THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF
Roman Domestic Religion
PP164
House of the Bull (V. I. 7)
Cult Space Type:
Cult Room
Date:
79 A.D.
Features:
Altar, Wall Painting
Associated
Cult Spaces:
PP165
Room function:
Sacrarium/Cult Room
Description:
Located with a small recess off the south of the atrium was a cult room. Against the back wall of the room stood a 0.90m high masonry altar that projected 0.40m from the wall. The altar was constructed from an engaged half column, which was coated in stucco and painted in red and yellow imitation marble. On the yellow ground of the wall on each side of the altar was a painted serpent moving among plants. A masonry threshold separated the space from the atrium, with slots present on either side indicating that the room could be closed off.
References:
Fiorelli 1875, p. 421; Bull. Inst., 1876, pp. 145-148; Boyce 1937, p. 32 (#71); Giacobello 2008, p. 236 (A9)
Image reference:
Pompeii in Picture 2007