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March 28, 2024, 08:14:32 pm

Author Topic: Ancient - Pompeii and Herculaneum religion 10 marker  (Read 3136 times)

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Chadi

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Ancient - Pompeii and Herculaneum religion 10 marker
« on: January 23, 2019, 12:00:48 pm »
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Assess the value and limitations of Sources G and H for assessing the role and practice of religion in Pompeii and Herculaneum.  Support your response with a range of sources and your own knowledge (10 marks)

Religion played a big role in the everyday life of inhabitants of Ancient Pompeii and Herculaneum. There is a wide variety of cults which people were enlisted in, in which they would worship a range of different gods.

In Pompeii, the forum housed many temples that were dedicated to gods, for example: The temple of Jupiter, The temple of Vespasian and the Temple of the Lares. Source G is an image of the Temple of Isis. The cult of Isis was popular among freedmen and women as ceremonies were accompanied by chanting, playing of music and burning of incense. A fresco discovered in Herculaneum illustrates priests conducting a religious ceremony for Isis - the god of fertility. Source G reveals to us one of the most prominent gods that was followed at the time. The most important cult/religions were in the forum as the forum was the center of religion and trade. Joanne Berry acknowledges this in Source H as as ‘The importance of these gods is evident from the temples that cluster around the area of the Forum’.

Although both sources G and H give a basic overview of religion in Pompeii and Herculaneum, they do not comprehensively cover the aspects of religion in Pompeii and Herculaneum. Most houses had a lararium in which the Household god - Lares would be worshipped every day. The ceremony was lead by the paterfamilias and the rest of the family (Including slaves) would worship behind him, offerings of food were often left for the Lares. The Lares was believed to have protected the family. There was a range of secretive cults which the state did not approve of. The Cult of Dionysus was in the Villa of the Mysteries, in which the worship of the renamed Dionysus - Bacchus - would be worshipped. Bacchus was the god of fertility and divine intoxication, frescoes inside the villa depict the initiation rites being conducted during an initiation ceremony. Other mystery cults include The Cult of Sabazius, The Cult of Demeter. Michael Birrell speculates that the ‘mystery cults were popular because it offered a personal kind of relationship with the divine’ in comparison to state religions which ‘were really generally impersonal to most citizens’. Some modern religions were believed to have been practiced by a very small percentage of the population. Biblical names such as Mary and Martha have been found on walls and in inscriptions suggesting the presence of Jews. An inscription bearing the word ‘Christian’ has also been found in Herculaneum which provides evidence for Christianity being a religion practiced at the time. Another big part of religion in Pompeii and Herculaneum were the burial tombs. There various types of tombs indicating that both the rich and the poor were interred together. In Pompeii, burial within the gates was forbidden, the Herculaneum tombs have not been excavated yet. The decor of a tomb was reliant on the individuals wealth and social status. Umbricius Scaurus’s tomb depicts scenes of gladiatorial games given in his honour. The tomb of Faustus and his wife Nevolia Tyche was decorated with a scene of a funeral ceremony and a ship lowering its sails. Both Eumachia and Mamia had exedra tombs in which individuals could sit and pay their respects to the deceased. Other types of tombs include family tombs and altar tombs. Within these tombs, people were cremated and their remains placed within an urn in the tomb.

Sources G and H provide a basic outlook on religion in Pompeii and Herculaneum and do not comprehensively assess the role and practice of religion in the cities.