By Bethany Youngblood
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| Photo: Sophie Hay (http://www.dayofarchaeology.com/author/sarahhay/) |
We know that Pompeii was the site of one of
the most memorable losses of life in the ancient world. But was it merely a
natural disaster without cause? Could a literal writing on the wall shed light
on what this doomed culture was like before it was buried alive? Is it possible
that their own actions brought on the consequence of judgment just like the biblical
cities of Sodom and Gomorrah?
Intro to Pompeii
Greek
mythology speaks of the legendary Hercules and his battle against giants amidst
fire.[1] Supposedly,
generations later, the Greeks built a settlement under the shadow of the
mountain where that battle took place. They named it Herculaneum in honor of
this event. Another nearby town was named Pompeii, to celebrate the victory of
Hercules. Pompeii later came under the influence of Rome and flourished with
extensive building projects; it became an exclusive seaside playground for the
elite. Fertile farmland, naval trade, exquisite villas, and wealth blessed the
10,000 residents of the city.[2] Pompeii had
reached its golden era. But these citizens slept at the foot of a deadly
mountain. Even with over a decade of warnings in the form of earthquakes, from A.D.
62 to 79, they were not persuaded them to abandon their seaside paradise.[3]
Early in the morning on August 24th, A.D. 79,
the citizens were awakened by one final warning. Fire and smoke spat up out of
the mountain until noon, when the destructive force of Vesuvius at last broke
through. The explosion launched a cloud of pumice over 27 miles into the sky[4] and began to
rain down ash on Pompeii. Hours later another explosion carried the ash even
higher. Buildings in Pompeii began to buckle under the weight of layers of
volcanic debris. People became trapped and unable to escape. Before midnight
the cloud of ash fell in a smash of heat, making Pompeii into a literal oven
for the population trapped inside.
The
remains of the people and their city stopped in time were only brought back to
light in A.D. 1755. For children, the story
of the people of Pompeii being buried alive in ash is frightening enough. But
an unpleasant underbelly has been discovered in these ruins, and it should grab
the attention of us all.
Origin of a Word: Pornography
Porn. This one word can have a host of
negative connotations in our society today. It is connected to several
different forms of sexual behavior. But the word did not always have the implications
that it does for us today. Pornography is a word made up of two Greek words. It
combines porni (“prostitute”) and graphein (“to write”)[5].
By this definition, pornography was anything that illustrated the life of a
prostitute. However, when Pompeii was excavated, some new definitions were
added to the word.
In homes, in bathhouses, and even on public
walls were images of pornographos[6]; the depictions
of prostitutes in the selling of their wares. Besides these, there were other
depictions that the Victorians of the time labeled “obscene”, and they were
correct to do so. Adding obscene to the list of definitions for pornography
meant that the illustrations on the walls now included the taboo, the disgusting,
and the unnatural.[7] But for the
residents of Pompeii these images were nestled in alongside beautiful
landscapes and every day advertisements, to be seen by the wealthiest of men to
the lowliest of slaves. They were as normal for the people of Pompeii as images
of popular sodas are for us.
The Writing on the Wall – Sodom and Gomorrah
But not everyone was at ease with these
images. It is speculated that some in the city of Pompeii saw these things and
made a poignant connection between the images and the practices of two other
cities known for the judgment brought down on them from heaven: Sodom and
Gomorrah from Genesis 19. These two cities were known in the Old Testament for committing
grave sin: they practiced gross sexual immorality, (Genesis 19:4-5; Jude 7), they
were prideful, wealthy and prosperous yet didn’t care for the needy (Ezekiel
16:49-50), their speech and deeds were against the Lord and they brought evil
upon themselves (Isaiah 3:8-9). God judged them by raining down brimstone and
fire over the cities to destroy them. They became an example and a reminder
throughout the Bible of God’s judgment upon wickedness.
In an excavation of Pompeii, an inscription
was found on the walls of “House 26”. The etching was scarcely visible to the
naked eye, but the meaning was very important. It read, “Sodom and Gomorrah
rah.”[8] These words were
likely etched into the stone by someone who came upon the devastation left
after the eruption. Because of the Biblical reference to the judgment of sinful
cities, scholars speculate the writer was a Jew.[9]
Did God Judge Pompeii?
It
is obvious by the inscription that someone who saw the destruction thought God judged
Pompeii. In their mind Pompeii was on the same level as Sodom and Gomorrah and
it deserved its judgment. The Bible clearly states that God is sovereignly at
work in every nation around the world, in every era of history.
"Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth; Yours is the dominion, O LORD, and You exalt Yourself as head over all. (1 Chronicles 29:11)
For the LORD Most High is to be feared, A great King over all the earth. (Psalm 47:2)
"Even from eternity I am He, And there is none who can deliver out of My hand; I act and who can reverse it?" (Isaiah 43:13)
It is He who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings. (Daniel 2:21)
God is sovereign. He is just. He always
desires man to turn from their sin and seek Him in repentance. Unfortunately
our history is filled with nations who continually rejected His commands and
sought their own pleasure instead.
So was the eruption a judgment from God? The
sheer availability and exposure to sexual immorality in Pompeii is staggering. (We
have only scratched the surface in the space of this article.) And it does seem
like there is a connection because Sodom and Gomorrah and Pompeii were all
destroyed with fire from heaven. But we cannot say with certainty that the
devastation of Pompeii was a direct judgment from God due to their sin. We
inhabit a broken, cursed world that has been rocked by natural disasters since
the days of the Flood. We are prone to sometimes call those disasters judgment,
but they are also part of the reality of this fallen world. (Many other cities
have been buried and destroyed by volcanic eruptions – read our series on the
Minoans for another example.) But
whether the eruption of Vesuvius was divine “judgment” or merely the movement
of tectonic plates, God was still aware and involved
If
the concept of God sending judgment upon a city disturbs you, remember Romans
1:28: “And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up
to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.” In Romans 2:2,
Paul reminds us that “the judgment of God falls rightly on those who practice
such things”. He goes on to say that for
those who do evil and disobey God there will be wrath and fury, tribulation and
distress – all as judgment from God, if not in this life, it will surely come
“on the day of wrath when God’s judgment will be revealed” (2:5). (The Old
Testament has many examples of God judging the nations for their sin – see page
38-39 of The Secrets of Ancient Man for a great chart outlining several of
these examples.)
Pompeii
was the site of one of the most tragic losses of life in the ancient world. Many
deaths could have been avoided if the citizens had heeded the warnings of the
earthquakes and maybe if they had repented and turned to God (Romans 1 tells us
that everyone knows God and all are without excuse). Looking at the underbelly
of the ruins has shed light on the city that once thrived in the now quiet
streets. But the writing on the wall points to a culture consumed with seeking
and attaining earthly pleasures. These pursuits can never truly satisfy and one
way or another, they lead only to destruction. Like Sodom and Gomorrah, Pompeii
met its end in fire.
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| https://peripateticbone.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/streets-c.jpg |
Our own culture doesn’t sound all that
different from the wickedness we described in these ancient cities. Can we
learn from the destruction of these places? Will we heed the reminder that sin
leads to death? Will we recognize the warning quakes for what they are – maybe
it’s time for us to wake up and flee our own sin and immorality before it’s too
late!
I had been reading about Pompeii not to long ago and just came across this article.
ReplyDeleteI am really saddened to learn how wicked their culture was.
I found this interesting regarding the earlier earthquake and then the eruption of Vesuvius that followed a few years later: [ On 5 February 62,[14] a severe earthquake did considerable damage around the bay, and particularly to Pompeii. It is believed that the earthquake would have registered between about 5 and 6 on the Richter scale.
On that day in Pompeii, there were to be two sacrifices, as it was the anniversary of Augustus being named "Father of the Nation" and also a feast day to honour the guardian spirits of the city. Chaos followed the earthquake. Fires, caused by oil lamps that had fallen during the quake, added to the panic. Nearby cities of Herculaneum and Nuceria were also affected."
"The eruption occurred on August 24 AD 79, just one day after Vulcanalia, the festival of the Roman god of fire, including that from volcanoes." Source Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pompeii
As I read these I was reminded of something that I had heard about each of the seven plaques of God's judgement on Egypt directly referenced the false gods the Egyptians believed in. I need to study more on that though as I am not sure of the exact references.
I am encouraged at how in your article you mention the balance we have to approach this in as God does judge nations but that also we do live in a sin cursed world so bad things can still happen because of natural forces no longer operating as they should. Also that even if someone is not necessarily judged on this earth there is coming a day when we all will come before God in the Judgement and give account for our deeds and only those who repented and put their trust in Christ for salvation will be saved.
Thank you for the Article It is a blessing to learn more about history from a Biblical worldview and in a way that is more protected as there are a lot of details about the Pompeian's wickedness that I do not want to know.