In Pompeii, excavations have uncovered a 2,000-year-old painting depicting what may be a distant ancestor of modern pizza.
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Published on 06/28/2023 12:04
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On June 25, 2023, a 2,000-year-old Pompeian painting was discovered on a fresco in the Pompeii Archaeological Park. (HANDOUT / PRESS OFFICE OF THE ARCHEOLOGICAL PARK OF POMPEI / AFP)
Did we already eat pizza 2,000 years ago? A fun question that stems from a fun discovery in Pompeii, a few miles from Naples: a painting that looks like a pizza.
This still life was discovered during excavations on the walls of an ancient house in the famous Roman city, the archaeological site announced Tuesday, June 27.
She is enthroned on a silver platter next to a goblet of wine, a garland of strawberry trees, pomegranates and dates. This “pizza” is round, rather small and thick, curved on the sides, like the Neapolitan pizza: obviously different from the Roman one.
Only the tomatoes and the mozzarella are missing
What we see “looks like a pizza, but obviously it isn’t,” assures the director of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii, because the tomatoes that arrived in Europe in the 16th century and the mozzarella are missing. But the resemblance is amazing and the quality of the painting remarkable. This still life represents a xénia. It is a gift of hospitality offered to guests in Greek tradition from the third to the first century BC. was offered. As soon as they arrived, the others knew what they would be served. If today’s pizza doesn’t go back that far, bread ovens actually existed 2,000 years ago. The Pompeian house where the fresco was discovered also housed a bakery with an attached oven.
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