Temple of Isis and Serapis

[2] Much of the artwork decorating the temples used motifs evoking Egypt, and they contained several genuinely Egyptian objects, such as couples of obelisks in red or pink granite from Syene.

[3] The cult was probably introduced in Rome during the 2nd century BC, as attested by two inscriptions discovered on the Capitoline Hill mentioning priests of Isis Capitolina.

[22] It is difficult to gather more precise data about the original aspect of the sanctuary, as its architecture has been completely erased by later buildings and modifications to the area.

The generally accepted reconstruction proposes that the whole area was a rectangle measuring about 220 x 70 m[23][24] that comprised wells, obelisks, and Egyptian statues, along with a small temple of Isis in the northern section.

This structure has been identified with the Arco di Carmigliano, once standing across Via Labicana and dismantled in 1595, which would have constituted the eastern entrance to the sanctuary built by Vespasian.

[14][29][30][31][32] It has also been proposed that the area could be accessed from the West through a quadrifrons arch built by Hadrian,[33] now part of the apse of the church of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva.