Investigating and Theorizing: The Small Artifacts in the Temple of Isis at Pompeii

Abstract A great deal has been written lately about materializing religion, with a particular focus on Egyptian and Egyptianizing objects within the Roman context. Small objects found in the temple offer a very different picture than the one many scholars have been presenting; most of these came from the Sacrarium, apparently a very sacred place. The Isiacs may have used the objects as part of a system of inclusion and exclusion. Moreover, they seem to have been aware of real Egyptian objects and imitations and gave the highest value to age and closeness to the Isiac religion. This is particularly true of an ushabti which received special respect, buried in a special place and inscribed with hieroglyphs of a spell from the Book of the Dead. These objects have been on display in the National Archaeological Museum in Naples since 1992, when an important guidebook to the objects was produced.