Dave Christensen, age 13, of Chester, Pa., for his question:
WHERE WAS THE ANCIENT CITY OF HERCULANEUM?
Herculaneum was the name of a famous ancient Roman city in Italy. Like Pompeii and Stabiae, it was buried when Mount Vesuvius erupted in A.D. 79. The city was near Naples.
An interesting footnote to history is that the mud and lava that buried Herculaneum also preserved it as a record of life in ancient times. Fifteen hundred years later, archeologists dug through the hardened layers of mud and lava and found priceless manuscripts, work of art and tools of daily life.
Herculaneum (it is pronounced with five syllables: her kyoo lay nee um) was a small, pleasant city with a good harbor that stood at the foot of Mount Vesuvius, six miles from Naples. The city had strong fortifications and was the home of many artistic treasures.
Herculaneum was badly shaken by an earthquake in A.D. 63, but the damage was repaired.
Sixteen years later came the volcanic eruption that buried Herculaneum, Pompeii and Stabiae. Pompeii and Stabiae were not as well preserved as Herculaneum, which was buried under a flow of lava and mud that was 100 feet deep in some places.
Most of the people of Herculaneum escaped, but thousands of persons in the two other cities were killed by the eruption.
Later a village grew up near the site of Herculaneum. Then in the early 1700s, a farmer sank a shaft for a well and found marble statues far below the surface. Soon afterward, someone sank another shaft and discovered a theater.
The government of Naples took up the task of excavation in 1738. The deposits were much deeper at Herculaneum than at Pompeii, so digging was much more difficult. Excavation was stopped in the 1800s but resumed in 1926 by the Italian government.
It is believed that thieves have carried off many priceless works of art. But the excavators found wonderful marble and bronze statues, paintings and papyrus rolls.
Most of the precious works that were taken from excavations in Herculaneum are now housed in an exhibit at the National Museum in Naples.
Vesuvius is the only active volcano on the mainland of Europe and it is probably the most famous volcano in the world. It rises on the Bay of Naples, about seven miles southeast of the city of Naples.
The top of the active cone is a cup shaped crater, ranging from 50 to 400 feet across. Vesuvius regularly spouts columns of steam, cinders and sometimes small amounts of lava into the air.
Many people continue to live on the lower slopes of the mountain and on the plains at its foot, in spite of Vesuvius, history of disastrous eruptions. The soil is extremely fertile and the area is famous for its vineyards.
In addition to the eruption of A.D. 79, Vesuvius has also erupted in 472, 1631, 1794, 1822, 1855, 1872, 1880, 1895, 1906, 1929 and 1944.