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

reply to post by nichole


It's not just samples: ancient descriptions of the tomb speak of a man-made lake (the "sea" from the original post) glistening like a mirror - which inevitably evokes the use of mercury. There was no other material that could have produced such an effect.

Well... not that WE know.










[edit on 15-5-2008 by Vanitas]

Originally posted by madnessinmysoul
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.

Ridiculous, it is RED CHINESE, they are COMMUNISTS!, they never let open to the world.
I think we should teach them lesson, they should bow to us the JEWS! till they know what Democracy is!

Who's tomb? the infidel king? the man inside the tomb is no Christian, why should we not let it be opened?

Yes, we can send robots, we can send tanks and our latest war technologies to exploit the tomb and show the world what Democracy means!

Remember, they are Chinese, they are Communists, they don't have God and don't believe in our God! We have the rights to correct them!

Together, there is nothing we can't open in this world.


And remember, how those Red Chinese covered everything up in Vietnam, Myanmar, Tibet, the latest earthquakes which they don't let any of our reporters to cover the news. The Dalai Lama has suffered too long, and the Red Chinese have tortured him hard. The Red Chinese is very bad, they never let Dalai Lama be be King of Tibet, we want Tibet to stand alone so we can penetrate the territory of Red Chinese.

They are bad, you know?

reply to post by Lonte



Usually I am always game for a good tongue-in-cheek contest... but this being Friday night, I'll leave it to others.

But here's a parting thought regarding the sleeping emperor: not knowing what the rules of the game, HIS game, were - or perhaps knowing all too well what they were! - the Chinese may be reluctant to reprise the Soviet opening of Timur's (AKA Tamerlane) tomb, on June 22 1941...

Who could blame them?

Lonte, you are mentally disturbed. I suggest you go and seek the services of a phycologist and a phychiatrist and keep your ridiculous, insane rantings off of ATS! The Chinese government are communists, the people are not bad as you say, they Chinese people are the biggest victims of the CCP.

Mercury is a stable element. It is highly unlikely that there is much if any vapor in the tomb unless there is a substantial heat source which is unlikely unless there is a hydrothermal vent or something like that. The easiest way into the the tomb could be found through the use of ground penetrating radar.

Better yet drill in and insert a camera-if an open space is detected. I would think there is high chance the tomb would have filled with dirt.

I would suggest that perhaps the possibly unexplored tombs of the Egyptian scientist/physician Imhotep and the Tomb of Moses (wherever it was moved to), would certainly be worth looking into.

Imhotep's if found might be fairly modest as with Moses'

There are probably a number of interesting tombs to go. Probably some good ones in Central Asia, MesoAmerica, Mesopotamia and perhaps even still in Egypt. Pretty much anywhere there was civilization there are tombs and for the cultures that went underground with them there is still the chance of finding some unlooted ones.

reply to post by hotsheets



no. the reason no one has tried to open it yet is because in the tomb the objects have not been exposed to the outside world. Such as moisture, air pressure, etc. So we will have to find a way to open the tomb without exposing it to these things. If we do, then the objects and priceless artifacts could do things like decenegrate. It's all to protect the wonderful things inside.

reply to post by Hanslune


There are some massive ones in Japan too, but tradition forbades their invasion

I hate to tell it, but acording to sima qian, chinese historian of the 2º century BC (100 years after emperor qin), the tomb was looted by general Xiang Wu 5 years after qin´s death.

[edit on 18-11-2008 by Azorean2200]

I don't know about that but I know they think the tomb is intact

I get my Chinese emperors mixed up ,I can't remember which one this is ,is this 1 1st dynasty ? guess I could look it up


They may have a zillion reasons not to open the tomb but I know from other tombs they opened that they lost some important artifacts because taken out of their pristine tomb environment they simply disintegrated before any kind of preservation could be attempted, resources once they open it it has to investigated completely and they learned from the terracotta army that could take forever. Think about it once they do that they have to build a humongous museum complex and storehouse to to contain and display all this stuff opening a tomb like this is a huge project

Originally posted by invisiblewoman
I don't know about that but I know they think the tomb is intact

Who are "they"? The chinese government?

reply to post by Azorean2200


yeah the Chinese gov't, the agency within it that decides to dig or not to dig

Heavenly Flower for Excavate the Unknowable Dragon...or whatever

It is indeed one of the last great tombs yet to be opened. Let's not forget, this is the man who gave the world a unified China, a country that still bears his name. He was no small boy king like Tutankhamun (his vizier, Ay possibly had Tut murdered then ruled Egypt for a short time before he too died), Qin Shi Huang not only unified the country, but put in place all the things needed to unify the people (by fair means or foul), like weights and language. Several laws created by him and Li Su are still in use in China today, I think.

Many of the pits aroud the tomb itself show signs of lootiung but I think the Empeopr's tomb itself was undisturbed, I don't think Xiang Yu could reach it underneath all that packed earth. The Terracottas were looted for their weapons, which were real, of course.

As much as I would like to hear about this tomb being opened (anyone who knows of the tomb knows full well what else is supposedly inside), I think its best protection is that it should be left alone. Or at least excavate the pits around it first, and that will take long enough, I would imagine several lifetimes if done properly. The Terracottas are just a very small part of what is there.

reply to post by Anonymous ATS


this is to true the site and what it contains is literally a replica of the universe

The Chinese authorities have admitted many times that they don't even know how to properly excavate such a thing
This is upon the dawning realization of extent of what is there


What a fantastic artifact this is simply mindboggling

reply to post by hotsheets


Well, I know why they cannot open it and it isnt beacuase of Mercury,That part of the myth is true, Mercury is not deadly unless in gas form or touched for excessive periods of time or eaten. The reason is this is one of very few tombs that we are sure has not been robbed. That means many ancient relics exsist within the main room of the tomb. These relics have ben confined in the same room for aproxamitly 2,000 years, once the relics are exposed to air and sunlight they will disinigrate and the papers that are priceless will turn to dust. This has and will take many years of planing to open up the tomb without destroying precious history.