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Take a Virtual Tour of Two Recently Excavated Homes in Pompeii
Smithsonian Magazine ^ | April 10, 2020 | Nora McGreevy

Posted on 04/14/2020 12:17:34 PM PDT by SunkenCiv

In the video, Pompeii Archaeological Park Director Massimo Osanna narrates a tour of two Pompeiian homes that were entombed in ash alongside the rest of the city when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 A.D. The director's Italian remarks are translated into English in a statement and can also be read using YouTube's auto-translate feature, according to HeritageDaily.

Osanna takes viewers inside two domus dwellings, or private residences, on either side of Vicolo dei Balconi, or Alley of the Balconies. In the first home, dubbed the House With the Garden, researchers were able to make casts of the roots of plants that grew in the family's garden. The team also found macabre evidence of Mount Vesuvius' toll: the remains of 11 people, mostly women and children, who were likely taking shelter from the fatal blast during their final moments.

Just across the street is the House of Orion, which derives its name from colorful floor mosaics that depict Orion, suspended over a coiled cobra, turning into a constellation. The snake's appearance may reference a Greek myth with ancient Egyptian influences, Osanna speculates during the tour.

"The owner of the house must have been greatly attracted to this myth, considering it features in two different rooms in which two different scenes of the myth are depicted," the director continues. "It is a small house which has proved to be an extraordinary treasure chest of art."

(Excerpt) Read more at smithsonianmag.com ...


TOPICS: History; Science; Travel
KEYWORDS: alleyofthebalconies; godsgravesglyphs; herculaneum; history; houseoforion; housewiththegarden; italy; pompeii; romanempire; travel; vesuvius; vicolodeibalconi
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To: colorado tanker

Wait a sec... are you saying that’s *not* the right pronounciation?!? ;^)


21 posted on 04/14/2020 1:09:19 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: decal

Or, since the roofs are gone, Detroit about a decade ago. ;^)


22 posted on 04/14/2020 1:10:03 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: SunkenCiv

Yes, if you click within the article about the houses it says it was a saying to Please elect someone (had their name).


23 posted on 04/14/2020 1:20:45 PM PDT by Engedi
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To: sphinx

In the article if you click on the blue word houses it shows they found a skeleton and he died from the blast and rock crushed his head from the blast. They found lot of coins on him too. Pretty neat.

I wanted to be an Archaeologist but just didn’t happen. I love history and digs and Pompeii. It is on bucket list but doubt will get there. Few months ago on Smithsonian channel they showed a group of people down by the port who were in the boathouses. Think it was 28 people they found who thought they could get a boat but there were none left. Women, children, men all died where they laid.

How neat for you to get to Pompeii.


24 posted on 04/14/2020 1:25:12 PM PDT by Engedi
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To: blueunicorn6
I’m not looking at any houses unless they have blue cabinets in the kitchen.

Here's some blue paint, and a brush...

25 posted on 04/14/2020 1:36:32 PM PDT by JimRed (TERM LIMITS, NOW! Build the Wall Faster! TRUTH is the new HATE SPEECH.)
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To: SunkenCiv

Thanks, enjoyed the video. Was there many years ago. I am always surprised how bright some of the colors have remained.


26 posted on 04/14/2020 1:39:51 PM PDT by Irish Eyes
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To: sphinx
I presume more were destroyed by treasure hunters who didn't care. If there are completely unexcavated sections, a modern dig might discover a lot of them.

There's that fine line between archaeology and grave desecration.

27 posted on 04/14/2020 1:40:46 PM PDT by JimRed (TERM LIMITS, NOW! Build the Wall Faster! TRUTH is the new HATE SPEECH.)
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To: SunkenCiv

Pompeii and Herculaneum , both only partially excavated, still hold many pieces of art and tormented souls.

... and then all hell broke loose for a time.

I’d like to make another journey there someday and see what else has been uncovered, just not the same day the everpresent mountain does its thing again.


28 posted on 04/14/2020 1:42:55 PM PDT by NormsRevenge (Semper Fi - Monthly Donors Rock!!!)
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To: DannyTN; blueunicorn6

29 posted on 04/14/2020 1:48:43 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: SunkenCiv

I couldn’t make out the letters on that.
It looked like there were a couple of Greek letters in it - lambda for sure.


30 posted on 04/14/2020 1:50:24 PM PDT by Ouchthatonehurt
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To: GingisK; alloysteel
I wholeheartedly agree.

31 posted on 04/14/2020 1:51:20 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: sphinx
Theft from the site has been a problem for a long time, actually from the first discovery -- the "noble" whose serfs discovered Herculeum's theater were send down again and again to plunder all the statuary and such in the nearly intact theater. Atrocious.

32 posted on 04/14/2020 1:53:10 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: JimRed
There is no such fine line. Archaeology is not grave desecration.

33 posted on 04/14/2020 1:55:37 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: Engedi
Thanks.

34 posted on 04/14/2020 1:55:53 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: a fool in paradise
That's something that would work, if the Italian authorities would take some caution in implementing it. Not every surviving structure has painted walls at this late date, all are spacious, and modern conveniences could be installed European style (bathroom down the hall, staffed kitchen and cafe tables).

35 posted on 04/14/2020 1:57:47 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: blueunicorn6; null and void; Calvin Locke; njmaugbill; DannyTN

36 posted on 04/14/2020 2:01:51 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: Ouchthatonehurt

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/3835084/posts?page=23#23


37 posted on 04/14/2020 2:02:38 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: SunkenCiv
I assume that was in Italian. I don't understand it.

My wife and I went to Pompeii for our 30th anniversary...a decade and a half ago.

It is as fascinating a ruin as I have ever visited.

38 posted on 04/14/2020 2:04:37 PM PDT by stevem
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To: Irish Eyes

My pleasure.

http://www.google.com/search?q=pompeii+primavera&tbm=isch

http://www.google.com/search?q=pompeii+bacchus&tbm=isch

http://www.google.com/search?q=pompeii+mosaic&tbm=isch


39 posted on 04/14/2020 2:08:24 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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There are high-quality tourist vids worth throwing on during quarantine:

http://www.google.com/search?q=walking+tour+pompeii+site:youtube.com


40 posted on 04/14/2020 2:09:45 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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