Dr. Jessica Venner
👤 SpeakerAppearances Over Time
Podcast Appearances
So he would have been one of a number of priests.
and priestesses in this temple to Isis.
As I mentioned, Isis was the mother goddess of Egypt.
She was the goddess of rebirth and very important for all people in society.
That was fairly rare in the sense that you wouldn't always get cults that were attracting women at the same time as slaves, at the same time as men and freedmen.
It was one of those all-rounder cults.
So it was very, very important in Pompeii.
And it was clearly becoming more and more popular because we've got graffiti around the town that says, there's one fabulous one that says, the worshippers of ISIS are everywhere.
But we've also got evidence of this cult crossing over with the lives of other people.
She has a shrine in her garden to Isis.
And she has Egyptian motifs in her dining room that we mentioned.