After nearly 50 years, a Belgian father and son discovered that the souvenir they bought to decorate their home is a treasure from the “lost city” of Pompeii.
According to Ancient Origins, it is a delicate marble relief. This treasure is not only valuable due to its age and origin but also serves as a record of one of the most horrific disasters that the city of Pompeii faced before being buried.
Invaluable treasure “lost” in Pompeii nearly 50 years ago – (Photo: ANCIENT ORIGINS).
Mr. Raphael De Temmerman and his son Geert De Temmerman, residing in East Flanders, Belgium, are the owners of this special treasure.
During a vacation in Italy in 1975, they purchased the marble relief from an unidentified individual in an area quite close to the Archaeological Park of Pompeii.
Upon returning home, they used this beautiful souvenir to decorate their house.
Recently, the father and son decided to sell this house. However, they were still curious about the origin of the item they brought back nearly half a century ago, so they sought out experts.
This led them to the Gallo-Roman Museum in Tongeren, Belgium, where the true origin of the piece was astonishingly revealed.
According to Mr. Bart Demarsin, the head of exhibitions at the Gallo-Roman Museum, this precious relief dates back to around 62 AD and depicts a previous earthquake disaster that caused part of the city of Pompeii to collapse.
According to the examination results, this treasure belonged to the house of a banker in the ancient city, but it went missing on July 14, 1975.
The artifact is planned to be returned to the Antiquarium of Pompeii, a museum located within the Archaeological Park of Pompeii.
The earthquake depicted in the relief is believed to have occurred in 62 AD, measuring about 5-6 on the Richter scale, with aftershocks lasting several days, which caused many buildings to collapse.
The people of Pompeii quickly restored this thriving city afterward. However, by 79 AD, a far more catastrophic event from Mount Vesuvius buried the entire city in ash.
2,000 years later, artifacts from Pompeii continue to amaze the world.
This Roman city was built with advanced technologies that remain durable to this day, adorned with exquisite artworks and featuring rich amenities such as public hot baths and take-away food stalls…
