Discovery of Fresco Paintings at Pompeii

Published: 11 April 2024 at 08:51

History

Archeologists at Pompeii have uncovered remarkably preserved fresco paintings, including one depicting Helen of Troy meeting Paris. The paintings were found in a former private residence along Via di Nola and are part of the black room, an imposing banquet hall with black walls. The frescos are of high quality and use the black walls as backgrounds for the scenes, unlike typical figurative panels with borders. The discovery offers insight into ancient Roman dining habits and the luxurious lifestyle in Pompeii before its destruction by Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.

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Pompeii (Wikipedia)

Pompeii ( pom-PAY-(ee), Latin: [pɔmˈpei̯.iː]) was an ancient city located in what is now the comune of Pompei near Naples in the Campania region of Italy. Pompeii, along with Herculaneum and many villas in the surrounding area (e.g. at Boscoreale, Stabiae), was buried under 4 to 6 m (13 to 20 ft) of volcanic ash and pumice in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.Largely preserved under the ash, the excavated city offers a unique snapshot of Roman life, frozen at the moment it was buried, although much of the detailed evidence of the everyday life of its inhabitants was lost because of excavations. It was a wealthy town, with a population of ca. 11,000 in AD 79, enjoying many fine public buildings and luxurious private houses with lavish decorations, furnishings and works of art which were the main attractions for the early excavators. Organic remains, including wooden objects and human bodies, were interred in the ash. Over time, they decayed, leaving voids that archaeologists found could be used as moulds to make plaster casts of unique, and often gruesome, figures in their final moments of life. The numerous graffiti carved on the walls and inside rooms provide a wealth of examples of the largely lost Vulgar Latin spoken colloquially at the time, contrasting with the formal language of the classical writers.Pompeii is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Italy, with approximately 2.5 million visitors annually.After many excavations prior to 1960 that had uncovered most of the city but left it in decay, further major excavations were banned or limited to targeted, prioritised areas. In 2018, these led to new discoveries in some previously unexplored areas of the city.

Archaeologists Uncover Ancient Construction Site in Pompeii, Revealing Roman Building Techniques

Excavations at Pompeii have unveiled an ancient building site, providing insights into Roman construction methods like on-site mortar mixing and use of cement. The discoveries shed light on the construction of iconic structures such as the Colosseum and Pantheon. The findings include evidence of tools, jars, and materials like plaster and crushed bricks for floor coverings. Italy has increased funding for Pompeii, emphasizing the importance of further exploration in understanding ancient Roman architecture and craftsmanship.

Archaeologists Unearth Ancient Building Site in Pompeii Revealing Roman Construction Techniques

Archaeologists in Pompeii discovered a construction site that provides insight into the Romans' construction methods, including the use of a unique cement-making technique involving quicklime and pozzolanic ash. The site, active until Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD, revealed tools, roof tiles, tuff bricks, and storage jars. The discovery sheds light on the politics of Pompeii, with evidence of vote buying through inscriptions. Director Gabriel Zuchtriegel highlighted the importance of concrete in building iconic structures like the Colosseum. The construction process involved hot mixing for quick drying, a method still used today.

Erotic art in Pompeii and Herculaneum (Wikipedia)

Erotic art in Pompeii and Herculaneum has been both exhibited as art and censored as pornography. The Roman cities around the bay of Naples were destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, thereby preserving their buildings and artefacts until extensive archaeological excavations began in the 18th century. These digs revealed the cities to be rich in erotic artefacts such as statues, frescoes, and household items decorated with sexual themes. The ubiquity of such imagery and items indicates that the treatment of sexuality in ancient Rome was more relaxed than in current Western culture. The creation of erotic art in ancient Rome is thought to have occurred over seven centuries from the first century BCE to the fifth or sixth century CE.Much of what might strike modern viewers as erotic imagery, such as oversized phalluses, could arguably be fertility imagery. Depictions of the phallus, for example, could be used in gardens to encourage the production of fertile plants. This clash of cultures led to many erotic artefacts from Pompeii being locked away from the public for nearly 200 years. In 1819, when King Francis I of Naples visited the Pompeii exhibition at the Naples National Archaeological Museum with his wife and daughter, he was embarrassed by the erotic artwork and ordered it to be locked away in a "secret cabinet", accessible only to "people of mature age and respected morals". Re-opened, closed, re-opened again and then closed again for nearly 100 years, the Secret Museum, Naples was briefly made accessible at the end of the 1960s (the time of the sexual revolution) and was finally re-opened for viewing in 2000. Minors are still only allowed entry to the once-secret cabinet in the presence of a guardian, or with written permission.

Bronze Age Hamlet Unearthed in Eastern England Dubbed 'Britain's Pompeii' Reveals Well-Preserved Artifacts from Almost 3,000 Years Ago

A late Bronze Age hamlet found in eastern England, dubbed 'Britain's Pompeii,' has revealed well-preserved artifacts, including a half-eaten bowl of porridge, communal rubbish bins, and a decorative necklace. Excavated in 2015 to 2016, the site's exceptional preservation is attributed to a fire that engulfed the settlement shortly after it was built, causing the buildings and contents to collapse into a muddy river, leading to charring and waterlogging that preserved the remains. The excavation uncovered four large wooden roundhouses and an entranceway structure, indicating the settlement was likely twice as big originally.

Pompeii (disambiguation) (Wikipedia)

Pompeii is a ruined Roman city near modern Naples in the Italian region of Campania.Pompeii, Pompei may also refer to:

Amphitheatre of Pompeii (Wikipedia)

The Amphitheatre of Pompeii is one of the oldest surviving Roman amphitheatres. It is located in the ancient city of Pompeii, near Naples, and was buried by the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD, that also buried the city of Pompeii and the neighbouring town of Herculaneum.Six bodies were found during the excavations.

Excavation Reveals Ancient Roman Statue and Bronze Age Village in the United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, construction workers discovered a nearly 2,000-year-old statue of a Roman lady while digging a parking lot. The statue, likely bought by the ninth Earl of Exeter in the 1700s, was found buried outside, posing a mystery. Additionally, the excavation of the Must Farm village, a Bronze Age stilt village that burned down 2,850 years ago in eastern England, provided rare insights into Bronze Age society, resembling Britains Pompeii, with well-preserved artifacts like a spoon in a half-eaten bowl of porridge and evidence of everyday life.

Archaeological discovery in late Bronze Age Britain reveals a vivid snapshot of a thriving community at Must Farm

In Must Farm, late Bronze Age roundhouses in eastern England were engulfed in a fire 2,850 years ago, capturing a poignant moment of a once thriving community Archaeologists excavated the site in Cambridgeshire, describing it as an archaeological nirvana akin to Pompeii with well-preserved artifacts like wooden tools and axe marks on sculpted wood, providing unprecedented insights into ancient life

Eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD (Wikipedia)

Of the many eruptions of Mount Vesuvius, a major stratovolcano in southern Italy, the best-known is its eruption in 79 AD, which was one of the deadliest in history.In autumn of 79 AD, Mount Vesuvius violently spewed forth a cloud of super-heated tephra and gases to a height of 33 km (21 mi), ejecting molten rock, pulverized pumice and hot ash at 1.5 million tons per second, ultimately releasing 100,000 times the thermal energy of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The event gives its name to the Vesuvian type of volcanic eruption, characterised by columns of hot gases and ash reaching the stratosphere, although the event also included pyroclastic flows associated with Pelean eruptions.The event destroyed several Roman towns and settlements in the area. Pompeii and Herculaneum, obliterated and buried underneath massive pyroclastic surges and ashfall deposits, are the most famous examples. Archaeological excavations have revealed much of the towns and the lives of the inhabitants leading to the area becoming the Vesuvius National Park and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.The total population of both cities was over 20,000. The remains of over 1,500 people have been found at Pompeii and Herculaneum so far, although the total death toll from the eruption remains unknown.

Pompeii (song) (Wikipedia)

"Pompeii" is a song by British pop rock band Bastille. It is the fourth single from their debut studio album Bad Blood and was released on 11 January 2013. The song's title and lyrics refer to the Roman town of the same name that was destroyed and buried in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79."Pompeii" became the band's breakthrough hit, peaking at number two on the UK Singles Chart and became the eleventh best-selling song that year and, until June 2014, was the country's most streamed single of all time. It was also successful worldwide, reaching the top ten in fifteen countries, including the United States where it peaked at number five on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Bastille's most successful single to date, until "Happier" reached number two on both the UK and US charts in October 2018 and February 2019 respectively.The song was nominated for British Single of the Year at the 2014 BRIT Awards. A mashup of the song with Rudimental and Ella Eyre's "Waiting All Night" was performed live by Rudimental, Eyre and Bastille at the aforementioned ceremony, which reached number 21 in the UK.It was also performed at the 2014 iHeartRadio Music Awards, where it was nominated for Alternative Rock Song of the Year.

Pompeii (film) (Wikipedia)

Pompeii is a 2014 epic romantic historical disaster film produced and directed by Paul W. S. Anderson. An international co-production between the United States, Germany and Canada, it is inspired by and based on the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D. that destroyed Pompeii, a city of the Roman Empire. The film stars Kit Harington, Emily Browning, Carrie-Anne Moss, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Jessica Lucas, with Jared Harris and Kiefer Sutherland.Pompeii premiered in France, Belgium, and Russia on February 19, 2014, and was released over the course of the next day in Argentina, Greece, Hungary, Italy and later in the United States and Canada on February 21, 2014. This is FilmDistrict's last film before it merged with Focus Features. Upon release, Pompeii received generally mixed reviews and grossed $117.8 million against a budget of $100 million.

Researchers use AI to decipher nearly complete passages from ancient Herculaneum scroll

A team of researchers has used artificial intelligence to decipher several nearly complete passages from an ancient Herculaneum scroll, providing insight into philosophy from almost 2,000 years ago. The Herculaneum scrolls, which survived the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79, are extremely delicate and would crumble if unrolled. By using computer technology and advanced AI, researchers were able to analyze the scrolls without causing damage. Over 2,000 characters from the first full passages have been deciphered. The passages were written by the philosopher Philodemus and discuss the idea of pleasure in Epicurean philosophy.

Mount Vesuvius (Wikipedia)

Mount Vesuvius ( viss-OO-vee-əs) is a somma-stratovolcano located on the Gulf of Naples in Campania, Italy, about 9 km (5.6 mi) east of Naples and a short distance from the shore. It is one of several volcanoes forming the Campanian volcanic arc. Vesuvius consists of a large cone partially encircled by the steep rim of a summit caldera, resulting from the collapse of an earlier, much higher structure.The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD destroyed the Roman cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum, Oplontis, Stabiae, and several other settlements. The eruption ejected a cloud of stones, ashes and volcanic gases to a height of 33 km (21 mi), erupting molten rock and pulverized pumice at the rate of 6×105 cubic metres (7.8×105 cu yd) per second. More than 1,000 people are thought to have died in the eruption, though the exact toll is unknown. The only surviving eyewitness account of the event consists of two letters by Pliny the Younger to the historian Tacitus.Vesuvius has erupted many times since. It is the only volcano on Europe's mainland to have erupted in the last hundred years. It is regarded as one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world because 3,000,000 people live near enough to be affected by an eruption, with at least 600,000 in the danger zone. This is the most densely populated volcanic region in the world. Eruptions tend to be violent and explosive; these are known as Plinian eruptions.