In an ordinary field in the Shaanxi province of China, farmers made one of the most significant archaeological discoveries of all time in 1974. They unearthed pieces of a clay human figure while digging. Simply put, this was the tip of the iceberg. The field was located over a number of trenches that were crammed with thousands of life-size terracotta replicas of soldiers and war horses, as well as acrobats, esteemed officials, and other animals. This information was discovered through archaeological digs.
The Terracotta Army was buried near the tomb of Qin Shi Huang to protect him in his afterlife.
The task of this Terracotta Army, which ruled from 221 to 210 BCE, appears to have been to protect the nearby mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang. Qin Shi Huang was the imposing first emperor of the Qin dynasty.
Despite the enormous amount of mystery surrounding it, the emperor's tomb has never been uncovered, even though significant portions of the necropolis surrounding the mausoleum have been investigated. Perhaps it has been more than 2,000 years since anyone has peeked into this tomb to see the dreaded ruler imprisoned inside.
This hesitation is mostly due to archaeologists' worries that the excavation may harm the tomb and result in the loss of important historical data. Only invasive archaeological methods may now be utilized to access the tomb, running a great risk of doing permanent harm.
Heinrich Schliemann's excavations of the city of Troy in the 1870s provide one of the best examples of this. His work managed to virtually wipe out all evidence of the very city he had set out to unearth due to his haste and naivete. Archaeologists are confident that they don't want to rush things and repeat similar errors.
The possibility of employing some non-intrusive procedures to examine the tomb has been raised by scientists. Utilizing muons, a subatomic particle created when cosmic rays collide with atoms in the Earth's atmosphere, which can see through objects like an improved X-ray, is one possibility. However, it appears that few of these plans have really taken off.
There may be significantly more urgent and lethal risks associated with breaking open the tomb. Sima Qian, an ancient Chinese historian who lived around 100 years after Qin Shi Huang's passing, describes how the tomb is outfitted with booby traps that are intended to murder any intruders.
Tomb of the First Emperor Qin Shi Huang Di, Xi'an, China.
"For a hundred officials, palaces and beautiful towers were built, and the tomb was stocked with priceless treasure and valuable relics. Crossbows and arrows that are ready to fire at anyone who enters the tomb were ordered to be made by craftsmen. Mercury was utilized to mechanically recreate the movement of the Great Sea, the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers, and the Hundred Rivers.
This report claims that a flood of poisonous liquid mercury might wash across the gravediggers even if the 2,000-year-old bow weapons malfunction. That might sound like a hollow threat, but investigations of mercury concentrations near the tomb have revealed levels that are substantially higher than what would be predicted for a regular plot of ground.
According to the authors of a 2020 publication, "Highly volatile mercury may be escaping through cracks that developed in the structure over time. Our investigation supports ancient chronicle records on the tomb, which is believed never to have been opened or looted."
The Qin Shi Huang tomb is currently closed and hidden, but it is not forgotten. However, it's possible that when the time is right, scientific developments will eventually delve into the mysteries that have been buried here undisturbed for over 2,200 years.
