How Pompeii Froze In Time To Tell Its Story to the Next Generations

The city that was snatched from human settlements and presented to the world word by word by nature 1500 years later.

Can you imagine an entire city, whose streets, houses, food and drinks, and even the daily things written on the walls, were frozen in time in a single moment, and then rediscovered the same after 1500 years?

This is not the story of a time capsule, but the thrilling and heartbreaking incident of the famous city of the Roman Empire, Pompei.

This incident took place in 79 AD, when the city of Pompeii was at its peak and was considered a center of luxury for the Roman nobility. The city was located near Naples, at the foot of the beautiful mountain called Mount Vesuvius. The residents of the city were unaware that this mountain was actually a dangerous volcano that had been silent for centuries.

On August 24, 79 AD, at noon, Mount Vesuvius erupted suddenly and without warning. The eruption was so terrifying that the sky was filled with black smoke, ash, and rock fragments. The ash cloud reached a height of 15 miles. Within hours, the city of Pompeii was buried under a layer of volcanic ash more than 20 feet thick, and with it, all life in the city was buried. It all happened so suddenly that thousands of people could not escape and were frozen in their condition.

The city of Pompeii remained hidden from the eyes of the world for the next 1,500 years and disappeared from the pages of history. Then, when excavation work began by chance in 1748, what archaeologists discovered was a shock and a historical miracle for the world.

This thick layer of ash proved to be the greatest protector of the city. It completely protected the city from the effects of time and weather. When archaeologists removed the ash, they found a city that had ceased to exist 1,500 years earlier.

They found colorful paintings on the walls, bread in the markets, food in the hotels, and the remains of people walking on the streets. Inside the houses, their furniture, belongings, and even food on the stove were still there. Graffiti (messages written on the walls) and election posters were as fresh as if they had been written yesterday.

The most terrifying aspect of this city frozen in time was the human remains. As the bodies decomposed, a shell of hardened ash formed around them. Experts filled these empty shells with plaster of Paris to recreate the final moments of these people. Even today, when you visit Pompeii, you can see the figures of people making a last-ditch effort to save their lives, or sleeping in beds, or hugging their families. The sight is moving to any visitor because it is a silent testimony to the horrific death of a city.

The discovery of Pompeii has opened up a wealth of information about Roman history, culture, lifestyle, and architecture. We learned details about Roman society that we would never have found in history books. This fierce wrath of nature created a tragic miracle that destroyed the city, but saved it from the hands of history and brought it back to life forever. Pompeii is still a window that gives us a glimpse into Roman life 1500 years ago.