Temple of Isis — Attraction in Pompei

The temple of the Egyptian goddess Isis is a small sanctuary in the center of ancient Pompeii. Her name was engraved on the stones of the temple. The goddess Isis came to the Roman Empire from culture of Ancient Egypt, where she was revered as the goddess of fertility and prosperity. The Temple of Isis was built by immigrants from Egypt in the second century BC. that is, before Egypt was conquered by the Romans. The central sanctuary is surrounded by columns. The facade of the temple of Isis is depicted on one of the frescos found in ancient Pompeii. It depicted a sacrifice in honor of the goddess in front of the temple. Entrance faces the courtyard, surrounded by a four-sided portico. The portico was decorated with red panels and portrayed priests in ceremonial clothes and Egyptian landscapes, separated by architectural themes. The upper zone contained images of a temple and small paintings of landscapes and still lifes on a white background. All the surviving decorations can be seen in the National Archaeological Museum in Naples in rooms dedicated to the temple and its finds The temple that is on the podium in the middle of the courtyard has an entrance with a portico with niches on either side of the entrance. The walls were originally covered with white plaster, and along the back wall was a raised base, designed to support the statues of Isis and Osiris. In the niche on the back of the podium was a statue of Dionysus with a panther.

The main altar of the temple is not in the temple itself, but to the left of the entrance along with the second altar on the south side. On the east side of the complex is a small temple-like building with a staircase leading down to the underground cistern containing the sacred waters of the Nile. A small temple was called Purgatorium, the place where the purification ceremonies were held. The facade has a broken triangular pediment and a frieze with two processions of priests converging towards the center. Mars with Venus and Perseus with Andromeda are shown on the relief on the outside of the wall. To the west of the temple is a large room, known as the Ecclesiasterion.

To the south of this room is a room, which was called a sacristy and used to store religious objects. The room is covered with frescoes depicting snakes guarding a wicker basket adorned with moon symbols. In the southeast corner of the complex, a number of rooms are open from the south side of the portico. These rooms were the living quarters of Pastophorion priests and include a kitchen, a triclinium and a cubical.

The ancient Roman Empire had an interesting relationship with the gods of other cultures. It was allowed to pray to any god of another people if a person also sacrificed to the state gods (Jupiter, Pluto, Saturn, etc.) and deified emperors. If a person refused to pray to the gods of Rome, he could be killed. So for example, there were thousands of Christians in the first few centuries of the...

Einen Tempel, der der ägyptischen Göttin Isis gewidmet ist, finde ich einen interessanten Aspekt für die antike Stadt Pompei. Der Bau stammte ursprünglich aus der Übergangszeit zwischen dem späten 2. Jahrhundert v. Chr. und dem frühen 1. Jahrhundert v. Chr. Durch ein Erdbeben von 62. n. Chr. zerstört, fand sich ein Sklave der zu Vermögen kam und den Wiederaufbau ermöglichte. Der Isis-Kult verbreitete sich in der hellenistischen Zeit aufgrund der Verbindungen die die Griechen mit Ägypten und dem Orient hatten. In Pompei bildete sich eine grössere Anhängerschaft, da die Stadt ebenso starke Handelsbeziehungen mit dem Osten unterhielt. Der Tempel steht auf einer Erderhöhung in der Mitte eines mit Säulengängen versehenen Innenhofs. Nischen in den Säulen weisen darauf hin, dass diese Aussparungen für Skulpturen von Gottheiten des Kults der Isis dienten. Hinter dem Tempel befindet sich ein Versammlungsraum der vermutlich zur Vorbereitung auf die Riten genutzt wurde. Bei Ausgrabungen im Eingangsbereich kamen eine marmorne Hand, ein goldener Kelch, eine Statuette, zwei Bronzenkerzenleuchter und zwei menschliche Schädel zum Vorschein, die vermutlich als Relikte bei den Ritualen dienten. Vor dem Tempel befindet sich ein Raum, der den Reinigungszeremonien vorbehalten war. Im Untergeschoss standen grosse Gefässe in denen Wasser aus dem Nil aufbewahrt wurden. Der Hauptaltar befindet sich zwischen dem Tempel und dem Purgatorium (Sterberaum), während andere zwischen den Säulen angeordnet waren. Alle Funde und die von den Wänden entfernten Dekorationen sind im Nationalen Archäologischen Museum in Neapel ausgestellt. Der Tempel der Isis ist zwar nur eines von den Objekten, die Pompei bei den Ausgrabungen zum Vorschein brachte, doch finde ich es von seiner Bedeutung her sehr...

WOW! The history here was so impressive. To think that there was once 25k Romans that this area once supported with commercial stores, trading, public baths, swimming pools, a gym and so much more is just truly impressive. Pompei is a must. We would love to come back and bring the family to share all the wonderful facts we...