By Ahmed Abdelsalam
Archaeologists have uncovered a collection of personal belongings inside a wooden wardrobe sealed since the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79, offering an intimate glimpse of daily life in ancient Pompeii.
Discovery on Via dell’Abbondanza
The wardrobe was found in a home on Via dell’Abbondanza, once one of Pompeii’s busiest streets. Items include tweezers, a small glass perfume bottle, an incense burner, a bronze lantern, 38 bronze coins, cooking pots, and a wooden box with lead weights, suggesting a tradesperson lived there.
Child’s Necklace with Protective Charms
The most intriguing relic is a crepundia, a necklace traditionally worn by children, featuring more than 20 small charms depicting deities such as Bes and Mercury. The charms rattled to help parents track their children and served as identification. Gabriel Zuchtriegel, director of the Pompeii Archaeological Park, said the necklace reflects a society where people were often displaced and carried personal objects with them.
Evidence of Sudden Flight
The presence of money and personal objects left behind indicates the occupants may have fled the eruption at short notice, Zuchtriegel said. Fragmented skeletons of two mice were also found inside an amphora in a storage area.
Ongoing Excavations at Villa of the Mysteries
The home was previously linked to Cornelius Maximus via inscriptions no longer visible. Its facade was first excavated in 1912, but experts are now exploring its rooms as part of a wider restoration project. Excavations are also underway at the Villa of the Mysteries, a suburban villa first uncovered in the early 20th century, where archaeologists hope to learn more about the daily lives of servants who made up the majority of its inhabitants.
Recent Pompeii Discoveries
In 2025, a large thermal bath complex was found in a wealthy district on Via di Nola, and in 2023 a cramped bakery where enslaved people were believed to have been forced to produce bread was uncovered in the same area.
