Sunday Selections #809

Sunday Selections was originally brought to us by Kim, of Frogpondsrock, as an ongoing meme where participants could post previously unused photos languishing in their files. Huge thanks to Cie who gave me this wonderful Sunday Selections image. 

The meme was then continued by River at Drifting through life.  Sadly she has now stepped aside (though she will join us some weeks), and I have accepted the mantle. 

 

The rules are so simple as to be almost non-existent.  Post some photos under the title Sunday Selections and link back to me. Sorry I still haven't succeeded in working out how to do a blog hop. Clicking on any of the photos will make them embiggen.

 

I usually run with a theme.  This week I am taking you with me to an exhibition at our National Museum.  To be specific I am taking you to an exhibition about Pompeii.  The exhibition was immersive and contained soundscapes and images of Pompeii before and during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE.  Mount Vesuvius is still active.

 

I found it moving and sometimes beautiful.  Less talk, more images.

 

 

 

 

While the scenes of the eruption was playing the bird song and chatter which had been background noise was replaced by the sound of lava falling.  In the final scene which I didn't capture the screen and the light were blocked by a cloud of ash.  The silence was quite literally deafening.

 

The rim of this bowl - which must have been beautiful is crusted with dry lava stones.

Other kitchen utensils survived intact.  There was even a piece of carbonised bread on display - rescued from a bakery oven.

 Moving shadow of the people of Pompei were cast onto the walls and backdrops...

 It is estimated that around 20, 000 people lived Pompei at the time of the eruption.  Some of them survived.  Many did not.

 

This simple piece marks the grave of someone who was either unknown or poor.

The bodies of people who died were covered in volcanic ash.  That ash hardened, leaving a negative imprint of the people at the moment of death behind.  An Italian archaelogist worked out how to take castings from those tombs, even after the body had decayed.  

More than 1000 bodies have been discovered and the work continues to this day.

You will have to embiggen this last to see the time line but I expect it archaelogists will be busy here for many years to come.

 

The museum itself is a quirky building.  Some love its architecture, others loathe it.  I am with the former.  The landscaping is all native plants too, which I think is another plus.

 

 

I hope you all find things to captivate and intrigue you this week.