If it weren't for watching the movie "Museum Night in the Museum", many people might not know that there is the city of "Pompeii" in this world. One eruption turned 20,000 people into stone statues. What was going on?

If it weren't for watching the movie "Museum Night in the Museum", many people might not know that there is the city of " Pompeii " in this world. The culprit that can make Pompeii completely disappear overnight is Vesuvius . Nearly half of the volcano has been cut off, and the city at the foot of the mountain has long become ruins and moss is covered with the ground. Pompeii, buried under the volcanic ash, was completely spared, and thousands of remains were wrapped in volcanic ash. erupted in one eruption, turning 20,000 people into stone statues. What's going on?

"Pompeii" was once a beautiful and fertile ancient city

If it weren't for the eruption of Mount Vesuvius on August 24, 79 AD, , perhaps the ancient city of Pompeii would not have disappeared forever. In its initial period, Pompeii was just a small fishing village, located at the foot of Mount Vesuvius, about 240 kilometers from the capital of the ancient Roman Empire.

For a long time, people in the Oscans tribe have lived here, and have been living by fishing and cultivating crops for a long time. Later, it was not until 89 BC that it was unified by Roman Empire . When Pompeii belonged to Rome , its economic development rose rapidly and it turned from a small fishing village into a beautiful and fertile city.

Once upon a time, the city of Pompeii was also incredible. It has unique geographical advantages. It not only has fertile soil, but also has its own geothermal hot springs. Its transportation is well-developed and connected to major cities in Rome and surrounding city-states. Sun Temple , Colosseum, and Grand Theater are all built here. Because there are many entertainment venues, they also attract many wealthy businessmen and nobles. There are even many wealthy people who build gardens and villas here.

Over time, Pompeii has become a well-known hometown of wealthy people. The food, clothing, housing and transportation of these nobles here are taken care of by the slaves around them in an orderly manner. Aristocratic politicians and wealthy businessmen not only indulge their stomachs and eat delicacies every meal, but also indulge their physical desires in entertainment venues. For the rich, this is a place to enjoy the joy of heaven, but for the poor, this is hell. Because the Roman Empire was still in the era of slavery at that time, the lowest-level slaves were regarded as commodities and traded.

In order to have fun for themselves, the rich and nobles usually make fun of slaves, not only letting them fight with wild beasts for fun, but also letting them kill each other. This extremely luxurious life made the rich think that Pompeii is a paradise on earth. But little did not know that the potential catastrophe was actually hidden in this rich place. These rich people in may never have dreamed that they would usher in the "end of the world" one day.

volcano erupted at one time, turning 20,000 people into stone statues

The whole city of Pompeii disappeared instantly, and the culprit was "Vesuvian". As " extinct volcano ", Vesuvius suddenly woke up on on August 24, 79, and began to erupt. Volcanic debris and volcanic ash gushed out, falling into the ancient city of "Pompeii" with an unsightly momentum. The eruption of Mount Vesuvius brought a huge impact on Pompeii. This city with a population of tens of thousands of people was filled with 3 cm thick volcanic ash in an instant, and the maximum temperature of the roof from door to door also reached 140℃ .

At the beginning, people living here were surprised and even had no idea what was going on. As the smoke rolled and the volcanic ash became more and more, people thought of running away. But The entire city is trapped in Hell of Fire . Faced with the overwhelming volcanic ash, the people of Pompei had to wait for the arrival of death in fear.

According to relevant historical records, Mount Vesuvius lasted for 18 hours from eruption to extinction. , and the Pompeii suffered the painful process of volcanic eruption, which is the most advanced pain in the world. At that time, the mud flow rushed into Pompeii at a speed of 160 miles per hour. The entire Pompeii became purgatory, and the prosperity of the past was also erased from the earth at that moment.

Under the heating of magma , the temperature of pyroclas can exceed 1000 degrees Celsius .What kind of concept is this? Let’s give an example, putting a piece of iron into a boiler for smelting, which requires 1,500 degrees Celsius. It is such a high temperature. Once you come into contact with a lot of pyroclas, your whole person will turn into ashes.

It was not until a scientific researcher conducted an investigation in 1763 that he accidentally discovered a stone with the word "Pompeii". This ancient city finally saw the light of day again after sleeping for nearly 2,000 years.

According to an eyewitness named Pliny , he said in an interview: "Because he was in Misena on the other side of Pompeii, he escaped by chance. He saw with his own eyes a huge ball of flames burning constantly, the whole sky became dark, and the volcanic gravel smashed down from the sky like hail." With Pliny's description, experts later called this Vesuvius eruption the Pliny eruption.

In the volcanic swelling, the Pompeii soon solidified into a hard shell. When the corpse rotted, it turned into a human-shaped volcanic ash shell. Archaeological expert Fioleli also invented the "gypsum casting method", pouring gypsum directly into the shell, removing the volcanic ash from the outside, and turning it into a gypsum shell. This method can clearly see the state of Pompeii before death.

In the Pompeii stone statue, the victims are not only the elderly, children, but also many young and middle-aged people. Even one of the stone statues is the image of a pregnant woman who is about to give birth on the day. It is not difficult to imagine how desperate and helpless the pregnant woman is in the moment of giving birth. Some stone statues were squatting on the ground, some were covering their noses with their hands, and some looked ahead, their eyes full of fear...

Various stone statue shapes were chilling. The volcano will always freeze the Pompeii at the moment of despair. In the face of great disaster, whether it is a noble and rich man or a slave, identity is no longer important to the Pompeii. It is the most valuable thing to survive.

After Pompeii became the city of death, all aspects of the lives of local people were preserved by the stone statues, providing an important reference for future generations to understand ancient Roman civilization. Today, Pompeii is one of the most famous archaeological sites in the world. The stone statue restored the life scenes of ancient people two thousand years ago make people immersed in the scene. What Pompeii presents to us is not only the landscape of the ancient city, but also gives us a deeper understanding of ancient Roman civilization.