chapter thirteen the catacombs of kom el shoqafa were actually built as a series of tombs in the bedrock beneath the city.however , they evolved into being a complex labyrinth of passageways that led to many locations throughout alexandria , often secretly entering into one of the many temples.oddly enough , by the time the catacombs were discovered by modern archeologists in the 1900 's , the passageways had all collapsed.only the tombs remained .