THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF
Roman Domestic Religion
PP546
IX. ix. 6
Cult Space Type:
Cult Building
Date:
79 A.D.
Features:
Altar, Cult Building, Niche, Shelf, Wall Painting
Associated
Cult Spaces:
PP544, PP545
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 and small windows on the north wall. The building was believed to have originally used as a kitchen, with remnant kitchen structures present. A masonry bench was built into the northeast corner which extended across the north wall. Above were two arched niches, each fitted with a projecting base. Three holes in the wall above them indicate that a shelf extended across 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 featured a painted garland suspended from two painted nails. Iron nails had been driven into the walls on either side to support real garlands. On the floor in front of the eastern niche was a masonry altar coated in stucco. In the southeast corner of the room stood a rectangular masonry table, with he remains of another masonry structure suggested to have been the hearth of the earlier kitchen located in the southwest. Numerous objects were found in the room during excavation, which were likely placed on the shelves of the room. Of note was a statuette of a reclining woman on a kline holding a patera.
References:
Boyce 1937, p. 91 (#459); Bassani 2008, pp. 230-231 (Scheda 35); Giacobello 2008, p. 286 (V83)
Image reference:
Pompeii in Pictures 2009