Journey to Pompeii

I have been on leave all this week. Aside from meeting up/having a meal with friends, and clearing my work email, I've taken the opp to do a little bumming around Singapore.  One item on the "to-do" list was visiting the Pompeii exhibition at the National Museum of Singapore - Pompeii : Life in a Roman Town 79CE.

It's been a while since I visited the Museum - in fact, I've not returned since my first visit soon after the Museum re-opened.  Instead, I visited the Peranakan museum a few times in the interim :-)  So it was probably time for another trip.  And the Pompeii exhibition was well worth the time.

The first thing which greets the visitor to the exhibition are casts of people and animals lying on the ground.  When Pompeii was excavated, the forms of those who died during the volcanic eruption were found - the ash had covered them and formed moulds around their dead bodies.  Whilst the bodies decayed over time, the shapes remaind. Particularly poignant (for me) was the cast of the little dog which had been chained up to guard his owner's property, whilst they fled to safety.  He died trying to escape the chain. Another cast was of a man, seated on the floor, with his hand covering his mouth in an attempt to keep the ash out.  But his  efforts, too, were in vain. 

The next stop is a short video, which attempts to reproduce the eruption of Mount Vesuvius on that fateful day in  79CE.  The eruption was actually recorded by the Roman letter writer Pliny the Younger (the Pepys of his day), who describes what happens in some detail - from the early part of the eruption to the subsequent darkening of the sky and the constant raining down of ashes.  Pliny was in Misenum, a nearby town, not in Pompeii itself, but he too had to flee the town in order to escape the volcanic ash and fumes. His uncle, however, had taken a boat out to study the volcano and also to mount some sort of rescue mission and perished in the attempt.

Subsequent rooms contain pottery, coins, weights, religious artefacts, jewellery and other items from the destroyed city. But my favourite room was the one containing the statues and beautiful frescos from the town. Some of the colours were still so rich and fresh, I had difficulties in believing that these were really almost 2000 years old.  According to another short video, the frescos were preserved so well because of the ash they had been buried in, following the eruption.  There was also a beautiful little mosaic fountain.  It is fascinating to think that this is just one small Roman town, not particularly exceptional, yet with people who appreciated beauty, art, and the pleasures of life.

I ended up buying a book on Pompeii, and with a wish to pay a visit to the ruined city one day.  I feel fortunate indeed to live in Singapore, far  away (relatively) from active volcanos. But at the end of it, it is indeed a reminder not to take for granted the blessings which we have, for life as we know it can indeed change overnight.

A somewhat pensive thought to end the year on!

p.s.  a few more photos on my Flickr page.