Saturday, August 3, 2013

Out of the City July 9, 2013


Yesterday we went to see the famous terracotta warriors and came away impressed with the site.

In 1974, a farmer was digging a well and he came across some clay figures.  Little did he know that he had uncovered what some now called the Eighth Wonder of the World and is an UNESCO heritage site.

There are three pits of warriors uncovered at present with 60 more to go.  The number of clay soldiers is staggering and almost unbelievable.  The figure stands in the thousands and many more are still unearthed.

The pictures we took do not do the scene justice, but it will give some idea of the grandeur of the life-sized warriors.

The warriors were created to protect the tomb of the Emperor and were placed underground in order to serve that purpose.  Over time, the dirt and wood roof covering the clay figures caved in and the site was forgotten for many years.

The Chinese have also found the tomb of the Emperor, but have not opened it as of yet. Archeologists can tell that the tomb has never been touched so it will be an amazing place when they do finally open it.











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