Pompeii. Altar in the Stabian Gate
or Porta Stabia.
Pompeii Stabian Gate.
March 2009. East
side. Upper
niche.
Pompeii Stabian Gate.
March 2009. Lower
niche.
Pompeii Stabian Gate. May
2006. East side. Niche.
Fiorelli states that the niche had a covered inner of
stucco, it had at the bottom graffiti in large letters PATRVA, name of
Minerva, whose image without doubt was placed here for protection of the Gate.
See Pappalardo, U.,
2001. La Descrizione di Pompei per
Giuseppe Fiorelli (1875). Napoli: Massa
Editore. (p.32).
The following narrative and
images of the Shrine in the Stabian gate are the intellectual property of Dr.
Steven Ellis et al. of the Pompeii Archaeological Research Project: Porta
Stabia (PARP:PS) and are reproduced with the kind permission of Dr.
Ellis.
More detail on the project
can be found at http://www.stanford.edu/group/pompeii/ or
pompeiana.org
International Research Projects.
Pompeii
Archaeological Research Project: Porta Stabia.
2006 Season
The
Porta Stabia Votive Deposit (Trench 10000)
Two arched wall niches, one larger above a smaller niche below, survive still
in the eastern wall of the Porta Stabia. They were probably street shrines and
early excavators found traces of painting in the uppermost one (now lost).
Recent excavations in the city have excavated the sidewalk below such
street-side shrines, although to find shrines associated with a city gate is
rare in Pompeii.
Therefore we decided we would investigate this area this season to learn more
about them and uncover any associated ritual activities.
Our excavations
revealed a sequence of sidewalk surfaces below the 79 CE level. The earliest
surface we encountered was laid against the Porta Stabia sometime in the late
2nd century BCE, indicating that yet earlier sequences remain to be discovered
in future seasons.
The lower, smaller
niche was presumably made first in accord with a small square altar or podium
that was inserted against the east wall of the gate. Its first associated
surface was eventually raised, which meant the lower portion of the altar
became buried. At this point, a ritual deposit was made in the raised sequence
of levels to retain the altar’s sacred character. We recovered a small votive
cup containing a small amount of carbonised remains, rim fragment of a glass
plate, and a votive bowl in which was found the terracotta bust of a woman broken
into three pieces. Her secure identification awaits further study and
association with similar finds. Ecofactual material
included a single vertebra, a fragment of jawbone and other unidentified bone
fragments and pieces of charcoal.
When the sidewalk was
raised for the final time in this area, the altar/podium became completely
covered. It is therefore plausible that this action resulted in the cutting of
the higher and larger niche into the east wall of the Gate. While the earlier
partial covering of the altar resulted in votive offerings, its complete burial
produced no observable ritual. This lack of votive deposits may be attributed
to the possibility that the (contemporary) creation of the upper large niche
required no offerings to be placed in the ground.
The two niches and area excavated in red.
The buried altar under the small niche.
The
votive cup. (Drawn by Gina Tibbott)
The
broken terracotta figurine. (Drawn by Gina Tibbott)
