Volcanoes of the Ancient World

VOLCANOES OF THE ANCIENT WORLD

3 Major Volcanoes Etna Vesuvius

Thera

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ETNAMount Etna is a composite volcano, located on the North - Eastern edge of Sicily. She is Europe’s tallest active volcano rising more than eleven thousand feet above sea level. There are many towns and villages surrounding Etna, the largest being Catania. Etna has been spewing lava for thousands of years, the first recorded eruption occurring in 475BCE. The most famous and disastrous eruption being on March 8, 1669.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/earth/collections/mount_etna

THE HISTORY OF ANCIENT ETNA- In Greek Mythology, Mount Etna is the site of Hephestus and the Cyclops workshop. -The year 396BC Etna erupted so violently that it stopped an advancing Carthaginian army from taking the town, saving the Greeks.-- With the eruption in 122BC, so much ash fell onto the city of Catania that the ruling Romans granted the city a tax break until the city could recover.

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March 8, 1669 On this day Mount Etna began its most infamous eruption. For three days Etna

rumbled and threw ash high into the air. The local residents in Catania refused to leave their homes hoping to withstand the eruption. When enormous quantities of lava started flowing towards Catania there were several attempts by the citizens to stop or change the direction of the flow. All attempts failed and yet twenty thousand people still remained in the city, hoping that the lava would either stop or the cities defensive walls would be able to halt the flow, neither was the case. It took weeks for the lava to reach Catania but once it did all was destroyed. It is estimated over eighteen thousand of the remaining citizens perished.

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MOUNT VESUVIUS Mount Vesuvius, located on the South-Western part of Italy, is most famous for its eruption in 79AD which caused the destruction of Pompeii. Vesuvius stands over 4,200ft above sea level and was formed due to the African plate suducting to the Eurasian plate.

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The eruption in 79AD is one of the most infamous in the world. During the eruption a super heated wall of volcanic mud and gases engulfed the city of Pompeii. Most citizens were killed instantly as the superheated air burned their lungs. This left them in a still position and when the ash settled it laid like a blanket over the city. Because of this many people and objects have been almost perfectly preserved.

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Excavating Pompeii While Pompeii was not destroyed, it was completely covered in volcanic ash. After

the catastrophe Pompeii was eventually forgotten until 1748 when exploration of the ancient site began. Excavation has been an ongoing effort since that time. Headed by different nations throughout history Pompeii has been a fascination for many because it gives us an almost perfectly preserved window into the past. Many parts of Pompeii have yet to be uncovered and are being saved for future generations.

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THE ERUPTION AT THERAThera erupted anywhere between 1645 BC to 1500 BC and has not erupted since. However the eruption that did happen is considered to be the largest ever witnessed by man. To put this into comparison, Krakatoa, which holds the second largest eruption witnessed by man killed upwards of 40,00 people, caused tsunamis over 40ft tall, and the blast was heard over 3,000 miles away. Thera’s eruption was four or five times more powerful than krakatoa’s. Exploding with the power of several hundred atomic bombsIn a fraction of a second.

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Thera Not only was the eruption at Thera one of the most powerful but it was also one

of the most influential. The ancient Minoan civilization used to be the dominant force in the Mediterranean. The eruption of Thera however, completely wiped this civilization off the map. The explosion destroyed the town that rested on Thera but almost all of the coastal cities or towns within the vicinity were wiped out due to tsunamis or earthquakes. After this all archeological records of the Minoans stop, and we see the rise of the ancient Greeks.

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The Legend of Atlantis “Afterward there occurred violent earthquakes and…floods and in a single day and

night of misfortune all your warlike men sank into the earth and the island of Atlantis in like manner, disappeared in the depths of the sea” –Plato

Thera has also been speculated as the source for other Myths such as the biblical story of moses and exodus from Egypt and the great plagues of Egypt described in the Old Testament.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/earth/collections/mount_etna

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/mount-etna-eruptshttp://traveltips.usatoday.com/history-mount-etna-100371.html

http://www.livescience.com/4846-eruption-thera-changed-world.html