VIII.2.16 Pompeii. Casa dei Mosaici
Geometrici or House of the Geometric Mosaics.
Linked to VIII.2.14. First excavated 1826. Further excavation 2013.
Part 3
Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 – 2013 excavations Part
1 Part 2
VIII.2.14-16 Pompeii. Plan of lower level, courtesy of Sandra Zanella.
See Zanella S., 2019. La
caccia fu buona: Pour une histoire des
fouilles à Pompéi de Titus à l’Europe. Naples
: Centre Jean Bérard, planche II.
VIII.2.16 Pompeii. May 2018. Looking east towards rear of house at top of slope, and lower levels. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
VIII.2.14/16 Pompeii. September 2004.
Looking east towards rear of house at top of slope, and lower levels. Photo taken from exit of site.
VIII.2.16 Pompeii. May 2015.
Looking north towards lower floor levels beneath area of collapsed terrace garden. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
VIII.2.14-16
Pompeii. Detail from plan by Noack.
See Noack, F. and
Lehmann-Hartleben, K., 1936. Baugeschichtliche Untersuchungen am Stadtrand
von Pompeji. Berlin: De Gruyter, Taf. 20.
According to Boyce, in a kind of cave beneath the court located behind the large atrium of number 16, on the extreme edge of the slope was a sacrarium of peculiar nature.
Against the rear wall of a narrow passage was built a masonry seat.
In the wall above it, a vaulted opening led into a small cell hewn out of the rock, with its floor 0.50m below that of the outer passage.
A second masonry seat was built within the cell, back to back with that in the outer passage.
The only means of entrance into this inner chamber appeared to have been over these two seats and through the small opening above them.
Within the cella stood a rectangular masonry altar and upon the altar lay a small terracotta altar, a marble ball, and two lamps decorated with reliefs. One of the lamps was decorated with the relief of Jupiter, the other of a rosette.
See Boyce G. K., 1937. Corpus
of the Lararia of Pompeii. Rome:
MAAR 14. (p.74, no.344)
See Giacobello,
F., 2008. Larari Pompeiani: Iconografia e
culto dei Lari in ambito domestico. Milano: LED Edizioni. (p.246).
See Notizie degli Scavi di Antichità, 1890,
290.
According to NdS August 1890, p.290-291 (see below) –
“In a corridor underneath the house that had the entrance signed with No.18, had appeared an altar located in an aedicula existing in the same underneath area, and on the same altar had been collected the following items –
Terracotta: a small rustic altar, 0.08m high. A circular lamp with a fragmented loop and with a well-known relief of Jupiter with the eagle with outstretched wings, 0.14 diameter. Another lamp, also fragmented, with rosette in the middle, 0.07 diameter.
White marble: a small ball.”
VIII.2.16 Pompeii. Notizie degli Scavi di Antichità, 1890,
p. 290.
VIII.2.16 Pompeii. Notizie degli Scavi di Antichità, 1890, p. 291.
VIII.2.16 Pompeii. Bullettino dell’Instituto di Corrispondenza Archeologica (DAIR), 7, 1892, Tav. 1, (part).
VIII.2.16 Pompeii. Bullettino dell’Instituto di Corrispondenza Archeologica (DAIR), 7, 1892, p. 14.
"A few words remain to be said about
the lower floors.
Here we are dealing with, as a glance at
the map shows, three distinct complexes of rooms. And they are:
1. The rear and subject areas to house VIII.2.3,
incompletely excavated, indicated on the map indiscriminately with n. 3. They
are small rooms, about whose destination nothing can be said for the moment,
but which seem to have served various domestic uses. It is hard to see how they
were accessible: certainly not from house VIII.2.14/16; perhaps the descent led
into the vaulted compartment, not yet cleared, which goes under the room behind
ξ; but you can't see the entrance from the floor above, at least not in
the current state of the excavations, It is not
impossible that they belonged to the adjacent house. Of course, they are not in
communication with group 4; the one apparent (doorway) between 3' and 4' is
only apparent because of the different level: 4 is three metres on a lower
level to that of 3, so that 4' was surmounted by another room, or well of
light, belonging to 3.
2. Group 4, made up of two rather
spacious rooms, the smaller of which has at the rear the door of the inclined
corridor through which one descends from x, and on the side of 3 three
small irregularly shaped rooms. The two large rooms have poorly preserved
mosaic floors and remains of paintings of very little value on the walls: in
the smaller room the background was red on one side, white on the other: in the
larger, above a red plinth, all the rest had nothing but a rough plaster.
Evidently these rooms did not yet have that layout that they would have had
when rebuilding the house was finished. They open onto a terrace, not yet
uncovered, that precedes them."
"Rimane a
dir qualche parola intorno ai piani inferiori. Qui si tratta, lo dimostra uno
sguardo sulla pianta, di tre complessi di locali ben distinti fra loro. E sono:
1. Gli
ambienti posteriori e sottoposti alla casa n. 3, incompletamente scavarti,
indicati sulla pianta indistintamente col n. 3. Sono piccoli vani, sulla cui
destinazione nulla per ora si può dire, ma che sembrano aver servito a vari usi
domestici. Non si vede come fossero accessibili: certo non dalla casa n. 14,
16; forse la discesa imboccava nel vano a volta, non ancora sgombrato, che
s'inoltra sotto il locale dietro ξ; ma non si vede. almeno nello stato
attuale degli scavi, l'ingresso dal piano di sopra. Non e
impossibile che appartenessero alla casa adiacente. Certo e che non stanno in
comunicazione col gruppo 4; quella fra 3' e 4' non è che apparente: 4 sta in un
livello inferiore di m. 3 a quello di 3. in modo che 4' era sormontato da un
altro locale, o pozzo di luce, appartenente a 3.
2. Il gruppo
4, composto da due sale piuttosto spaziose, la minore delle quali ha nel fondo
la porta del corridoio inclinato per il quale vi si discende da x. e dal lato
di 3 tre piccoli vani di forma irregolare. Le due sale grandi hanno pavimenti
di musaico mediocremente conservati e sulle pareti avanzi di pitture di assai
poco valore: nella sala minore in un lato il fondo era rosso, nell'altro
bianco: nella maggiore, sopra uno zoccolo rosso, tutto il resto non aveva che
intonaco grezzo. Evidentemente queste sale non avevano ancora quell'assetto che
dovevano avere finita la ricostruzione della casa. Esse s'aprono sopra una
terrazza, non ancora scoperta. che le precede."
VIII.2.3/5/14/16 Pompeii. Pre 1936. Looking north-east towards lower levels at rear of house, with VIII.2.16 at top.
These rooms are described in BdI, as being part of Group 4 comprising of two spacious rooms, see BdI 1892 plan, above.
On the left would be Room 11 (Zanella 224) with doorway to corridor, on the right would be room 10, (Zanella 223).
See Noack, F. and Lehmann-Hartleben, K., 1936. Baugeschichtliche Untersuchungen am Stadtrand von Pompeji. Berlin: De Gruyter, taf. 53,4.
According to PPM – VIII.2.14-16 (p.74 and 75) – regarding rooms on lower levels -
“……and those (rooms) on the west side belonged in reality to the house at nos. 3-5.”
And -
“On the lower level, and reachable by stairs towards the west, were rooms 10-13, which had mosaic flooring and remains of paintings of mediocre quality.
The rooms (14-22), about 3m higher than the rooms 10-13, were probably reachable from the house at no. 3, even if built in the same building phase”.
(For photos taken of rooms 16 and 22, see VIII.2.3, pt.2).
See Carratelli,
G. P., 1990-2003. Pompei: Pitture e Mosaici. VIII. (8). Roma: Istituto
della enciclopedia italiana, (p. 74 and 75).
See also Mau, in Bullettino dell’Instituto di Corrispondenza Archeologica (DAIR), 1892, p.3-16, and Tav. 1.
VIII.2.16 Pompeii. March 2004. Room 223, (or Room 10), looking
north-east.
On the west side of this room was the vaulted corridor 201, top
left
According to BdI, above –
“The zoccolo/dado/plinth in this room would have been red, above
this would only have been rough plaster”.
Photo courtesy of Sandra Zanella.
VIII.2.16 Pompeii. March 2004.
Room 223, (or Room 10), looking south towards modern Pompeii. Photo
courtesy of Sandra Zanella.
VIII.2.16 Pompeii. March 2004.
Room 224, (or Room 11), looking north-east to entrance to vaulted
corridor with steps to corridor 201.
Photo courtesy of Sandra Zanella.
VIII.2.16 Pompeii.
Plan.
See Bullettino dell’Instituto di Corrispondenza Archeologica (DAIR), 7, 1892, Tav. 1 (part).
VIII.2.16 Pompeii.
Bullettino dell’Instituto di
Corrispondenza Archeologica (DAIR), 7, 1892, p.14.
VIII.2.16 Pompeii. Bullettino dell’Instituto di Corrispondenza Archeologica (DAIR), 7, 1892, p.15.
3. Complex 6, behind atrium no. 16.
Its centre is formed by an uncovered
courtyard with a mosaic floor, which contains a pool (2.82 X 1.72. depth 1.40),
internally painted in sea green, into which one descended by four steps. The
walls were painted in the latest style with a black background, and a white
background at the top; and the vault of the semi-circular niche in the east
wall is also white. Behind this courtyard, that is, between it and the
embankment, there is a vaulted corridor, which has a small oven at one end,
while at the other you enter, through a passageway, short and tight, without
closure, to an irregularly broken hole in the wall of the cistern under portico
y, which therefore could no longer serve as a cistern, since that hole
is at the level of the bottom, but must have been used for other purposes. The
premises that could have been located on the opposite side of the courtyard,
towards the countryside, are no longer recognizable, this whole part having
collapsed. On the east side there are the small rooms visible on the plan and a
corridor that led to the now collapsed parts, on the west side there remains,
between the courtyard and 4, a narrow space, in which a wooden staircase (not
indicated in the plan) from the terrace of y, where the access is
perfectly recognizable, led down to this complex. All these places once served
as a dwelling (6 was then a large hall) but then were reduced to various
domestic uses. I think that above the whole complex 6 lay the terrace of y,
interrupted only by an opening corresponding to the courtyard.
3. Il complesso 6, dietroposto all'atrio n. 16.
Il suo centro e formato da un cortiletto scoperto con pavimento di musaico,
che contiene appie del muro N. una piscina (2,82 X 1.72. prof. 1.40), dipinta
internamente di verdemare, nella quale si discendeva per quattro gradini. Le
pareti erano dipinte nell'ultimo stile a fondo nero, e a fondo bianco nella
parte superiore; e bianca anche la volta della nicchietta semicircolare
praticata nel muro E. Dietro questo cortiletto, cioè fra esso ed il terrapieno,
stendesi un corridoio coperto a volta, che ha in una
estremità un piccolo forno, mentre dall'altra si accede, per un andito breve e stretto,
senza chiusura, ad un buco rotto irregolarmente nel muro della cisterna
sottoposta al portico y, la quale dunque non poteva più servire da cisterna,
giacche quel buco sta al livello del fondo, ma deve essere stata adibita ad
altri usi. Non sono più riconoscibili i locali che potevano essere situati sul
lato opposto del cortiletto, verso la campagna, essendo crollata tutta questa
parte. Dal lato E sonvi le camerette visibili sulla
pianta ed un corridoio che conduceva alle parti ora crollate, dal lato O
rimane, fra il cortiletto e 4, uno stretto spazio, nel quale una scala di legno
(non indicata nella pianta) dalla terrazza di y, ove l'accesso e perfettamente
riconoscibile, conduceva giù in questo complesso. Tutte queste località una
volta servivano da abitazione (6 era allora una grande sala) ma poi furono
ridotte a vari usi domestici. Penso che sopra l'intero complesso 6 si stendesse la terrazza di y, interrotta soltanto da
un'apertura corrispondente al cortiletto.
VIII.2.16 Pompeii.
Bullettino dell’Instituto di
Corrispondenza Archeologica (DAIR), 7, 1892, p.15.
VIII.2.16 Pompeii.
Bullettino dell’Instituto di
Corrispondenza Archeologica (DAIR), 7, 1892, p.16.
Other locations (indicated with dotted
lines) were, on two floors, partly under the courtyard, partly under the
collapsed parts towards the countryside, and are accessible by means of a
staircase, which branches off to the left from the underground corridor leading
to 4.
Under the courtyard, founded on the
living rock, there is only a narrow cavern which contains a small shrine.
Going down the aforementioned staircase
and passing over a sloping floor behind the oven (but at a lower level), you
have on the left, just past the oven, a very narrow compartment, 0.65 wide at
the entrance, 0.85 inside, along 3.0. From the right wall protrudes a bench/platform
h. 0.45, l. 0.28. and above this bench there is, in the innermost part, a
vaulted opening, 0.80m above the bench, which was at the same time the end of
the barrel vault that covers a cell carved into the rock. The floor of the cell
is about 0.50m below that of the first compartment; it was 1.65 high, 1.25
wide; the length could no longer be determined, the south extremity being
destroyed, but could not, due to the underlying room, be longer than 2.50m to
measure from the bench, which was 0.45 wide.
It contained only a quadrangular masonry altar
of m. 0.59 x 0.65.
At the aforesaid bench, on the side of
the cell, another one was leaning, 0.50 high, 0.45 wide. It was only possible
to enter the interior of the cell by climbing over the bench, unless it had
been opened into the rooms below, which was unlikely, given that their vault
apparently did not reach the same height as the vault of the shrine. It
therefore seems that the latter was quite dark.
Found on the altar were –
a terracotta altar 0.08 high, two clay
lamps, one with the relief of Jupiter with the eagle, the other with a rosette,
and a small marble ball (Not. D. Sc. 1890 p. 290).
Altre località
(indicate con linee punteggiate) stavano, a due piani, parte sotto il
cortiletto parte sotto le parti crollate verso la campagna, e sono accessibili
per mezzo d'una scala, la quale si dirama a sinistra dal corridoio sotterraneo
che conduce a 4.
Sotto il
cortiletto, fondato sulla roccia viva, evvi soltanto
una stretta spelonca che contiene un piccolo sacrario. Discendendo per la scala
suddetta e passando sopra un piano inclinato dietro il forno (ma ad un livello
inferiore), si ha a sinistra, appena passato il forno, un vano strettissimo,
largo all'ingresso 0,65, internamente 0,85, lungo 3,0. Dal muro destra sporge
una banchina a. 0,45, l. 0,28. e al di sopra di questa banchina si ha, nella
parte più interna, un'apertura a volta, a. sopra la banchina m. 0.80, la quale
era nel tempo stesso l'estremità della volta a botte che cuopre
una celletta ricavata nella roccia. Il pavimento della celletta sta circa m.
0,50 sotto quello di quel primo vano; era alta 1,65, larga 1.25; la lunghezza
non più determinarsi, essendo distrutta l'estremità S, ma non poteva, a causa
del locale sottostante, essere più lunga di m. 2,50 a misura dalla banchina,
che era grossa 0,45). Non contiene che un altare murato quadrangolare di m.
0,59 X 0.65. Alla banchina suddetta ne era addossata, dal lato della celletta,
un'altra, a. 0,50, I. 0,45. Non si poteva penetrare nell'interno della celletta
che scavalcando la banchina, a meno che non fosse stata aperta nei locali
sottostanti, ciò che era poco probabile, stante che la loro volta non arrivava,
a quanto pare, alla stessa altezza della volta del sacrario. Pare dunque che
quest'ultimo fosse affatto scuro. Sull'altare fu raccolta un aretta di
terracotta a. 0.08, due lucerne fittili, una col rilievo di Giove con l'aquila,
l'altra con un rosone, e una piccola palla di marmo (Not. d. Sc. 1890 p. 290).
VIII.2.16 Pompeii. Bullettino dell’Instituto di Corrispondenza Archeologica (DAIR), 7, 1892, p.14-16.
After passing the entrance described
previously, the staircase continued and with 13 steps leads to the lowest
floor, whose rooms, incompletely excavated and largely destroyed, can only be
said to have had the form indicated on the plan and did not extend below the
entire floor above.
The frequently mentioned corridor leading
to 4, has an entrance from x. Above five steps towards the west, and
five towards the south, one arrives below the corner of y. There, as a
continuation of the section that has been covered so far, is the cistern under
the front portico of y; in the wall that divides it from the corridor is
a window 0.68 high x 0.50 wide, and at the foot of the same wall has been
formed, by means of a small wall 0.50 high, a kind of basin (1.20 X 0.35
internally), into which a small channel enters through a slit that led the
rainwater from the channel that precedes y. This slit, and two others further
down, which open into the vertical face that under the portico y faced
the terrace, gave light to the corridor. From this basin the water came out
through a covered channel (indicated by a dotted line) that runs along the left
wall of the corridor and crosses the entrance to the staircase that leads to
the shrine; then, turning to the left, it descends along the right wall of the
staircase itself to carry the water out of the city. The first section of the
corridor was 2.0 m high, the second from 2.75 to about 4.60, the vault being
vertical, since the floor descends: the staircase 2.0 m in the first section,
from 1.80 to almost 4.0 in the second: the walls are covered with rough
plaster.
Passato dunque
l'ingresso sudescritto la scala seguita e con 13
gradini conduce all'infimo piano, sui cui locali, incompletamente scavati e
assai distrutti, si può dire soltanto che avevano la forma indicata nella
pianta e non s'estendevano sotto l'intero piano sovrapposto.
Il corridoio
più volte menzionato che conduce a 4. ha ingresso da x. Sopra cinque gradini
verso O, e cinque verso S si arriva sotto l'angolo di y. Ivi in continuazione
del tratto fin qui percorso evvi la cisterna
sottoposta al portico anteriore di y; nella parete che la divide dal corridoio evvi una finestra a. 0,68, l. 0,50, e appie della stessa
parete e stata formata, mediante un muricciolo a. 0.50. una specie di vasca
(1.20 X 0.35 internamente) nella quale imbocca un canaletto che entrando per
una feritoia vi conduceva l'acqua piovana dal canale che precede y. Questa
feritoia, e due altre più in giù, che s'aprono nella faccia verticale che sotto
il portico y era rivolta verso la terrazza, danno luce al corridoio. Da quella
vasca poi l'acqua sortiva per mezzo d'un canaletto coperto (indicato con linea
punteggiata) che scorrendo appie del muro sinistra del corridoio traversa
l'ingresso della summentovata scala che conduce al sacrario: quindi voltando a
sinistra scende appie del muro destra della scala stessa per portar l'acqua
fuori della città. Il primo tratto del corridoio era alto m. 2.0, il secondo da
2,75 a circa 4,60, essendo la volta verticale, mentre il piano discende: la
scala m. 2.0 nel primo tratto, da 1.80 fino a quasi 4.0 nel secondo: le pareti
sono rivestite d'intonaco grezzo.
VIII.2.14-16 Pompeii. Plan of lower level, courtesy of Sandra Zanella.
See Zanella S., 2019. La
caccia fu buona: Pour une histoire des
fouilles à Pompéi de Titus à l’Europe. Naples
: Centre Jean Bérard, planche II.
VIII.2.16 Pompeii. April 2004.
Looking north-west across VIII.2 towards collapsed area 220, on
south side of area 213. Photo courtesy of Sandra Zanella.
VIII.2.16 Pompeii. April 2004. Looking north-west from area of
room 220 (collapsed), across area 213 with pool.
Corridor 212 is in the centre on the left. Photo courtesy of
Sandra Zanella.
VIII.2.16 Pompeii. March 2004.
Looking east across “collapsed” area of room 220. Photo courtesy
of Sandra Zanella.
VIII.2.16 Pompeii. April 2004.
Looking north-east from collapsed area 220, towards area of room 213. Lower left would be corridor 212. Photo courtesy of Sandra Zanella.
VIII.2.16 Pompeii. March 2004.
Looking east from area of room 220, lower right, east across room
213, and towards east end of room 208, vaulted area centre left.
Niche 214 is on the centre right of the photo. Photo courtesy of
Sandra Zanella.
VIII.2.16 Pompeii. April 2004.
Niche 214, the vault of the semi-circular niche built into the
east wall of area 213, would have been painted white.
Photo courtesy of Sandra Zanella.
VIII.2.16 Pompeii. March 2004. Looking west towards area 213 showing
pool with steps
On the lower left would be area 216, leading west into area 217,
then into area 213 with pool. Photo courtesy of Sandra Zanella.
VIII.2.16 Pompeii. April 2004.
Looking west towards pool with steps in area 213. Photo courtesy
of Sandra Zanella.
Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 –
2013 excavations Part
1 Part 2