Fresco pieced together after 1,400 years in desert [ Taklamakan Dandanulike ]

People's Daily Online ^ | July 20, 2006 | Xinhua

[SunkenCiv]

[I]n the heart of the Taklamakan... [t]he fresco of Buddhist tales was painted on the earthen walls of the Dandanulike Temple in the south of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Discovered in 30 pieces by a Sino-Japanese archaeology group in October 2002, it is believed to date back to the Tang Dynasty of the late seventh century... [E]xperts believe parts had been stolen and some taken by a Swiss botanist in the 1920s, as his name card and a dozen sheets of a German language newspaper were found at the site. The remainder had been damaged by wind and sand, according to Tie Fude.. Temperatures ranging from minus 30 degrees to 60 degrees Celsius had exacerbated the deterioration... The Dandanulike Ruins were discovered by Swedish explorer Sven Hedin in 1896, and relics have turned up in foreign museums, including the Museum fur Indische Kunst in Berlin and the British Museum in London.

[SunkenCiv]

[SunkenCiv]

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[ZULU]

I wonder if any inscriptions were in Tocharian.

[blam]

"I wonder if any inscriptions were in Tocharian."

Tocharian may have been 'gone' even by then.

[Dustbunny]

Wonder why they so seldom have pictures with such articles?

[SunkenCiv]

In answer to ZULU's question, I dunno. I'm not going to reply per se, because this graphic is a bit large and may inconvenience Z. Anyway, for those wondering what is Tocharian, this shows the extinct language branch (there was Tocharian A and Tocharian B).

thanks to Cronos for this cool graphic:

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[SunkenCiv]

Wonder why they so seldom have pictures with such articles?

You know I'm always happy to help.

:'D

[Dustbunny]

Wish that hag would retire.

[SunkenCiv]

Before she goes, perhaps she could write down what she remembers about the artists of these 1400 year old murals.

[Dustbunny]

LOL..... good one

[SunkenCiv]