Pompeii's State of Emergency
Saturday July 5, 2008
It used to be fair to say that because of the A.D. 79 eruption of Mt. Vesuvius, which coated everything in its wake in a deadly blanket of volcanic material, especially ash (not lava: see comments), Pompeii had frozen a slice of Roman life in time. But for a while now, there have been warnings about Pompeii, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Now that Pompey's remains are in the air and subject to a constant trampling by visitors, the archaeological site has been undergoing rapid decay. On Friday, July 2, 2008, Italy's cabinet issued a state of emergency for Pompeii to last a year. Source: Italy Declares State Of Emergency At Pompeii RuinsWatch and listen to a report on BBC News.
Be sure to read Mary Beard's take: Is Pompeii in a state of emergency -- again?
Also see:
- What You Need to Know About Mt. Vesuvius
- Review of Pompeii, by Robert Harris a retelling of the volcanic eruption of Mt. Vesuvius from the perspective of an ancient aqueduct engineer.
- Photographs of Baths at Pompeii
- Little House in Pompeii, by Judith Geary
Comments
While I applaud your bringing attention to the problems of conservation & security at Pompeii, I would like to draw attention to the pervasive error that Pompeii was covered lin lava. It was not, in fact, molten rock that covered the city, but feet & feet of hot ash and pumice stone. While it might not sound as dramatic as a Hawaiian or Mt. Etna-like eruption, to say that Pompeii was buried in ash is far more accurate.
I appreciate your providing the technical details. I knew that Herculaneum was covered in ash, but hadn’t re-read my own notes about Pompeii. I will change it.
My apologies for using this column to communicate with you.
I read J. K. Rowling’s Commencement Speech at Harvard, on the internet.
She mentioned Plutarch. Could you please enlighten us on this personality.
Thank you.
I answered this when you asked here:
http://ancienthistory.about.com/b/2008/06/29/new-ancientclassical-history-books-to-read.htm
Thank you for your reply.I would like to continue this discussion off forum. I am unable to send you an email, possibly because it is Outlook Express.
My email address is mankul65@yahoo.co.in.
Thank you.
This is actually the blog. For discussions, the real forum is better. Please post there: Ancient/Classical History Forum.