MSOM

Pantheon · of · VIII

An archaeological anomaly.
A controlled interpretation.

During routine structural surveys beneath the Temple of Jupiter in Pompeii, a sealed subterranean chamber was breached for the first time since the city’s burial in 79 CE.Within stood eight statues carved from deep black basalt.The figures are life-sized, anatomically precise, and executed with craftsmanship consistent with elite imperial ateliers of the early 1st century CE. Tooling marks and residual organic traces confirm their carving within that period.Yet the material itself defies explanation.An obsidian-grade basalt whose geochemical signature matches no known ancient or modern quarry on Earth.

The figures depict human forms without parallel in known ancient iconographic traditions. Their expressions are subdued and inward — neither heroic nor divine. No contemporary ancient records describing their commission, purpose, or concealment have been recovered.

Following extensive consultation, an international oversight committee ruled that the eight black originals must remain undisturbed.Removal or exposure to modern conditions risked irreversible loss — not only physical, but interpretive.The chamber has been resealed and stabilized.
The originals remain below the temple, untouched.Yet their existence could not remain unseen.

Authorization was granted for the creation of exact replicas:Twenty-two editions of each figure, carved in pure white Carrara marble.The choice of white was deliberate — the traditional medium of classical divinity, used here to signal interpretation rather than origin.These works are not replacements.
They are sanctioned echoes.The replicas will circulate globally through museums and temporary exhibitions, allowing the public to encounter the forms without compromising the originals.

MSOM makes no claim to know what inspired the statues.We do not assert that they depict gods, visitors, or visions.
We record only what can be preserved.

The black originals remain eight alone.
The white replicas number twenty-two of each.They will never be repeated.Phase I of VI has begun.What remains unknown is left intact.

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M S O M · Marble Shadows of Myth
An unfinished record.