Taylor

__**CITIES OF VESUVIUS:**__ __**Pompeii - Google Maps:**__ __Type in, "Pompeii, Italy"__ (Then just zoom in, it can be easily notice by the Amphitheatre and you can use street view in Pompeii to tour the city) media type="custom" key="7452817"

__**Herculaneum - Google Maps:**__ __Slightly harder to find, type in, "Scavi, Ercolano, Italia", Zoom in where B is and viola. It is noticeable from the swampy area in the South-South West which is where the boat sheds are located. (Psst, swampy areas are green!!! This one is green, puke green, and its rectangular!!!)__

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__**Pompeii:**__

__Insula VIII - The Forum:__ The heart of the city's religious, economic, and municipal life, the Forum was surrounded by the Portico and closed to wheeled traffic. It is 142m x 38m in dimension and is built so that Mt. Vesuvius dominates its central axis, which is also aligned to the Temple of Jupiter. __([])__

__Eumachia Building:__ This Exchange, used for wool and cloth, had its street-side wall washed in white to serve as a posting for public notices. It was named for Eumachia, an upper class priestess, daughter of a wealthy brick making family and wife of a successful vintner. After the earthquake of 62 AD, she paid for the construction of this building to house the fullers' (fabric dealers/cleaners) guild. The fullers later commissioned a statue of her in gratitude for her patronage. __([])__

__Temple of Apollo:__ The temple was Delphic in style as it contained the //omphalos//, a conical stone associated with Apollo that represented the center of the earth in Delphi. The walls also had a tripod painted on them, replicating the one the priestess at Delphi sat upon. The temple is a reminder of the close relationship between Pompeii and the Greeks. __([])__

__The Macellum (Markets):__ A large rectangular building near the north end of the forum, to the east, the building in which the markets were situated sits mostly still standing. There are stalls on both the inside and around the outside of the building. In the centre is a rectangular grass area with a circular cement slab in the middle surrounded by columns. It was decorated with 17 statues on pedestals facing the building and statues on marble bases at the end of the row of shops that lined the front. The building was built in several stages and like most of Pompeii, was damaged in the 62 AD earthquake. __([])__

__Pompeii Forum Bathhouse:__

(http://www.markfrawleyplumbing.com.au/res/romanbath/imag0081.gif)

__No. 5 - Entrance__ - Is the entrance to the Bathhouse. The Bathouses were not only a place for cleaning but also for a social business. There are 3 entrance ways into the building. There are seperate baths for genders, the male bath is the best preserved however. It is basically the same in both houses.

__No. 8 - Apodyterium__ - Was the dressing room or locker room of the bathhouse. it also functions as a vestibule for different parts of the house. The lockers were originally attached to the wall and made of wood. There are three door ways. One leads to the Entrance and Palaestra, the other next to it leads to the Frigidarium and one at the other end of the room leading to the Tepidarium.

__No. 3 - Palaestra__ - Second phase in the bathing process, undressing was the first. You exercise to start sweating which helped in the bathing process in cleaning the pores.

__No. 13 - Calidarium__ - Also known as the 'Hot Room'. Most important room in the bathhouse. There is a basin which would have held hot water. There is a larger heated tub which is 60 cm in depth with a seat. The room has an elevated floor where heat was trapped due to a furnace. The walls are also double thickness with a 10cm gap between them. The walls function like flues (chimneys).

__No. 12 - Tepidarium__ - Intermediate room. It is this in both function and location. This was to help with moving from the 'Hot' room to the 'Cold' room and vise-versa. There are niches which is quite rare for this room. A reasonable idea is that they were used to place bathing goods. E.g. Scented oils, soaps, etc. The painting in this room is very fine and well preserved. the roof is made of 'Stucco' which is made to withstand the steam and heat. They depicted mythological people in intricate detail. They were painted with water based paints while the Stucco was still wet. The pigments soak into the plaster and become a durable bond with the material. Lots of money, time and effort. Atlas on the niches.

__No. 10 - Frigidarium__ - 'Cold Room'. It is not actually cold but room temperature with un-heated water. there are four niches which are off centre. There is a 'spiggot' coming out of the room at the back which would have provided water. The pool is as big as the room and 1 metre deep. There is a seat halfway down in the tub. The decoration is simplistic. The walls are covered in frescoes. In the republic era, this room was not used as much.

__VOLCANIC EXPLOSIVITY INDEX__ __http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volcanic_Explosivity_Index__

__Roman House:__ __http://www.roman-empire.net/society/soc-house.html__

__TIMELINE FOR POMPEII:__ 1.00 pm: Initial Explosion - a column of ash is blown into the air about 15km high and is blown south-east towards Pompeii. The ash cloud is so dense that it blocks out the sun and turns day into night.

1.30 pm: First fall of Pumice and Rocks - Pumice is formed in the air by ash cooling quickly and is dropped from the sky. Harder rocks are also thrown into the air and come down at approx. 200km/h becoming a deadly projectile. The pumice starts to pile up on houses making the foundations weaker and start to suck in moisture from the air, making it dry.

1.00 am: First Pyroclastic surge onto Herculaneum - When a part of the ash column collapses, it creates a Pyroclastic surge which heads south-west into Herculaneum. A Pyroclastic surge is a surge of volcanic gases and ash which is five times hotter than boiling water. Anyone in the streets meet and instant death.

6.00 am: Earthquake, Collapse of Magma Chamber at the Heart of the Volcano, and the Second Pyroclastic Surge with Toxic Gases - As part of the Magma Chamber collapses due to and earthquake, a second Pyroclastic Surge heads straight for Pompeii, however, the surge runs out of energy and stops at the walls of the city. The gases being carried by the surge however and continue into the city, burning the lungs and eyes of anyone who come into contact with it. Although toxic, not everyone dies from this only those who are not well to begin with or injured.

6.50 am: Third Pyroclastic Surge - This time it reaches the city but death was not instant. Each breath taken was like swallowing cement. you take a breath and the ash would be sucked into your lungs, then it would become wet and build up. people were slowly suffocated.

7.10 am: Bottom of the Column Collapses, Fourth and Final Pyroclastic Surge - This surge spreads into the neighbouring lands and kills those who had fled from Pompeii earlier and sought refuge in the area. In the end a total of 10 Billion tonnes of pumice had fallen and helped bury the city. It was found in 25 m of ash.

__**ANCIENT SOCIETY:**__

__**PERSONALITY:**__ MAY POSSIBLY BE NOT TRUE, BUT STILL INTERESTING!!!
 * The scholar and Genealogist of the Holy Bloodline of Jesus, [|Laurence Gardner,]has this to say in his book "Bloodline of the Holy Grail"**
 * Chapter I: The Bloodline Begins:**
 * It is now generally acknowledged that the opening chapters of the Old Testament do not accurately represent the early history of the world, as they appear to suggest. More precisely, the tell the story of a family - a family that in time became a race comprising various tribes; a race that in turn became the Hebrew nation. If Adam can ever be said to have been the first of a type (notwithstanding the whole of human evolution behind him), then he was certainly the progenitor of the Hebrews and the tribes of Israel.**
 * Two of the most intriguing characters of the Old Testament are Joseph and Moses. Each played an important role in the formation of the Hebrew Nation, and both have historical identities that can be examined quite independently of the Bible. Genesis 41:39-43 tells how Joseph was made Governor of Egypt.**
 * And Pharoah said unto Joseph...Thou shalt be over my house, and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled; only in that throne will I be greater than thou...and he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt.**
 * Referring to Moses, Exodus 11:3 informs us similarly that:**
 * Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharoah's servants, and in the sight of the people.**
 * Yet for all of this status and prominence neither Joseph nor Moses appear in any Egyptian record under either of those names.**
 * The annals of Rameses II (1304-1237 BC) specify that Semitic people were settled in the land of Goshen. It is further explained that they went there from Canaan for want of food. But why should Rameses' scribes mention this settlement at Goshen? According to standard Bible chronology the Hebrews went to Egypt some three centuries before the time of Rameses, and made their Exodus in about 1491 BC, long before he came to the throne. So, by virtue of this first-hand scribal record, the standard Bible chronology as generally promotes is seen to be incorrect.**
 * It is traditionally presumed that Joseph was sold into slavery in Egypt in the 1720's BC, and was made Governor by the Pharoah a decade or so later. Afterwards, his father Jacob (Israel) and 70 family members followed him into Goshen to escape the famine in Canaan. Notwithstanding this, Genesis 47:11, Exodus 1:11 and Number 33:3 all refer to 'the land of Rameses' (in Egyptian, 'the house of Rameses'). This was a complex of grain storehouses built by the Israelites for Rameses II in Goshen some 300 after they were supposed to be there!**
 * It transpires, therefore, that the alternative 'Jewish Reckoning' is more accurate that the 'Standard Chronology'; Joseph went to Egypt not in the early 18th Century BC but in the early 15th Century BC. There he was appointed Chief MInister to Tuthmosis IV (ruled c. 1413-1405 BC). To the Egyptians, however, Joseph the Vizir was known as Yuya, and his story is particularly revealing not just in relation to the Biblical account of Joseph but also in respect of Moses. The Cairo-born historian and linguist Ahmed Osman has made an in-depth study of these personalities in their contemporary Egyptian environment, and his findings are of great significance.**
 * When Pharoah Tuthmosis died, his son married his sibling sister Sitamun (as was the Pharonic tradition) so that he could inherit the throne as Pharoah Amenhotep III. Shortly afterwards he also married Tiye, daughter of the Chief Minister (Joseph/Yuya). It was decreed, however, that no son born to Tiye could inherit the throne. Because of the overall length of her father Joseph's governorship there was a general fear that the Israelites were gaining too much power in Egypt. So when Tiye became pregnant, the edict was given that her child should be killed at birth if a son. Tiye's Jewish relatives lived at Goshen, and she herself owned a summer palace a little upstream at Sarw, where she went to have her baby. She did indeed bear a son but the royal midwives conspired with Tiye to float the child downstream in a reed basket to the house of her father's half-brother Levi.**
 * The boy, Aminadab (born around 1394 BC), was duly educated in the eastern delta country by the Egyptian priests of Ra. In his teenage years he went to live at Thebes. By that time, his mother had acquired more influence than the senior queen, Sitamun, who had never borne a son and heir to the Pharoah, only a daughter who was called Nefertiti. In Thebes, Aminadab could not accept the notion of Aten, an omnipresent God who had no image. Aten was thus an equivalent of the Hebrew "Adonai" (a title borrowed from the Phoenician and meaning 'Lord') in line with Israelite teachings. At that time Aminadab (Hebrew equivalent of Amenhotep - 'Amun is pleased') changed his name to Akhenaten (servant of Aten).**
 * Pharoah Amenhotep then suffered a period of ill health. Because there was no direct male heir to the royal house, Akhenaten married his half-sister Nefertiti in order to rule as co-regent during this difficult time. When in due course Amenhotep III died, Akhenaten was able to succeed as Pharoah - officially called Amenhotep IV.**
 * Akhenaten and Nefertiti had six daughters and a son, Tutankhaten. Pharoah Akhenaten closed all the temples of the Egyptian gods and built new temples to Aten. He also ran a household that was distinctly domestic - quite different from the kingly norm in ancient Egypt. One many fronts he became unpopular - particularly with the priests of the former national deity Amun (or Amen) and of the sun god Ra (or Re). Plots against his life proliferated. Loud were the threats of armed insurrection if he did not allow the traditional gods to be worshipped alongside the faceless Aten. but Akhenaten refused, and was eventually forced to abdicate in short-term favour of his cousin Smenkhkare, who was succeeded by Akhenaten's son Tutankhaten. On taking the throne at the age of about 11, Tutankhaten was obliged to change his name to Tutankhamun. He, in turn, was only to live and rule for a further nine or ten years, meeting his death while still comparatively young.**
 * Akhenaten, meanwhile, was banished from Egypt. He fled with some retainers to the remote safety of Sanai, taking with him his royal sceptre topped with a brass serpent. To his supporters he remained very much the rightful monarch, the heir to the throne from which he had been ousted, and he was still regarded by them as the Mose, Meses or Mosis (heir/born of) - as in Tuthmosis (born of Tuth) and Rameses (fashioned of Ra).**
 * Evidence from Egypt indicates that Moses (Akhenaten led his people from Pi-Rameses (near modern Kantra) southward, through Sanai, towards Lake Timash. This was extremely marshy territory and, although manageable on foot with some difficulty, any pursuing horses and chariots would have foundered disastrously.**
 * Among the retainers who fled with Moses were the sons and families of Jacob (Israel). Then at the instigation of their leader, they constructed the tabernacle at the foot of Mount Sanai. Once Moses had died, they began their invasion of the country left by their forefathers so long before. But Canaan (Palestine) had changed considerably in the meantime, having been infiltrated by waves of Philistines and Phoenicians. The records tell of great sea battles, and of massive armies marching to war. At length, the Hebrews (under their new leader, Joshua) were successful and, once across the Jordan, they took Jericho from the Canaanites, gaining a real foothold in their traditional Promised Land.**
 * Following Joshua's death, the ensuing period of rule by appointed 'judges' was a catalogue of Jewish disaster until the disparate Hebrew tribes united under their first king, Saul, in about 1055 BC. with the conquest of Palestine (Canaan) as complete as possible, David of Bethlehem - a descendant of Abraham - married Saul's daughter to become King of Judah (corresponding to half the Palestinian territory). By 1048 BC, he had also acquired Israel (the balance of the territory) becoming overall King of the Jews. The Bloodline of the Holy Grail had begun.**

__**PERIOD:**__ __**Amenhotep III to Ramesses II**__