Roman Domestic Religion
THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF
PP099
House of Sutoria Primigenia (I. xiii. 2)
Cult Space Type:
Shrine
Date:
79 A.D.
Associated
Cult Spaces:
PP096, PP097, PP098
Structural type:
Niche, Wall Painting
Room function:
Culina/Kitchen
Description:
In the northeast corner of the kitchen was a shrine, comprised of a small arched niche with a detailed cult scene. The niche sat on the north wall, 1.33m above the ground with a stuccoed interior and a projecting tile base. Its walls were reddish-brown with green and red garlands on the back and side walls. Above the niche were more garlands and an oak wreath. Around the niche was painted a spit with cuts of skewered meat, sausages, a ham leg, a pig’s head, and a skewered eel. Below was a serpent among plants and a cylindrical altar with a pine cone. The painting on the east wall was divided into two registers. The top register depicted the sacrificial scene, with the Lares carrying situlae and rhyta, and the Genius and the Juno who was sacrificing with the tibicen. A group of fourteen figures were present in the centre. On the extreme left was the camillus, with another man carrying an animal. The lower register depicted two mules and a bull.
References:
Orr 1972, pp. 161- 162 (#33); Giacobello 2008, pp. 156-158 (#28)
Image reference:
Eber 2018 (Via Pompeii in Pictures)