Pompeii

This bronze statue, Runner from the Garden of the Villa of the Papyri, is an example of the artifacts found at the site of Herculaneum.  More than 450 artifacts of this nature, including casts of the volcano’s victims, room-sized frescoes, and precious jewelry, will be displayed as part of The Field Museum’s Pompeii: Stories from an Eruption exhibition from Oct 22, 2005 to March 26, 2006.  For more information, call (312) 922-9410.
Photo Credit: © Mimmo Jodice

Are you traveling to Chicago over the next few months and looking for something interesting to do? How about visiting the Field Museum and checking out their new exhibit on Pompeii?

The cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum in southern Italy, were buried in the 79 A.D. eruption of Mount Vesuvius. The story of what happened that day and why the two cities experienced different fates is told in this exhibit. Along with a variety of artifacts, you will learn what happened and why. Vesuvius has erupted 3 dozen times since 79 A.D. Today over 2 million people live in an area that could be affected by another eruption. Do we know if another eruption is coming? If you are interested in Ancient history, volcanoes, geology, archaeology or simply in a human story of a natural disaster (complete with human casts), you should see this exhibit.

The Field Museum has put together information about the exhibit on their web page at http://www.fieldmuseum.org/pompeii. The Todd Library also has some resources you may want to see before or after your visit to the museum. Check it out!

Pompeii ed. By Filippo Coarelli DG70.P7P66 2002
Pompeii: public and private life by Paul Zanker DG70.P7 Z3613 1998
Rome and Pompeii (video) DG63.L5 1994
AD79: one day in time (video) DG70.P7 1979
Last days of Pompeii by Edward B. Lytton PR4912.L998 L2
Volcanoes in human history by J.Z. de Boer and D.T. Sanders QE522.B637 2002
Melting the earth:history of ideas on volcanic eruptions by Sigurdsson QE522.S5481 1999
Furious earth by Prager QE534.2.P73 2000
Why the earth quakes by Levy and Salvadori QE522.L48 1995
“Consumed by the Volcano’s fiery wrath” by Pringle. Discover Nov2005 p. 73
“Pompeii in North America” by Holden. Archaeology Sep/Oct2005 p.55
“Pompeii’s burial not its first disaster” Science news 11/27/04 p.350
“Pompeii’s ruins rise to tell tale of horror” Chicago Tribune 10/18/05
“Visiting ‘Pompeii’ and finding clues to disaster” Chicago Tribune 10/20/05