On August 24, 79 g, the Vesuvius volcano threw out a flurry of poisonous gas and hot lava. The cloud moved to Pompeii without leaving a single inhabitant alive. The city died out in just a few minutes. 1936 years have passed, and today an exhibition has opened at the National Archaeological Museum of Naples, visiting which you can understand the scale and scope of the disaster.
This baby remained sitting on his mother's belly forever.
On May 26, 2015, the National Archaeological Museum of Naples opened an exhibition of plaster casts of 86 people killed during the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD. The exposition of the museum is a rather difficult sight. Many are shocked by the faces distorted by pain, sintered skin and open mouths frozen in a desperate cry of those buried under a multi-meter layer of ash.
Casts of the bodies of the inhabitants of the city of Pompeii
Casts of the bodies of the inhabitants of the city of Pompeii
Promotional video:
Naturally, the museum exhibits not petrified bodies, but dummies, which are an exact copy of the bodies of the unfortunate. Museum director Massimo Osanna explained that until now, the remains have not been displayed for ethical reasons: "even now it must be remembered that these are not plaster or bronze statues, but in fact real people who need to be treated with respect."
They were dying in agony
Archaeologist Giuseppe Fiorelli found the bodies in Pompeii in 1863 and came up with a way to recover them intact from under a layer of ash. Excavations resumed only after almost 150 years.
Burned bodies
Tragedy in Pompeii
Archaeologists found the city almost completely intact - bread was still in the ovens, men, women, children and pets were found "frozen in time" - as they were at the time of death.
Expressions of horror frozen for centuries
The expression of horror was forever etched on their faces. Some of Pompeii's victims were sitting, others were lying when a cloud of hot gas and ash reached them.
Scientists at work
Pompeii today
Erotic frescoes from Pompeii
The Greater Pompeii team of scientists, including archaeologists, engineers, anthropologists, restoration experts and radiologists, are currently conducting anthropological and genetic studies of the unfortunate victims of the eruption, hoping to learn more about the way of life of the people of ancient Pompeii.