Throughout our time on this planet, we humans have experienced a great score of tragic and comedic moments. Some of these moments will always be remembered, while some have been lost forever in time.
One such moment was a great explosion that took place thousands of years ago, when Ancient Romans still ruled much of the globe. In a time of good wine and great parties, these ancient people never saw it coming.
Now, as reported by the Mirror, archeologists are working to restore these lost people and their priceless artifacts — and what they're discovering is truly shocking. It's like looking at a photograph snapped 1,900 years ago…
I had always heard of the great tragedy of ancient Pompeii — but until I saw these fascinating photos, I had no idea the extent of it. I was truly shocked when I saw what they'd unearthed.
After scrolling through these captivating photos, please SHARE so more people know about this! It's so important to preserve our ancient history, don't you think?
Almost 2,000 years ago, in the days of ancient Rome, there thrived a beautiful city named Pompeii. A vibrant and bustling resort town, even famous emperors owned second homes here.
Its people were just like us. They farmed, owned businesses, drank wine, and enjoyed dirty jokes. They took vacations and used laundromats.
They even loved animals, and they warned their visiting guests, Cave Canem — latin for "Beware of Dog."
But around lunchtime on August 29, 79 AD, everything changed: The neighboring volcano, Mount Vesuvius, erupted. The city of Pompeii was completely swallowed in ash and fire, and its 20,000 inhabitants perished almost instantly. Their bodies would lay beneath layers of ash, dirt, and rubble for thousands of years.
But thanks to modern archaeologists, nearly 2,000 years since that fateful eruption, their remains are finally seeing the light of day — and some of their discoveries are shocking.
Ancient bread has been found in ovens; coins were left in pockets; wine was discovered fermenting in jugs. It's like a snapshot of ancient history left within the soil.
And the bodies, frozen in ash and time, capture what the people of Pompeii felt just moments before their deaths. Here, a mother and baby hold the same positions they took more than 19 centuries ago.
Even family pets and domestic animals were forever frozen in ash. Here, a collared dog has been perfectly preserved in plaster.
According to scientists, these poses tell us their deaths were very quick. "The contorted postures are not the effects of a long agony, but of the cadaveric spasm, a consequence of heat shock on corpses," volcanologist Giuseppe Mastrolorenzo told Mirror.
Now, archeologists are working hard to document, study, and preserve these precious bodies. As the Mirror reports, these final moments "have been unearthed for the first time in 1,900 years."
Thanks to the work of these brilliant researchers, their bodies and possessions are giving us windows into an ancient chapter of history. They've made casts for future research so the original bodies can be carefully maintained.
The memory of these lost people can now be forever honored in time. Though they died tragic deaths, they've been reclaimed from the shadows of the past.
Today, Mount Vesuvius still looms over the cities below, including the ruins of ancient Pompeii. It serves as a haunting reminder of nature's great power and of the beautiful fragility of life.
If you find ancient history fascinating, please SHARE this important story!
