Emperor Qin's Tomb...the last unexplored great tomb?

So I was watching the Discovery Channel's special the First Emperor and it appears the legend is real. Apparently Qin's tomb in Xi'an has a floor plan based on the ancient map of China with flowing mercury in the rivers that leads out to a man-made sea with a machine that keeps the flow of Mercury flowing. Given that present day soil samples show that there is a large deposit of Mercury on the site I'm just wondering would would happen if they open that tomb? There are no plans to open the tomb up but I would feel sorry for the suckers that first excavate the main tomb area should they not be properly protected. Apparently the tomb under the mound is the height of the Egyptian pyramids. So much for people arguing that the ancients couldn't have built the pyramids and that aliens did. Wouldn't opening that sealed Mercury tomb cause a bit of an environmental disaster anyhow?

[edit on 30-1-2006 by hotsheets]

Good question, but liquid murcury isnt deadly, unless you decide to drink some for fun. Does murcury turn to a gas really easy? anyone know? I heard there were some murcury gas boobie traps in some ancient tombs, but I dont know if that was just a myth.. Maybe they could suck all the air out and pump in some clean air. Anyways I think China is stalling for some reason. They have alot of great archeology sites, but never take full advantage of them. I dont think they are really scared about crossbows that fire when u open a door (which prolly fell apart 500 years ago).. send a friggin robot.

Any info on the perpetual motion machine that keeps the mercury flowing?

Liquid mercury is safe as long as you do not touch it. If it is gaseous form you will die.

it doesn't look like it will be opened in our lifetime.

why dot they just get some hazmat suits and walk in there and take everything??

Originally posted by Endsoftheworld
Liquid mercury is safe as long as you do not touch it. If it is gaseous form you will die.

A friend of mine had jars of it in his garage, it was his dads. I have no idea why his dad had jars of mercury. Anyways he brought some to school and we were all playing with it at the bus stop. That is some fun stuff. When they found out at skool we were all rounded up and interrorgated. They said it could seep into your pores if you hold onto it for a while. Good thing I kept some in a bottle cap instead of a cupped hand!

Doesnt gas mercury make you go crazy before you die?

Anyways shouldnt they be worried that the seas of mercury is leaking into ground water or something and want to open up the tomb?? They must be hiding it for some good reason?

that anybody living in that area that drinks from the groundwater is screwed.

Theres a couple of things that you need to take into consideration here, first and foremost being that this should not be considered a treasure hunt, something to be plundered or something to 'take advantage' of. This is an archeological site, and more importantly - a tomb. I wont pretend to be an expert on Chinese culture, but I imagine that this tomb is an important part of their heritage. If intact it will contain a wealth of knowledge about the people and civilization at the time of its creation, much of which would be lost if someone just decided to dig a hole in the side of it and start yanking things out. Alot can be learned from things you might not even expect to find there, things that might be overlooked by people only interested in the 'fancy shiny stuff', something dropped or left behind by a workman perhaps. The point being its not as simple as openning the tomb and carting stuff out.

Another factor would be available resources. I'm sure you're familiar with the terracotta warriors that accompany the tomb, all 8099 of them. They are still being worked on and pieced back together, a process that some estimates say will take another 50 years. I'm sure this is keeping a good portion of the skilled archeological workforce pretty busy and is occupying alot of the available workspace at the site.

Also, this from Wikipedia

This tomb has not been opened yet, as the area around it must first be sealed off with a special tent-type structure to prevent corrosion from exposure to outside air. However, there is only one company in the world that makes these tents, and their largest model will not cover the site as needed.

I agree with waiting until it can be done right, and remember they are really under no obligation to open it up at all.

I'm curious though, anyone know if there has been any kind of preliminary survey done to see if the tomb is in fact intact?

i think it should remain closed.

it's a tomb, the man inside most likely didn't want it opened.

if we want to explore it we can send a tiny robot or maybe a team of them, so we can get an idea of what the tomb is like without violating it.

Violator,
I'm told ( by some older mechanics I work with ) that liquid mercury was used in sliding tubes, to stabilise the rear-end of cars that were used in running moonshine. It acted as a stabilizer, when rounding corners.

Lex

They found the tomb some years ago and at first archaeologists had intended to excavate it but after doing some soil samples (because of the legend of the mercury filled "streams", they decided to wait until they could go in without disturbing the mercury and were able to do more testing on the outside of the mound. After a while the chinese government stepped in and decided they didn't want the tomb to be disturbed. The possiblity of the mercury seeping into the ground water is too great and they also didn't want to disturb the emporer's slumber

There are lots of great unexplored tombs, many still undiscovered. Moses, for instance. Or Imhotep. Beowulf? People we never even heard of.

Most governments are leaning rather heavily towards protecting their national heritage. However, we could do a ground study using GPRs or ground penetrating radar to at least get a basic understanding of the lay out. As technology advances and GPI because more stable, we could eventually return and see inside the tomb without ever opening it.

There was a fantastic docu-drama on Channel 4 last night all about China's first emperor. It had proof of mercury in the core samples, and had them mapped out from where the core samples were taken. They then compared this to either radar images they had taken (or something similar) and it proved the traces were from within the tomb.

This is the accompanying website by channel 4:

www.channel4.com...

It makes very interesting reading. Hope you enjoy

Originally posted by Enkidu
There are lots of great unexplored tombs, many still undiscovered. Moses, for instance. Or Imhotep. Beowulf? People we never even heard of.

If there was any proof other than the Bible's tales, maybe they would try and look for Moses's tomb

Slowly more is being discovered:

news.bbc.co.uk...

I think it may be years before it is actually excavated, but that only adds to the excitement!

In the circles that I frequent, Mercury is used to make an amalgam with Gold. Mercury literally sucks up small bits of Gold. Then you evaporate the Mercury in a retort, or boil it out in a potato placed in a skillet over an open flame and you are left with a sponge also called a button. To make it into a nugget you hollow an appropriate sized chunk out of a piece of charcoal, place some borax in there to act as a flux, put the Gold on top and apply a torch to it. The Gold all melts together under the influence of the flux and the remaining Mercury is vaporized into the air. Drop this into nitric acid to clean any impurities and you have a man made nugget. When you find a mason jar full of Mercury keep your fingers crossed that it contains amalgam. Alot of the old timers would bury their amalgam filled Mercury jars under the floor of their cabins and if found could contain up to 6 ounces of Gold if full. I am not saying the Mercury in the tomb contained Gold, but I cannot fathom another use for it.

reply to post by hotsheets


Scratch the tough facade of merry Maoist dialectical materialism and you'll find the astute, often wise Chinese of yore who knows there are many things that transcend the five senses...

Why am I laughing?
Because of that facade - and because the world buys into it (or pretends that it does).
There seems to be enough evidence to suggest that, according to Chinese "folklore", it would be more profitable for the world not to open that particular tomb... It has more to do with the reputation of said emperor himself rather than with mercury - which, by the way, is essential to alchemy (and not just Chinese alchemy).

So, yes: the Chinese are "stalling" for a reason.
Just what it is would be difficult to determine - but it ain't lack of resources or anything like that.








[edit on 15-5-2008 by Vanitas]

I am not saying the Mercury in the tomb contained Gold, but I cannot fathom another use for it.

In a word: alchemy.
(Which is WAY more than quest for physical gold.)










[edit on 15-5-2008 by Vanitas]