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Archaeologists uncover mysterious 'blue room' in Pompeii
Archaeology mag ^ | June 11, 2024 | Dario Radley

Posted on 06/11/2024 11:47:02 AM PDT by SunkenCiv

Recent excavations in Pompeii have uncovered a remarkable room with walls painted in a vivid, sky-blue hue, a color seldom seen in Pompeian ruins.

This room, discovered in the Insula 10 area of Regio IX, is thought to have served as a sacrarium, a space dedicated to pagan rituals and the preservation of sacred objects.

The walls of this 8-square-meter room, known as Room 32, are adorned with frescoes in the Fourth Style, characterized by its intricate and narrative aesthetic...

The sacrarium's walls are painted a brilliant sky blue, a color rarely seen in Pompeian frescoes and typically reserved for spaces of great significance. The blue backdrop is complemented by red-lined niches, where statues and other devotional objects likely stood.

The frescoes depict female figures representing the four seasons, agriculture, and shepherding. These figures are adorned with crowns of flowers, flowing garments, and in some cases, depicted without clothes, adding to the room's mystical aura...

Among the discoveries were 15 amphorae, two jugs, two lamps, and three decorative boxes embedded in the walls that likely held devotional statues. Building materials such as piles of oyster shells, intended to be mixed with plaster and mortar, indicate that the house was undergoing renovations at the time of the eruption...

This discovery aligns with the broader context of Roman literature and art, where the pastoral and agrarian themes often symbolized a nostalgic return to simpler times. Works like Virgil's "Georgics" and "Eclogues" celebrated the rural idyll while acknowledging the tension between the idyllic past and the realities of contemporary Roman life. The room's decorations may reflect this cultural ambivalence, embodying both reverence for agricultural deities and a longing for the lost simplicity of rural life.

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


TOPICS: History; Science; Travel
KEYWORDS: fauxiantroll; fauxiantrolls; godsgravesglyphs; insula10; pompeii; regioix; romanempire; vesuvius; virgil
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To: SunkenCiv

later


41 posted on 06/11/2024 1:53:25 PM PDT by Gay State Conservative (Never Trust A Man Whose Uncle Was Eaten By Cannibals)
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To: Red6

I spent a day in Pompeii many years ago.It was an amazing experience despite the fact that I got the worst sunburn of my life that day (it was July).I’d love to go back....in March or October...and visit Herculaneum as well.


42 posted on 06/11/2024 1:57:49 PM PDT by Gay State Conservative (Never Trust A Man Whose Uncle Was Eaten By Cannibals)
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To: Adder
Yes, definitely need to go to the archaeological museum in Naples to see a lot of the objects found at Pompeii. The time I visited, the room with the Alexander mosaic was closed.

Ostia antica, near Rome, is also very worth visiting--like Pompeii without the crowds.

43 posted on 06/11/2024 2:27:47 PM PDT by Verginius Rufus
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To: Jamestown1630

Thanks! Never heard that brfore...


44 posted on 06/11/2024 2:29:01 PM PDT by Texan5 ("You've got to saddle up your boys, you've got to draw a hard line"...)
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To: SunkenCiv

This kills the theory that the ancients didn’t see the color blue.


45 posted on 06/11/2024 3:11:33 PM PDT by Sawdring
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To: Verginius Rufus

Yes...Ostia is on my list for the next trip..I had not realized it was accessible by train from Rome.


46 posted on 06/11/2024 3:44:45 PM PDT by Adder (End fascism...defeat all Democrats.)
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To: Red6
Make sure to pay for a tour. Without that it becomes a pile of rocks like many archeological sites if you don’t get the context.

I agree a tour with a good guide is a must. It kind of makes you feel like you where there so many years ago. Pompeii is a must see.

47 posted on 06/11/2024 4:00:33 PM PDT by Irish Eyes
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To: Sawdring
Since that wasn't the theory, no it doesn't.

48 posted on 06/11/2024 4:13:37 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (The trolls are out in force today.)
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To: Sawdring

Despite all the arguments below, I think the notion that they couldn’t see blue came originally from a phrase in Homer;that was hundreds of years before the destruction of Pompeii, and we don’t know when the ‘blue room’ was painted.

I don’t know if they saw ‘blue’ or not; but my Bolivian friend calls my obviously green eyes ‘azul’...


49 posted on 06/11/2024 4:30:51 PM PDT by Jamestown1630 ("A Republic, if you can keep it.")
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To: SunkenCiv

How beautiful. Pompeii must have been a very highly aesthetic society, as Italy has remained, in fact. I wish I could go back again and see the very many things that have been uncovered in the past 30 years since I was there the second time. Maybe not go in the scorching summer, now that I’m a geezer.


50 posted on 06/11/2024 5:04:50 PM PDT by Albion Wilde (Either ‘the Deep State destroys America, or we destroy the Deep State.’ --Donald Trump)
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To: Albion Wilde
:^) If I wind up going to Italy, I could take a plane flight over, but would have to come back by boat, due to the food available in Florence, Rome, and Naples. :^)

51 posted on 06/11/2024 5:07:37 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Putin should skip ahead to where he kills himself in the bunker.)
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To: Red6
"Anyone that likes Roman history needs to add this to a bucket list."

It was one of the places, along with Herculaneum that I would have liked to have visited. Too old now to get around, so I settle for British-made documentary series on them. Recently watched a program titled "The Lost Scrolls of Vesuvius", which aired in mid-May. It featured the use of AI to virtually unwrap the carbonized scrolls found at the Villa of the Papyri in Herculaneum. The TV program was presented by British Archaeologist Dr. Alice Roberts, and featured computer scientist Dr. Brent Seales of the University of Kentucky who has been working on this project for many years.

52 posted on 06/11/2024 6:40:40 PM PDT by mass55th (“Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway.” ― John Wayne)
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To: SunkenCiv
"Finding a durable blue for decoration was a challenge, so it tended to be expensive, and for archaeologists more rare to find."

I did a search and found this:

"Blue was imported to Pompeii from Egypt. In keeping with its origins, it was originally called ‘Egyptian blue’, but was later known as ‘Pompeian blue’. It was an absolute luxury – and had been used to decorate walls in ancient Egypt since at least 2,500 B.C. Even then, prices were determined by supply and demand; in Pompeii, blue was so highly sought after that its price sometimes even surpassed that of the astronomically expensive purple."

Egyptian blue information:

Ancient Egyptian Blue: How the World’s First Synthetic Pigment Is Producing Tomorrow’s Brave—and Colorful–New World

53 posted on 06/11/2024 6:50:39 PM PDT by mass55th (“Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway.” ― John Wayne)
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To: mass55th

Not sure this has been mentioned, but there’s also ‘tekhelet’:

https://www.latimes.com/world/la-fg-israel-blue-20180910-htmlstory.html


54 posted on 06/11/2024 7:06:05 PM PDT by Jamestown1630 ("A Republic, if you can keep it.")
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To: Jamestown1630

Thanks for the link!!


55 posted on 06/11/2024 7:18:44 PM PDT by mass55th (“Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway.” ― John Wayne)
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To: Adder

Yes, Ostia is an easy train ride from Rome. Most passengers are headed for the beach but you will need to get off the stop before. The entrance to the site is maybe 100 yards from the train stop.


56 posted on 06/12/2024 9:34:32 AM PDT by Verginius Rufus
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To: Red Badger

I have a blue house
With a blue window
Blue is the colour of all that I wear
Blue are the streets
And all the trees are too
I have a girlfriend and she is so blue
Blue are the people here
That walk around
Blue like my corvette its in and outside
Blue are the words I say
And what I think
Blue are the feelings
That live inside me

I’m blue
Da ba dee da ba di
Da ba dee da ba di


57 posted on 06/12/2024 9:38:32 AM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: dfwgator

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqHLLgVUFrI


58 posted on 06/12/2024 9:43:06 AM PDT by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegals are put up in 5 Star hotels....................)
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To: SunkenCiv

Not sure I understand — would the boat trip help you avoid the tempting food, or do you anticipate that a boat trip would include those three distinctly different cuisines? If you want them, I say rent a car and drive up from Pompeii through Napoli and Roma to Firenze and fly home from there. Or, you could skip Rome, since it is congested and expensive, and go to Siena in between Naples and Genoa.


59 posted on 06/12/2024 1:01:38 PM PDT by Albion Wilde (Either ‘the Deep State destroys America, or we destroy the Deep State.’ --Donald Trump)
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To: SunkenCiv

I wasn’t trying to cause you to have an emotional reaction.


60 posted on 06/12/2024 1:50:03 PM PDT by reasonisfaith (What are the personal implications if the Resurrection of Christ is a true event in history?)
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