Pompeii Awakened
Subtitle: A Story of Rediscovery
Contributors: Foreword, John Julius Norwich
Edition: first
Publisher: I. B. Tauris
Published: June 26, 2007
Place of publication: London
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 320
ISBN-13: 9781845112417
Subjects: Classical Greek & Roman archaeology; European history: BCE to c 500 CE; Roman Archaeology; Social Science; History - General History; Sociology; Ancient Rome; Europe - Italy; History / Italy; Ancient - Rome; Archaeology
Genres: Cultural history
First sentence: Pompeii is a city that died and was buried in one night, destroyed 
by a volcano which erupted with a force equivalent to many thou- 
sands of the atomic bombs that struck Hiroshima. 
To historians, archaeologists and scientists, Pompeii's significance 
lies in its offering a total picture of the ancient world, captured at a 
single point in time. Other ancient cities such as Troy, Angkor Wat 
and Native American Pueblo habitats were burned or abandoned. 
The vision they offer is limited and partial. 
But Pompeii was not destroyed by age or enemy. It was simply 
blanketed, within the space of a few hours, under a layer seventeen 
feet thick and more, composed of dust, rocks and, above all light- 
weight pumice pebbles, resembling gravel. When the pebbles were 
cleared away, explorers found unbroken hensí eggs still on the table, 
an artistís brushes by his painting, the skeleton of a woman caught 
 barracks, and still flaunting her 
best pearl earrings and snake bracelet.
Description: Neither conventional guidebook nor a scholarly tome, Pompeii Awakened tells a story about archaeology and archaeologists in a unique site. The book tells the story of the men who excavated the site, what inspired them, which patrons paid for the explorations (women as well as men), and what they found and tucked into their museums or taken home to Dresden, Ireland, England and Poland for decorations of palaces and mansions.  Pompeii and Herculaneum launched a vogue in interior decoration and the arts during the Victorian era. At the same time, archaeology as a science was invented at Pompeii itself, where  destructive mistake were made, along with countless glorious discoveries, if not always immediately understood. Kings and calligraphers, priests and Russian princes, musicians and poets and psychiatrists--all have been fascinated by the extraordinary findings.
Notes: Ample footnotes, bibliography, index.
Table of contents: label: Introduction
title: Introduction
pagenum: 1