KITCHENS AND DINING ROOMS AT POMPEII ... - Get a Free Blog

was perhaps for visitors to see; anyone going up to dining-room {6} on the upper-floor had to use
the stairs that skirted this lararium. A total of four arcuated niches appear in the small court (5)
that contains the cistern head, latrine and a stove. In one niche was found a terracotta bust of
Kore (Figs. 5.158-5.159). The proliferation of shrines suggests a multitude of different deities,
each honored in their own place -- from household gods to a goddess of Greek origin, all
watching over the preparation or delivery of the meal.
Commercial eating establishments Shrines in eating establishments appear to
concentrate their gaze upon the serving counter. The counter is the place where the food and
drink are stored, prepared, served, and consumed. The few shrines in the lunch counters of this
sample are not particularly elaborate, consisting of simple niches in the west walls of I.7.8-9 and
I.8.1 (Fig. 5.108), across from and behind their respective counters.
Shrines are somewhat more common and interesting in the diners. The masonry altar
below a painting of a Genius and Lares sacrificing at an altar in garden (d) of I.4.11 was visible to
some of the customers who congregated in rooms (b) or (c), and would have been noticed by
anyone entering the garden to use the latrine in the southeast corner (Fig. 5.11). Simple niches
suffice in I.8.15-16; one is located in the wall behind the serving counter and visible to customers
(Fig. 5.125), another is hidden above a water collection basin in court (7) at the back of the
building. In I.7.13-14, a painting of Priapus on the front face of the serving counter advertises the
establishment, while two rectangular niches in the west wall of court (3) look out over the small
hearth in the southeast corner and the dining area (4) just off the northwest corner (Figs. 5.22,
5.92). Ritual sanction is extended over customers both on the street and reclining indoors. 193
The best preserved and most elaborate shrine from this sample is in I.8.8 (Figs. 1.20, 2.6,
5.115). There an aediculated frame of stucco in relief features a panel depicting the Genius
sacrificing at a tripod altar, flanked by two Lares, and Mercury and Bacchus on either side; below
are heraldic serpents before another altar. This finely decorated shrine faces onto the street from
behind the front counter, and adjoins the entranceway to dining room (2), which was used by
customers of the establishment. Its strategic location allows it to be seen easily from the street,
and its quality was further appreciated by those patrons who decide to enter the dining room.
Houses with or without (work)shops
Casa piccola As with (work)shop-houses, there is no clear pattern to the distribution of
cult areas in small houses. There is no evidence for ritual in three houses, and in three others,
193 Sets of a shrine on the street and a shrine inside the building appear elsewhere as well; in the diner
VII.1.38-39, a niched shrine occupies the wall behind the serving counter, while two more niches are set into
the wall above the stove in kitchen (d-e) (see Boyce 1937, 61, #242-243).
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