Archaeologists working at the ancient site of Pompeii unveiled their latest find Thursday: a formal dining room that offers a glimpse of how some of its wealthiest residents lived, or at least the art they could contemplate as they ate.
Painted dark black so that soot from candle smoke does not stain them, experts said, the walls are divided into panels. Several of them are decorated with couples associated with the Trojan War.
The refectory is part of an island, equivalent to a city block, excavated in connection with a project to consolidate the perimeter between the excavated and unexcavated areas of the city, part of which remains underground. The project will help to better preserve the site.
“People used to meet for dinner after sunset. the light from the flickering lamps had the effect of making the images appear to be moving, especially after a few glasses of good Campania wine,” said Gabriel Zuchtriegel, director of the Pompeii Archaeological Park, in a press release about the dining room. “Mythological couples provided ideas for conversations about the past and life, seemingly just romantic in nature. In fact, they refer to the relationship between the individual and fate.’
Couples include Helen of Troy and Paris, who is identified in the scene by a Greek inscription with his other name, Alexander, while a panel on the same wall shows Helen’s parents: Leda, queen of Sparta, and Zeus , depicted as the swan. who seduced her. Across the room, facing Helen, her maid, and Paris—and a forlorn-looking dog—is Cassandra, who could see the future, along with Apollo, who had cursed her so that they would not be believed. her prophecies.
There are indications that the room was part of a building being restored when Mount Vesuvius erupted abruptly, burying the city in pumice and ash in AD 79, Mr. Zuchtriegel said in a telephone interview.
“It appears that the entire islet was being rebuilt at the time of the explosion,” he said. Mr Zuchtriegel said the rebuilding may have been the result of an earthquake that had shaken the city “a few months” before Vesuvius erupted.
In another recently excavated chamber adjacent to the refectory, archaeologists found stacked roof tiles, work tools, bricks and lime, discoveries that offered insights into ancient construction techniques and the use of concrete.
Over the past year, various areas of the island have been uncovered, offering new understanding of how the ancient inhabitants lived. For example, a room connected to a bakery suggests that some slaves lived next to donkeys in a dark room where the only window was covered with bars. A mural in another chamber seems to indicate that the locals liked pizza, or at least an early version of it. Election signs in the bakery hint that vote buying was not unheard of.
The frescoes in the dining room are painted in the so-called Third Style, popular in Pompeii from about 15 BC. to the middle of the first century AD, Mr. Zuchtriegel said, and there are indications that they had been retouched and restored in antiquity.
“The colors are a little different, you can tell the difference,” he said.
The dining room is currently closed to the public as more excavation is carried out.
“We don’t know what’s in there – that’s the big part,” Mr Zuchtriegel said.
