And the final day

Some reflections. This is, as suspected, a very erudite trip. Almost everyone seems to have some sort of Dr in front of their name – retired medical doctors and retired academics. Harvard, Yale and Imperial College are all represented. Half of the group is American and those I have spoken to are not keen on Agent Orange.

The Bay of Naples continues beautiful (if you ignore the traffic and the smog) and breakfast at home will NOT be the same.

Today we have just been to the Archeological Museum in Naples before heading off to the airport. A lot of the stuff found in Pompeii and Herculaneum is in this museum. Unfortunately, we don’t know exactly where a lot of it was found because 18 and 19C techniques and recording were not very exact. Or exact at all. This is a selection of the things we saw. The next few of them are from the House of the Papyrii in Herculaneum where a whole library of burnt scrolls were found. They have started trying to read them using technology. 🤞🏽

Bronze statue with its original eyes
A Ptolemy (ie an Egyptian)
A bronze piglet.
Portable sundial in the shape of a ham.
Water boiler. 1C BCE.
Device to secure the ankles of slaves.
Gladiator helmets.
The only known picture of Vesuvius as it was before the eruption. The gentleman on the left dressed as a bunch of grapes is Dionysus and you can just see the vineyards on the lower slopes of the mountain.
Woman with writing tablet – possibly Sappho. Proof that women could and did write.
Illustration of a riot in the amphitheatre in Pompeii. Nero (emperor at the time) called for an imperial commission to look into it!
Child scared by a toad from a fountain.
Pot showing Egyptian influence.
Jewish grave stone (from Rome).
Cameo glass pot. The only other one known like this is the Portland Vase in the British Museum.
Roman glass!
Musical instruments- sistrums and cymbals. As mentioned in the Bible.
Micromosaic. Signed by a Greek artist.

BEWARE. Another rude bit.

Offerings to a god. Not sure what they were for ……

One thought on “And the final day”

  1. o.k. I can’t resist – The 2002 Ig Nobel Prize for medicine was awarded to Chris McManus of University College London, for his excruciatingly balanced report, “Scrotal Asymmetry in Man and in Ancient Sculpture.” Clearly it’s been a subject of study for many, many years. So many beautiful things (how did they create the cameo glass vase without high speed drills?) punctuated with the occasional jolt, i.e. the slave ‘bracelet’. When my parents went on a cruise following the rough route of Jason and the Golden Fleece, they had two thick books to read before the trip and scholarly lectures every day…but I guess that sea voyages between locations would lend itself to that. Even so you’ve managed to pack in a lot for the time you had! Safe journey home and thanks for letting us tag along.

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