It’s late August in 79 A.D. In the Italian city of Pompeii, two women try to escape the wrath of Mount Vesuvius as a rain of pumice lightly falls on the city. They cannot escape the volcano’s surges, however, and the women are asphyxiated by poisonous gas and ash. Their bodies will not be discovered until nearly 2,000 years later in the garden of the House of Cryptoporticus.
Their story is one of many that people will find at the Field Museum’s new exhibit, Pompeii: Stories from an Eruption, which will be on display until late March 2006. The exhibit chronicles Mount Vesuvius’ series of eruptions on Aug. 24 and 25, 79 A.D. Mount Vesuvius devastated not only Pompeii but surrounding towns as well, including the seaside resort of Herculaneum and the medium-sized town of Oplontis. It also preserved many objects from that time.
Visitors have the opportunity to see the most prized possessions of Pompeii’s inhabitants: women’s gold jewelry, a soldier’s weapons that were discovered on a Herculaneum beach, a doctor’s tools, hairpins, lamps and jars. Such objects give visitors a glimpse into these ancient people’s everyday lives, and they show the affluence of the affected towns as well. Although some inhabitants had time to prepare to escape, many never actually did, so their belongings were found with their remains. In sharp contrast, the only items found belonging to slaves were a bronze hairpin and two keys, one display says.
“What is most interesting is that it (the exhibit) captures a moment in time,” says Francesca Madden, the exhibit’s curator. Vesuvius’s eruption in A.D. 79 ruined the city but also, ironically, preserved it by sealing the remnants and artifacts, she said. In Herculaneum’s case, groundwater helped preserve organic materials and human remains that Pompeii could not, according to a display at the museum. People should go see the exhibit because it gives you a chance to see an ancient site, Madden says.
The eruptions began around noon on Aug. 24 as ash flowed on the fields near Vesuvius and as pumice began to rain down on Pompeii. The surges continued throughout the day and into the next, spewing deadly ash, lapilli (small pieces of solid lava) and gases onto Herculaneum, Oplontis and eventually Pompeii. Herculaneum was spared of Vesuvius’ Aug. 24 eruptions but was affected early the morning of Aug. 25. Vesuvius’s third surge reached Pompeii, killing many, and the final surges affected the city the next morning.
Many people were drawn to the exhibit because of shows they had seen on television.
“I saw a show on Pompeii on the Discovery Channel,” says Tim Martin, of Round Lake, who was visiting the museum with a friend. “We planned on coming to the Field Museum.”
Branden Ho of Honolulu, HI, also came to the museum because of shows he had seen on TV. “A friend in Chicago told me about (the exhibit),” he says.
Visitors get a chance to see the everyday lives of soldiers, slaves, workers and doctors, Madden says. One display showed gems, pendants and glass plate engravings that were found in a gemstone worker’s shop. In the Villa of Lucius Crassius Tertius in Oplontis, a strongbox of iron, bronze, copper and silver was found; it’s believed that it held cash and valuables related to business and the estate. At Villa 6 at Terzigno, a luxurious residence converted to a wine-producing estate after the earthquake in 62 A.D., frescoes from a dining room were recovered. At the House of the Menander in Pompeii, considered one of the city’s most prestigious homes, a bronze dining couch from a triclinium, or dining room, was found. In one case, an engraved bracelet belonging to a slave girl was recovered in a Pompeii home; it’s believed to be a gift from her master and refers to the relationship between the two – many slave girls were used as prostitutes during that time.
Whereas other ancient cities such as Rome have transformed over time and have left buildings as their legacies, Pompeii is the only site that captures daily life, Madden says.
The exhibit has been a long time in the making. The idea for the Pompeii exhibit was dreamed up around 1999 and 2000 by a group in Italy that wanted to create a “glimpse of daily life,” says Madden. In 2003, contracts to bring the exhibit to the Field Museum were negotiated and put into place.
The museum realized it had to cater to an American audience, as opposed to a European one, so it added content and video programs. When visitors first walk into the exhibit, they are greeted by video images that introduce Pompeii’s story. Throughout the rest of the exhibit, videos convey Pompeii’s eruption and its devastating effects to the viewer. The museum started building the exhibit in the summer of 2005, Madden says, and in September the artifacts arrived. In October they were installed.
Tickets to Pompeii: Stories from an Eruption cost $14 for students with a student ID. To purchase tickets call (866) 343-5303, or go to the museum box office. The Field Museum is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily except Christmas Day. For more information, visit www.fieldmuseum.org.4
Medill freshman Christina Amoroso is a PLAY writer. She can be reached at [email protected].
