Though the rebuilding of Celsinus was 'from the foundation,' remains of the old temple were utilized, as shafts of columns and Corinthian capitals coated with white stucco; and the plan of the new building was very nearly the same as that of the old. The stylobate of the colonnade belongs to the earlier structure, but the columns originally stood nearer together, eight instead of seven at the ends, and ten on the sides.
The architectural forms and the workmanship of these remains point to a time just after the founding of the Roman colony; nevertheless the dimensions of the colonnade, approximately fifty by sixty Oscan feet, reduce to the pre-Roman standard of measurement, and the building may have been commenced earlier. In later times the increasing number of the worshippers of Isis made necessary an enlargement of the sanctuary. The two rooms at the west end (5 and 6) were added at the expense of the Palaestra, probably at the time of the rebuilding.
In the middle of the court, which is surrounded by the colonnade, is the temple, consisting of an oblong cella (2), the east side of which is treated as a front, with a portico borne by six columns (1). A pit for the refuse of sacrifices, enclosed by a wall (b) stands in the corner of the court near the entrance from the street; in the opposite corner there is a larger enclosure having the appearance of a small temple (4). Near this are two altars; a third altar stood close to the temple, and there are five others, somewhat smaller, between the columns. On the south side, between the colonnade and the Theatre, is a small area of irregular shape, east of which is a dwelling containing five rooms (7, 8, 9).
The accompanying illustrations show the temple as it is to-day ([Fig. 79]) and as it was before the eruption ([Fig. 80]). It has architecturally nothing suggestive of the Egyptian style. Yet the plan presents a marked deviation from ordinary types, as if the builders, erecting an edifice for the worship of foreign gods, strove with set purpose to produce a bizarre effect; at the right and the left of the front of the cella is a large niche, projecting beyond the sides of the portico, and inorganically connected with the main part of the temple by a pilaster. In the ornamentation of this temple, as in that of the temple of Apollo, the simple and chaste forms of the Greek architecture were replaced by gaudy stucco ornaments more in harmony with the prevailing taste.
Fig. 79.—View of the temple of Isis.
Besides the broad flight of steps in front, a narrow stairway at the left of the temple led to a side door opening into the cella. A base of masonry about six feet high extends across the rear of the cella, on which were two pedestals of tufa, about sixteen inches square, for the statues of Isis and Osiris. In the two large niches outside other divinities stood, perhaps Anubis and Harpocrates. The latter was apparently worshipped also at the shrine in the wall on the east side of the court (3), facing the doorway of the cella. A painting from this shrine, now in the Naples Museum, represents a statue of Harpocrates of the familiar type—a boy with his finger in his mouth holding a cornucopia, with a lotus blossom resting on his forehead; before him stands a priest in a long white robe, holding a candlestick in each hand, while in the background is a temple surrounded by a colonnade, evidently intended for a free representation of the temple before us. In front of the shrine were the charred remains of a wooden bench.
