Pompeii by Matilda Wing

pompeii Pompeii is an ancient Roman city in Italy, near to mount Vesuvius. In the year 79 a.d., mount Vesuvius erupted and buried the city under layers of volcanic lava and ash.. The dust “poured across the land” like a flood, one witness wrote, and shrouded the city in “a darkness…like the black of closed and unlighted rooms.” Two thousand people died, and the city was abandoned for almost as many years. Under all the ash, the city was completely preserved.

When a group of explorers rediscovered the site in 1748, they were surprised to find that-- underneath a thick layer of dust and debris-- Pompeii was mostly intact. The buildings, artifacts and skeletons left behind in the buried city have taught us a great deal about everyday life in the ancient world.

Each day 7000 people visit the city of Pompeii and gaze at the cobbled roads and preserved houses. Pompeii is still dying, the city is huge and Italy’s archaeologists do not have the money to protect it all.

The Vesuvius volcano didn’t form overnight, of course. Scientist say that the mountain is hundreds of thousands of years old and had been erupting for generations.

The longer a volcano sleeps, the more deadly the eruption. There were signs that Vesuvius was beginning to stir – earthquakes, ground rising up and underground springs drying up – but the people didn’t know how to read these signs or understand what they meant.

Scientists say that mount Vesuvius was the biggest eruption in 4,000 years. Approximately 20,000 people survived the eruption of mount Vesuvius. Altogether archaeologist have found 1044 stone bodies.

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