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PP546

IX, ix, 6

Cult Space Type:

Cult Building

NO mapavailable png shrine01-01-01.png
NO mapavailable png shrine01-01-01.png
NO immage available png serpent-01.png
NO immage available png serpent-01.png
Date:

79 A.D.

Associated
Cult Spaces: 

PP544, PP545

Structural type:

Sacellum

Room function:

Sacellum/Cult building

Description:

At the rear of the garden stood a cult building. The room had a rectangular plan, with a single door on its western side, small windows on the north wall, and a double pitched roof. The structure was originally used as a kitchen prior to serving a cult function. A masonry bench was built into the north east corner, extending the majority of the north wall. Above it on the north wall were two arched niches, each fitted with a projecting base. Three holes in the wall above them mark the position of the brackets which supported a shelf extending across the whole length of the north wall. A third niche was located on the eastern wall, also with a projecting base and a step inside for a statuette. This niche was set into a panel of white stucco which was marked off by red stripes. The upper part of the panel, above the arch of the niche, featured a painted garland suspended from two painted nails. Iron nails had been driven into the walls on either side of the niche to support real garlands and taeniae. In the south east corner of the room stood a rectangular masonry table. On the floor in front of the eastern niche was a masonry altar coated in stucco. In the south west corner were the remains of another masonry structure suggested to have been the hearth of the previous kitchen. Numerous objects were found in the room during excavation, including glass, bronze, and terracotta items that were likely originally held by the shelf on the northern side of the room. Items found included a mirror, a candelabrum, three lamps, and several pots and vases. Additionally, a statuette of a reclining woman on a kline was also found, holding a patera.

References:

Boyce 1937, p. 91 (#459); Bassani 2008, pp. 230-231 (Scheda 35); Giacobello 2008, p. 286 (V83)

Image reference:

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