Tomb Scan Reveals Buried Treasure (China's First Emperor)

CNN ^ | 10-20-2005

[blam]

Tomb scan reveals buried treasure

Thursday, October 20, 2005; Posted: 1:02 a.m. EDT (05:02 GMT)

Some of the terra cotta soldier statues found around Qin's tomb.

BEIJING, China (AP) -- A magnetic scan of the unopened tomb of China's first emperor has detected a large number of coins, suggesting Emperor Qin was buried with his state treasury, a news report said Thursday.

[JimSEA]

Bronze inscriptions have been the major source for early Chinese history. This tomb would likely be full of them. I would imagine that the information on this first emperor and the founder of this short dynasty would be the biggest single find since the Shang tombs with their oracle bones and later bronzes.

Exciting news.

[Domangart]

I saw an exhibit in Manila in 1976 that had some of this materal. It made the junk from Egypt look like kids with water colors. No doubt that was the intent.

[Tallguy]

Legend has it that the sarcophagus itself is surrounded by a lake of mercury.

Better have a Hazmat team standing by...

or

"Do you mean to tell me that the founder of the Chin Dynasty didn't have to contend with the EPA?"

[afraidfortherepublic]

From the article: Qin was legendary for his cruelty. He reputedly press-ganged some 700,000 workers into building his mausoleum and had dissident scholars buried alive.

Qin's son was overthrown three years after his death by founders of the Han dynasty, which lasted four centuries and is considered one of the pinnacles of classical Chinese civilization.

Interesting, but this is the opposite of what the Chinese guides told us atXian in 1983. According to them, Qin was the model of humanitarianism for all of the dynasties to follow.

[databoss]

A recently widowed woman was at the grave side burial and reading of the will for late great wealthy husband, who was famous for being very tight fisted with a buck in his life. When the lawyer read the recently departeds wish to be "buried with all of his money" the widow asked her husbands business manager how much was ol' tight fist worth. The erstwhile manager responded with the figure $3 Million. The widow calmly wrote a check for the amount and stuck it in the casket.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Blam. Thanks caryatid, doc30, and cchandler for that discussion of the legend of what the actual tomb holds.

To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. Thanks.

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[SunkenCiv]

third page from your link, and thanks again:

http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/shaanxi/xian/terra_cotta_army/mausoleum_3.htm

"Sima Qian, a great historian who wrote in early Han dynasty, offered archeologists great insight on the mausoleum's construction. We learned from him that the tomb is huge. The coffin of Emperor Qin Shihuang was cast in bronze. Underground Palace was gem-studded replica of imperial housing above ground. Moreover, booby traps with automatic-shooting arrows were installed to deter would-be tomb robbers. Heaven and earth were represented in the central chamber of the tomb. Ceiling shaped into sun, moon and stars by inlaying pearls and gems symbolizes the sky and the ground was an accumulation point of rivers, lakes and seas, like Yellow River and Yangtze River, which stands for the earth. It is said that the underground palace was brightly lit by whale oil lamps for eternity. Nowadays, the records in this book have been definitely proved right by archaeological findings and the underground palace of the tomb is presumably well preserved."

[colorado tanker]

Paging Dr. Jones, Dr. Indiana Jones.

[Knitting A Conundrum]

There are actually higher than normal levels of mercury in the soil there, I read once somewhere...giving creedence to the sea of mercury story...

[Arthalion]

Actually, the tomb is probably not in very good condition at this point. Qian's own description explained that the tomb encroached onto an aquifer and began filling with water during its construction. To waterproof the site, they coated all of the interior walls with bronze. The odds of that waterproofing staying intact after nearly 22 centuries is effectively nil. At most, that technique would have kept the water at bay for 500-600 years, after which it would have began slowly filling with water. The paintings, murals, and wooden objects...along with the remains of Qin himself, would have dissolved long ago.

A bigger problem is that the tomb was carved out of relatively soft rock and earth. Once the tomb filled with water, the softer earth and rock begins to run the risk of becoming over-saturated and collapsing. If parts (or all) of the tomb haven't caved in yet, it's certainly unstable enough to do so if the excavators aren't careful.

As to the discussion of booby traps: Never in the history of mankind has a machine been developed that could operate without maintenance for two millenia. Any weight based booby traps that relied on wood or steel would have disintegrated long ago. Bronze would likely have corrosion-welded itself by now. Stone booby traps would be cemented in place by the simple settling of several millenia of dust. If, in fact, the whole place is underwater, it's beyond unlikely that ANY kind of machine would even be recognizable at this point, much less functional. The only thing archaeologists really need to worry about is mercury contamination and the structural stability of the tomb.

[Question_Assumptions]

Qin was legendary for his cruelty.

His predecessors in the Shang dynasty were likely more cruel. From what I've read, those soldiers wouldn't have been tera cotta replicas during the Shang dynasty.

The earliest known Chinese writing was made on bones and was used for divination. Many of the Shang oracle bones ask about sacrificing people to bring about certain divine favors or events. While the early Mesopotamians were writing about loans, contracts, and fanancial transactions, the Shang were writing about sacrificing animals and people with their writing.

[blam]

"His predecessors in the Shang dynasty were likely more cruel. From what I've read, those soldiers wouldn't have been tera cotta replicas during the Shang dynasty. "

It is written (somewhere?) that at the collapse of the Shang Dynasty 250,000 'took to the sea.' Now, some speculate that some of the folks that took to the sea made it to Mexico and are now called the Olmec.

[SunkenCiv]

Upon rereading my posts, perhaps you'll note that I didn't claim that the tomb was in good condition, or that the booby traps were still in working condition. Any such traps were no doubt intended to ambush those who tried to plunder the tomb while its location was still remembered. The buried terra cotta army used to stand in roofed rooms, and I think all those had collapsed by the time they were discovered in the 1970s.

[SunkenCiv]

regarding what Blam wrote, a search:

Google

[Arthalion]

I wasn't responding to you, per se, but to the quote you posted from that webpage: "underground palace of the tomb is presumably well preserved". That quote could lead a reader to believe that the tomb is in great shape, just waiting there for Geraldo to reveal its contents on live TV. I was just pointing out that this is probably not true. I'm sure there's an archaeological treasure trove there, but its state of preservation will probably be fairly poor.

[SunkenCiv]

I'm curious about the metal detected -- seems more likely that the mass of metal was that used to construct the sarcophagus and to wall the tomb chamber, rather than a hoard of coins.

[Dustbunny]

Guess he thought he could take it with him.

[Dustbunny]

Definitely an area I would like to visit.

[cyggieswan]

part of the reason is the scientists were afraid that the artifacts in the tomb will degenerate when opened and exposed to air. the terracotta warriors lost its original colours when dug out. this was explained in a programme in china's discovery channel.

[SunkenCiv]