Pompeii

Wow, I’ve never been so excited that a volcano erupted! Pompeii was truly a gem. It differs from Rome in that the ruins are MUCH better preserved and offer a wide slice of ancient Roman life. In Pompeii, over what seemed like a huge amount of space there were a few bakeries, pubs, tons of homes, small theatres, a huge ampitheatre (though much smaller than the coliseum in Rome), public baths, temples, food markets, and brothels.
The reason for the great preservation apparently is that the ash from the volcano covered the city a few meters deep, the city remained abandoned, and excavations didn’t begin until the 1700’s. While Rome continued to build the city around and on top of itself, Pompeii stayed untouched for close to 2000 years.
The ancient Roman homes in Pompeii were beautifully decorated with many of them having fully frescoed walls and beautifully tiled floors. The brothels were a highlight. They were complete with suggested positions painting on the walls and ancient graffiti written in Latin by the patrons and the prostitutes. I’m pretty sure that one I saw translated to: “Marc Anthony and Cleopatra 4EVA”.
Lastly, the plaster casts of human remains were incredible. Apparently over 2,000 years a body will decompose (I know, weird). But amazingly, if it was buried in the ash then an empty space or cavity will be left after it decomposes. So when the archeologists first came across a cavity of space in their digging, they noticed human bones at the bottom of the cavity. The bones were removed and the plaster was poured into the space. After it hardened, they remove the ash from outside of it and voila! The detail is quite shocking. You can see the expressions on their faces, their teeth, the folds of their clothing, footwear they were possibly wearing.Pompeii was a truly amazing site. There were a few things that I didn’t understand about some of the ruins, but when I get back I’ll have to ask Haitham. No, he’s not an archeologist, but he’s quite a knowledgeable dude.