean between different governmental institutions and public structures. Perhaps, they were the most visible architectural element within cities in the eastern Roman provinces. Such monumental streets varied in length, width, and decoration. This study adopts a holistic approach to oppose the ambiguities about possible meaning, origins, and architectural elements of the colonnaded streets in Roman Egypt. The colonnaded streets were introduced to Egypt in the Roman Period and influenced by Greek architecture, so they were a new adoption for Egyptian architecture as a hybridized architectural art. The architectural remains of the colonnaded streets in the urbanized Egyptian cities in the Roman Period like Alexandria, Oxyrhynchus and Antinoopolis confirm the adoption of new architectural elements in this period. The style of the columns and their various capitals at Antinoopolis is pure Egyptian like the closed and the opened lotus flower or the adopted Corinthian capitals. The placement of the memorial architectural elements like the tetrastyle, the memorial pillars and their capitals were new landmarks for Egyptian urbanism in the Roman Period on the colonnaded street. The colonnaded street of Roman Egypt connected the cities with transportation means like harbours as in Alexandria, Oxyrhynchus, and Antinoopolis. As the colonnaded streets served as artery in cities planning, they attested different celebration, commercial and cultural activities.