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  • In the peristyle of the House of the Vettii in Pompeii is a fresco  where an ancient painted mural to the Greek Goddess Urania was unearthed from volcanic ash after 2,000 years. In Greek mythology, Urania which stems from the Greek word for 'heavenly' or 'of heaven', was the muse of astronomy. Some accounts list her as the mother of the musician Linus, usually depicted as having a globe in her left hand, she can foretell the future by the arrangement of the stars and is often associated with Universal Love and the Holy Spirit. Those who are most concerned with philosophy and the heavens are dearest to her. Painted before the catastrophic eruption of Versuvius in AD79, the frescoes have been uncovered from metre-layers of ash and pumice but are now fading from moisture and cracked plaster.
    roman_mural-01-09-1991.jpg
  • Having just unearthed more bodies from layers of volcanic ash and pumice, an archaeologist's assistant pauses for a cigarette, kneeling beside a victim of the AD79 eruption of Mount Versuvius over the ancient Roman town of Pompeii. Buried beneath huge amounts of toxic material this person was suffocated and crushed from falling debris. Preserved in a shell of volcanic material it is to be removed from this site on top of a villa roof where, it is calculated, this citizen was one of the last to die, having climbed 4 metres above ground level to await its fate. The Italian man ears a red t-shirt and holds a pick that has scraped and brushed away the soil to reveal the human form which also shows another body beneath. Others litter the rooftop too proving that many survivors of the first eruption perished after the second many hours later.
    pompeii03-15-12-2007 .jpg
  • In the Villa of the Vettii in Pompeii we see a fresco in the lararium where a shrine to Roman guardian spirits of the household was situated. Family members performed daily rituals here to guarantee their protection by these domestic spirits. The first two characters are the deeply venerated 'lares' (presumed sons of Mercury and Lara) depicted as two young men in dancing postures, holding drinking horns that guaranteed prosperity. In the centre is the 'genius'. She is another guardian and fertility spirit ensuring the family line (gens) would continue and she wears the 'toga praetexta', bordered in purple, the garment of high-ranking Roman magistrates. Painted before the catastrophic eruption of Versuvius in AD79, these frescoes have been uncovered from metre-layers of volcanic ash and pumice but are now fading from moisture and cracked plaster...
    pompeii01-15-12-2007 .jpg
  • In an archaeologists' shed at the site of further excavations in Pompeii, Italy, the bones of an ancient Roman citizen is spread out on a metal sheet after being uncovered from Volcanic ash and pumice. Pompeii was buried beneath metres of toxic material from Mount Versuvius in May AD79 and this person was suffocated then crushed from falling debris. Preserved in a shell of volcanic material it is to be examined for desease yielding clues as to its lifestyle and eating habits. The skeletal remains are clearly identifiable with spinal column vertibrae, one jaw still containing teeth and various pieces of bone have been recovered. Many bodies littered a rooftop here proving that many survivors of the first eruption perished after the second many hours later.
    pompeii02-15-12-2007 .jpg
  • In the foreground a local dog lies down in the afternoon heat on rutted ancient Roman flag stones while in the background tourists walk down the old highway in Pompeii, Italy. Next to his exhausted body, the grooved ruts carved by wooden wheels can still be seen next to a large stepping stone which let chariots ride over the stone yet allowed pedestrians to step over the road. Pompeii is a ruined Roman city near modern Naples in the Italian region of Campania. It was completely buried during a catastrophic eruption of the volcano Mount Vesuvius on 24 August 79 AD. The volcano covered Pompeii under many metres of ash, and it was lost for over 1,600 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. Today, it is a main tourist attraction of Italy and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Pompeii has become a popular tourist destination; with approximately 2.5 million visitors a year, it is the most popular tourist attraction in Italy.
    RB-0028.jpg
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