The extremely rare cycle of painting depicting the raucous rituals involving the god of wine was excavated in Pompeii, an ancient Roman city buried in volcanic ash and lava, officials said Wednesday.
The world-famous site says in recent weeks, the procession of wine god Dionysus has unearthed almost life-size freezes painted on three sides of the large banquet room.
Known from Greek as the “megagraphy” of “great painting”, the freeze depicts a procession, with Dionysus being added by his female follower, Vacanto. They are portrayed as dancers and hunters, with animals slaughtered on their shoulders.
“The young satyr with pointed ears plays a double flute, while another performs acrobatic style of wine sacrifices, drinking wine behind him and blowing it off the corner into a green (shallow bowl),” Pompei said in a statement, releasing some images of the discovery.
The Freeze is painted in the second style of Pompeian paintings, known for adding column-like architectural details. It dates back to 40-30 BC, and by the time Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD it had been over 100 years, destroying the city.
The woman at the heart of Freeze said, “I’m about to start with the mystery of Dionysus, a god who dies and reincarnates and promises the same fate to his followers.”
These initiation rituals needed in ancient times to participate in such cults often promised a “new blissful life in both this world and the afterlife.”
They hunt prominently in the ritual depicted on the freeze. There is another small freeze above the prince depicting a living animal, a dead animal.
“This is an exceptional historical document,” said Italian Minister of Culture Alessandro Giuri.
With that discovery, Pompeii “is an extraordinary testimony to aspects of life in classical Mediterranean life, and it is little known,” he said.
When Vesuvius erupted, the erupting ashes and rocks helped preserve many of the Pompeii buildings in their original state.
Pompei is currently a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is Italy’s second most visited tourist destination, after the Colosseum in Rome.
The discovery continues in Pompeii two thousand years after the volcanic eruption of Vesuvius.
Earlier this month, the scientist Digitally “rolled” And then I started reading one of them Herculaneum ScrollsIt was burned by the eruption.
Last month, the site’s archaeologist We have unearthed a private bathhouse It was built over 2,000 years ago. Scientists working in the same area recently found a bakery, laundry shop, two villas and three bones People who died in volcanic eruptionsdestroyed both Pompeii and Herculaneum’s ancient Roman cities.
Last October, an archaeologist from Pompeii was excavated. A rare small house And elaborate frescoes while drilling through the site. A few months ago, the excavator Two more victims An eruption, a lump of gold treasures.
