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Over 2,000 years ago, a king named Liu Fei was buried. His body was laid to rest in what is now Jiangsu, China. Liu Fei’s burial was no standard affair. His family attempted to enhance Liu Fei’s quality of, well, afterlife by filling each of the mausoleum’s 11 chambers with his unimaginable wealth.
Archeologists have been digging around the area where Liu Fei’s tomb was discovered since 2009—and have found more than 10,000 items. Gold, silver, bronze, and jade treasures were among the artifacts they recovered from the tomb. In addition to the items made of precious metals, several culturally significant finds were made as well. Miniature and life-size chariots were also discovered in the burial chamber.
Besides the other treasures, archeologists discovered a chamber containing more than 100,000 coins! They described the chamber in which the coins were stored as a “treasury.” The coins found are known as banliang coins, and can be identified by the square-shaped hole in the middle. These coins can be dated back to the first emperor of China. They were minted in an attempt to signify the unification of China.
Another one of the chambers was a sort of kitchen area. Food items, as well as luxurious kitchen utensils, were found buried in the chamber. In addition, several clay items were inscribed with the mark of the official “culinary officer of the Jiangdu Kingdom.”
“Although the central chamber was looted, the structure of the jade coffin is still intact, which is the only undamaged jade coffin discovered in the history of Chinese archaeology,” The team from the Nanjing Museum explained regarding the importance of their finds.
The mausoleum also contained two pits full of weapons, musical instruments, and luxury items such as golden lamps. Liu Fei was buried with his worldly possessions to signify his importance during his life, as well as in the afterlife. Mission accomplished. This is a significant archeological find.
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