By Basant El-Faramawy
Archaeologists have reconstructed a wooden cupboard sealed for nearly 2,000 years in Pompeii, offering an intimate glimpse into the daily life of a Roman resident before the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79.
Discovery details
The cupboard was found in a house on Via dell'Abbondanza, one of ancient Pompeii's busiest streets. Researchers pieced it together from fragments and traces uncovered during a wider restoration project. The house's facade was first excavated in 1912, but interior rooms have only recently been investigated.
Artifacts reveal daily life
Finds include a necklace of at least 24 tiny charms made of bone, glass paste, earthenware and rock crystal, known as crepundia, traditionally given to Roman children as protective amulets and rattles. Other objects range from perfume bottles, tweezers and an incense burner to bronze coins, cooking pots and lead weights suggesting trade activity. The presence of both money and sentimental items indicates the occupants had no time to retrieve them when Vesuvius erupted.
Human dimension of the past
"Pompeii is not just a place of great works of art. It is also a place where the most ordinary objects restore the human dimension of the past," said site director Gabriel Zuchtriegel. He noted the discovery allows reading together different traces of a life: personal habits, work and memories.
Possible owner identified
The house has been tentatively linked to a man named Cornelius Maximus based on inscriptions found at the site. The excavation also highlights how some urban living problems have changed little over two millennia.
