in 1972 workers were digging a foundation for a new hospital on the outskirts of changsha. they unearthed a tomb 125 meters underground. there were 3 coffins inside one another, each more elaborate than the previous one. inside they found a female corpse that looked as if she had been buried only a few days before.( even though everyone calls her a mummy technically she isn't since her body was simply buried and not preserved in any way) she was buried with everything that she might need in the next life: food, money , jewels, hair ornaments, carved wooden representatives of servants and musicians. apparently she died shortly after eating a mellon as she had something like 134 mellon seeds in her stomach.
we were told because the conditions were just perfect when they found her tomb, everything inside looked fresh even though it was 2000 years old. apparently one of the workers decided to sample a mellon but it didn't taste too good according to our guide.
the number or artifacts and the incredible condition they are in is really remarkable. the girls loved seeing the female mummy and we had a pleasant afternoon viewing all museum she is in.unlike my first visit there during "the sars" when we had the place to ourselves yesterday it was pretty crowded. blue bunny came along for the ride, and got a few looks but not as many as the girls, with the mothers who are foreigners.
we also visited hunan university. a welcome peaceful and green respite from the big city nature of changsha. we wandered around and the kids loved playing photographer with the koi and turtles in the pond. and videographer for the musical performance we watched.
ping pong and swimming were high on the list once we got back to the hotel.after the intensity of the orphanage visit it was nice to have a day of less loaded activity.
hazel went to bed asking questions about the mummy: "was she older than jesus or older than santa clause"?
Oh Hazel! What an incredible question. I love that she creating a time line.
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