thilzz
12-30-2009, 06:14 AM
- Mount Vesuvius Eruption in 79 AD -
http://www.destination360.com/europe/italy/images/s/italy-pompeii.jpg
Pompeii is a ruined and partially buried Roman town-city near modern Naples (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naples) in the Italian region of Campania (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campania), in the territory of the comune (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comune) of Pompei (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pompei).
Along with Herculaneum (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herculaneum), its sister city, Pompeii was destroyed, and completely buried, during a long catastrophic eruption of the volcano Mount Vesuvius (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Vesuvius) spanning two days in 79 AD.
The volcano collapsed higher roof-lines and buried Pompeii under 60 feet of ash and pumice (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pumice), and it was lost for nearly 1,700 years before its accidental rediscovery in 1748.
Since then, its excavation has provided an extraordinarily detailed insight into the life of a city at the height of the Roman Empire (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Empire).
Today, this UNESCO (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UNESCO) World Heritage Site (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Heritage_Site) is one of the most popular tourist attractions of Italy, with 2,571,725 visitors in 2007.
- Vesuvius Eruption -
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b8/Mt_Vesuvius_79_AD_eruption_3.svg/652px-Mt_Vesuvius_79_AD_eruption_3.svg.png
Pompeii and other cities affected by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Vesuvius). The black cloud represents the general distribution of ash and cinder. Modern coast lines are shown.
By the 1st century, Pompeii was one of a number of towns located around the base of Mount Vesuvius.
The area had a substantial population which grew prosperous from the region's renowned agricultural fertility.
Many of Pompeii's neighboring communities, most famously Herculaneum (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herculaneum), also suffered damage or destruction during the 79 eruption.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5c/Pompeii_the_last_day_1.jpg
A depiction of the eruption which buried Pompeii (from BBC (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC)'s Pompeii: The Last Day (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pompeii:_The_Last_Day)). The depiction of the Temple of Jupiter (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_of_Jupiter_%28Pompeii%29) and the Temple of Apollo (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_of_Apollo_%28Pompeii%29) are nonetheless inaccurate as these temples had been destroyed 17 years earlier.
The people and buildings of Pompeii were covered in up to twelve different layers of soil.
- Rediscovery -
After thick layers of ash covered the two towns, they were abandoned and eventually their names and locations were forgotten.
Then Herculaneum was rediscovered in 1738 by workmen working on the foundation of a summer palace for the King of Naples.
Pompeii was rediscovered as the result of intentional excavations in 1748 by the Spanish military engineer Rocque Joaquin de Alcubierre (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocque_Joaquin_de_Alcubierre).
These towns have since been excavated to reveal many intact buildings and wall paintings.
Giuseppe Fiorelli (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giuseppe_Fiorelli) took charge of the excavations in 1860.
During early excavations of the site, occasional voids in the ash layer had been found that contained human remains. It was Fiorelli who realized these were spaces left by the decomposed bodies and so devised the technique of injecting plaster (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plaster) into them to perfectly recreate the forms of Vesuvius's victims.
What resulted were highly accurate and eerie forms of the doomed Pompeiani who failed to escape, in their last moment of life, with the expression of terror often quite clearly visible.
http://www.marketplace.it/pompeiruins/nfot/cal1.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bc/Pompeii_Garden_of_the_Fugitives_02.jpg/408px-Pompeii_Garden_of_the_Fugitives_02.jpg
"Garden of the Fugitives". Plaster casts of victims still in situ; many casts are in the Archaeological Museum of Naples.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6f/Pompeji_get%C3%B6teter_Hund.jpg/587px-Pompeji_get%C3%B6teter_Hund.jpg
Cast of a dog that archaeologists believe was chained outside the House of Vesonius Primus, a Pompeiian fuller.
http://z.about.com/d/cruises/1/0/E/Q/3/pompeii010.JPG
http://i530.photobucket.com/albums/dd350/thilzz/p1-2.jpg
A replica in a Naples museum shows how terrified victims fell when the A.D. 79 eruption hit Herculaneum. The scorching ash vaporized their flesh as it enveloped them.
http://i530.photobucket.com/albums/dd350/thilzz/p2-2.jpg
A sobering reminder of the volcano’s lethal power, the plaster cast of a victim of the A.D. 79 eruption lies on display at Pompeii. Many died pressing pillows to their faces in a vain attempt to keep from inhaling ash.
http://i530.photobucket.com/albums/dd350/thilzz/p3-2.jpg
Just four miles (6.5 kilometers) from Naples, ash from the 1780 B.C. eruption preserved the footprints of two people fleeing the volcano. Thousands of other prints nearby testify to a mass exodus.
read more (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pompeii)
pics from wiki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pompeii) and NG (http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2007/09/vesuvius/clark-photography)
http://www.destination360.com/europe/italy/images/s/italy-pompeii.jpg
Pompeii is a ruined and partially buried Roman town-city near modern Naples (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naples) in the Italian region of Campania (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campania), in the territory of the comune (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comune) of Pompei (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pompei).
Along with Herculaneum (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herculaneum), its sister city, Pompeii was destroyed, and completely buried, during a long catastrophic eruption of the volcano Mount Vesuvius (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Vesuvius) spanning two days in 79 AD.
The volcano collapsed higher roof-lines and buried Pompeii under 60 feet of ash and pumice (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pumice), and it was lost for nearly 1,700 years before its accidental rediscovery in 1748.
Since then, its excavation has provided an extraordinarily detailed insight into the life of a city at the height of the Roman Empire (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Empire).
Today, this UNESCO (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UNESCO) World Heritage Site (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Heritage_Site) is one of the most popular tourist attractions of Italy, with 2,571,725 visitors in 2007.
- Vesuvius Eruption -
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b8/Mt_Vesuvius_79_AD_eruption_3.svg/652px-Mt_Vesuvius_79_AD_eruption_3.svg.png
Pompeii and other cities affected by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Vesuvius). The black cloud represents the general distribution of ash and cinder. Modern coast lines are shown.
By the 1st century, Pompeii was one of a number of towns located around the base of Mount Vesuvius.
The area had a substantial population which grew prosperous from the region's renowned agricultural fertility.
Many of Pompeii's neighboring communities, most famously Herculaneum (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herculaneum), also suffered damage or destruction during the 79 eruption.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5c/Pompeii_the_last_day_1.jpg
A depiction of the eruption which buried Pompeii (from BBC (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC)'s Pompeii: The Last Day (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pompeii:_The_Last_Day)). The depiction of the Temple of Jupiter (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_of_Jupiter_%28Pompeii%29) and the Temple of Apollo (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_of_Apollo_%28Pompeii%29) are nonetheless inaccurate as these temples had been destroyed 17 years earlier.
The people and buildings of Pompeii were covered in up to twelve different layers of soil.
- Rediscovery -
After thick layers of ash covered the two towns, they were abandoned and eventually their names and locations were forgotten.
Then Herculaneum was rediscovered in 1738 by workmen working on the foundation of a summer palace for the King of Naples.
Pompeii was rediscovered as the result of intentional excavations in 1748 by the Spanish military engineer Rocque Joaquin de Alcubierre (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocque_Joaquin_de_Alcubierre).
These towns have since been excavated to reveal many intact buildings and wall paintings.
Giuseppe Fiorelli (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giuseppe_Fiorelli) took charge of the excavations in 1860.
During early excavations of the site, occasional voids in the ash layer had been found that contained human remains. It was Fiorelli who realized these were spaces left by the decomposed bodies and so devised the technique of injecting plaster (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plaster) into them to perfectly recreate the forms of Vesuvius's victims.
What resulted were highly accurate and eerie forms of the doomed Pompeiani who failed to escape, in their last moment of life, with the expression of terror often quite clearly visible.
http://www.marketplace.it/pompeiruins/nfot/cal1.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bc/Pompeii_Garden_of_the_Fugitives_02.jpg/408px-Pompeii_Garden_of_the_Fugitives_02.jpg
"Garden of the Fugitives". Plaster casts of victims still in situ; many casts are in the Archaeological Museum of Naples.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6f/Pompeji_get%C3%B6teter_Hund.jpg/587px-Pompeji_get%C3%B6teter_Hund.jpg
Cast of a dog that archaeologists believe was chained outside the House of Vesonius Primus, a Pompeiian fuller.
http://z.about.com/d/cruises/1/0/E/Q/3/pompeii010.JPG
http://i530.photobucket.com/albums/dd350/thilzz/p1-2.jpg
A replica in a Naples museum shows how terrified victims fell when the A.D. 79 eruption hit Herculaneum. The scorching ash vaporized their flesh as it enveloped them.
http://i530.photobucket.com/albums/dd350/thilzz/p2-2.jpg
A sobering reminder of the volcano’s lethal power, the plaster cast of a victim of the A.D. 79 eruption lies on display at Pompeii. Many died pressing pillows to their faces in a vain attempt to keep from inhaling ash.
http://i530.photobucket.com/albums/dd350/thilzz/p3-2.jpg
Just four miles (6.5 kilometers) from Naples, ash from the 1780 B.C. eruption preserved the footprints of two people fleeing the volcano. Thousands of other prints nearby testify to a mass exodus.
read more (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pompeii)
pics from wiki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pompeii) and NG (http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2007/09/vesuvius/clark-photography)