an important role in Pompeiian daily life, both religiously and politically. When the temple was excavated in 1764 by Karl Jakob Weber, many remnants of temple life were found. Fragments of statues and ritual materials were found scattered in various parts of the temple. The excavation in this area began in 1709 with Duc d'Elbeuf's unearthing of artifacts through well-digging in the area later identified as Herculaneum. The earliest excavations of the Roman towns in Campania - destroyed by the volcanic eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 A.D. - are highlighted by the excavations between 1750 and 1764 and the work of Weber. He was a Swiss military engineer charged with the supervision of the excavations during the period by Roceque Joaquin de Alcubierre, chief director of the royal excavations from 1738 until his death in 1780. These early excavations faced many daunting tasks: the difficulties of excavating through tons of volcanic material in Resina to investigate Herculaneum, the problems of disturbing established and arable farmland to evacuate in Pompeii, and the resulting health hazards from long periods underground in damp conditions. During the extraction of this material, Weber's workers dug haphazardly around the site looking for valuable sculptural finds, back-filling immediately afterwards to prevent collapse. Although Weber, determined to produce accurate maps of the orientation of the villages and individual buildings, believed the newly discovered areas should be left exposed for public exhibition. Influence After its excavation, the Temple of Isis influenced the art world; it was the subject for many inspired artists. The famous composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is known to have visited the Temple of Isis at Pompeii in 1769, just a few years after it was unearthed and when Mozart was himself just 13 years old. His visit and the memories of the site are considered to have inspired him 20 years later in his composition of The Magic Flute. The temple also inspired the backgrounds for The Magic Flute opera adaptation. In the 18th and early 19th centuries, the Temple of Isis in Pompeii served also as the subject of written depictions and illustrations, many of which romanticized and exoticized the Egyptian cult center. One particular book written by Giambattista Piranesi in 1804, Antiquités de Pompeìa, includes illustrations of Egyptian symbols which are not historically accurate to what has been excavated at Pompeii and depictions of the Temple of Isis at a much larger than