Okay - my trip through Pompei

Alright, I am in Berlin and have finally found a bit of time to catch up on my blogging before I flz out to Edinburgh. Wasn't in the mood to do much foot-slogging today (and the walking tour I did yesterday fun by New Europe tours was brilliant).

Pompei (oh so long ago now). Okay, on arrival you are hit by the eary quiet - you can almost see the ancients travelling along these streets.

This is the view of Pompei from the front entrance (near the station). The steep road you see going up the middle is the entrance road that you climb to get into the city - those ancients were definately fit, it is steep.

Okay, in case anyone doesn't know, Pompei was an ancient town at the foot of Mt Vesuvius (Italy) which is an active volcano. The city itself dates to before the Roman Empire, but at the time of the events I will describe it had become a part of the Empire. In 79AD the volcano errupted & covered the town in ash & rock (very thoroughly) and it remained so until it was discovered about 200 years ago. The first attempts at unveiling the city were by empire driven forces, who took what they found away (empiracal looting). However from the mid to early 20th century, proper archeological excavation was commenced.
Here you can see Mt Vesuvius hovering in the near distance. The lower peak on the right is all thats left of the 79AD erruption (it was much higher and apparently blew itself apart like Mt St Helens). The peak on the right has formed over the past 2 thousand years (and is due to go again - however Mt Etna appears to be a release valve for it, so as long as Etna keeps venting, Vesuvius will (hopefully) remain quiet). This area of green was one of the main gathering areas of the town (forum).

What many people don't know is that the city was shaken by earthquakes (caused by the volcano) 17 years before the eruption. When you look through the town with knowledge you see a lot of the repair work that occured during that 17yrs, with a lot of it done in brickwork, rather than the original large marble or cobblestones.

It is still an active archeological site, with much of the town still being unearthed. Some of the villas have been replanted with the same plants that were originally there, as can be surmised from seed records in those locations and records of the citizens.

The streets are just great to behold. They are solid works of art that really show just how long they have been there. The citizens did not have active underground sewers, so any & all rubbish was thrown into the streets, to be washed away when there was rain. Hence there are stepping stones across the street (because noone really wanted to walk in that filth). Due to these stones, the romans standardised the width these stones could be, and the wheel base of all carts, so that carts could travel along these streets without snagging on the stepping stones. In this picture you can see the wheel ruts in the stone (around a missing stepping stone), which gives you idea just how long this was here and how well used.

Now of course, the other thing that the ash did was cover up the bodies of people caught in the town very quickly. So quickly infact that it left "hollow spaces" which now onlý contain the bones of those who died. Filling these wholes with plaster, the archeologists are thus able to recreate people of this city in their last moments.

This person is surrounded by pots and other items. Most of these items were in this building (some kind of warehouse).

The fellow to the left is obviously trying to hide from the problem, whereas the lady on the right (who was originally found facing up) appears to be pregnant.

I have many other cool pictures, but these will have to wait till I get home & do a show and tell.

I will just finish with one last photograph, of some early Roman artwork - this ones especially for those out there who like phallic symbols.

This picture is mounted just inside the entrance to a villa. It is facing the front door, so everyone walking in sees it. It is apparently a dedication to the spirit of fertility (in case you hadn't guessed).

Oh well, off to Edinburgh now.