Faces of victims of a slaughter after China's First Emperor's death are reconstructed

[Ygorcs]

Intriguing stuff:

All the bodies in the tomb are young females and the archaeologists believe these women could be the emperor’s consorts and their servants, judging from the class of the graves and burial items found there.

Some of the bodies had been dismembered and placed outside passageways leading to the burial chambers that were thought to have contained their mistresses’ bodies.

It is thought that the women may have been killed as part of a human sacrifice following the emperor’s death and the evidence suggests the executioners made no concession to age or rank.

Researchers have reconstructed the face of one of the high-status women in the tombs – possibly a wife or concubine of the emperor.

According to a facial reconstruction photo provided to the South China Morning Post, she had a pair of rounded, large eyes and long, defined nose.

The computer-generated portrait used a deep learning algorithm and large anatomic database to reconstruct her features, although details such as her hair style and eye colour can only be guessed at.

The same technology has been used for forensic facial reconstruction in police investigations across the country.

Intriguingly, her features do not appear to be typically Han Chinese. Instead they suggest a possible central Asian or even European ancestry – a possibility that could prompt intense academic controversy.

[...]Some researchers believe that these bodies may include members of the imperial family who were murdered in an extensive purge soon after Emperor Qin’s death.

The possible Qin prince, according to the facial reconstruction, appeared to be a man about 30 years of age with olive-shaped eyes and a pronounced nose.
[...]

But the results have prompted some debate among archaeologists.

The faces, especially the woman’s, appeared to show more ethnic divergence than would typically be expected in Han Chinese people.

Some researchers have speculated that the women might have “Western” origins – possibly Persian, or even European – but others believe this is improbable.

[...]

The museum was planning to carry out DNA testing on these two and other remains and hope to come up with more clues about the ethnic composition of the Qin court. (Good News!)

More information and pictures at: https://www.scmp.com/news/china/soc...-emperor?utm_source=quora&utm_medium=referral

 

[Angela]

Intriguing stuff:



More information and pictures at: https://www.scmp.com/news/china/soc...-emperor?utm_source=quora&utm_medium=referral

Fascinating.

I don't understand why it would be so controversial, however, for some of the women to look more West Eurasian, and for that ancestry to be visible in some of the Princes.

Surely it was standard practice for powerful rulers to take concubines from other lands. King Solomon had many concubines from other countries.

• 1 Kings 3:1 says,

"And Solomon became allied to Pharaoh king of Egypt by marriage, and took Pharaoh's daughter, and brought her into the city of David, until he had made an end of building his own house, and the house of the Lord, and the wall of Jerusalem round about."The fact that Pharaoh's daughter has been singled out in the accounts of Solomon is significant as similar treatment is not given to his "seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines" (1 Kings 11:3).

Some scholars believe this unique example was because this marriage in particular "demonstrates the wealth and power of the Hebrew monarchy, for Pharaoh's daughters did not ordinarily marry outside of their own family, and perhaps indicates the weakness of the Egyptian kingdom at this time."^[1] Another scholar points out that marrying Pharaoh’s daughter is significant in light of the story of Exodus, "A descendant of former Egyptian slaves now became Pharaoh's son-in-law".^[2] Most scholars believe the alliance was a result of the reputation of Solomon's father, "Under David, Israel had become a factor to be reckoned with in Eastern politics, and the Pharaoh found it prudent to secure its friendship."^[3] The alliance through marriage is seen by scholars as the reason for the reported increase in trade with Egypt at 1 Kings 10:28-29.<sup>[1]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pharaoh's_daughter_(wife_of_Solomon)

"1 Kings 11:1-10 “Now king Solomon loved many foreign women, besides the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites; of the nations concerning which The Lord said unto the children of Israel: 'Ye shall not go among them, neither shall they come among you; for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods'; Solomon did cleave unto these in love.

I guess he had a lot of love to give.


I've fancied one might have been from Ethiopia or Yemen, perhaps even the Queen of Sheba.</sup>
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Song_of_Songs
https://www.archive.org/stream/theworldenglishb08249gut/web2210.txt

"001:005 I am dark, but lovely, you daughters of Jerusalem, like Kedar's tents, like Solomon's curtains.
001:006 Don't stare at me because I am dark, because the sun has scorched me."

 

[Ygorcs]

Fascinating.

I don't understand why it would be so controversial, however, for some of the women to look more West Eurasian, and for that ancestry to be visible in some of the Princes.

Surely it was standard practice for powerful rulers to take concubines from other lands. King Solomon had many concubines from other countries.

• 1 Kings 3:1 says,

"And Solomon became allied to Pharaoh king of Egypt by marriage, and took Pharaoh's daughter, and brought her into the city of David, until he had made an end of building his own house, and the house of the Lord, and the wall of Jerusalem round about."The fact that Pharaoh's daughter has been singled out in the accounts of Solomon is significant as similar treatment is not given to his "seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines" (1 Kings 11:3).

Some scholars believe this unique example was because this marriage in particular "demonstrates the wealth and power of the Hebrew monarchy, for Pharaoh's daughters did not ordinarily marry outside of their own family, and perhaps indicates the weakness of the Egyptian kingdom at this time."^[1] Another scholar points out that marrying Pharaoh’s daughter is significant in light of the story of Exodus, "A descendant of former Egyptian slaves now became Pharaoh's son-in-law".^[2] Most scholars believe the alliance was a result of the reputation of Solomon's father, "Under David, Israel had become a factor to be reckoned with in Eastern politics, and the Pharaoh found it prudent to secure its friendship."^[3] The alliance through marriage is seen by scholars as the reason for the reported increase in trade with Egypt at 1 Kings 10:28-29.<sup>[1]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pharaoh's_daughter_(wife_of_Solomon)

"1 Kings 11:1-10 “Now king Solomon loved many foreign women, besides the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites; of the nations concerning which The Lord said unto the children of Israel: 'Ye shall not go among them, neither shall they come among you; for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods'; Solomon did cleave unto these in love.

I guess he had a lot of love to give.


I've fancied one might have been from Ethiopia or Yemen, perhaps even the Queen of Sheba.</sup>
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Song_of_Songs
https://www.archive.org/stream/theworldenglishb08249gut/web2210.txt

"001:005 I am dark, but lovely, you daughters of Jerusalem, like Kedar's tents, like Solomon's curtains.
001:006 Don't stare at me because I am dark, because the sun has scorched me."

Maybe there are some nationalistic/ethnocentric overtones to the background of this story that we miss. Maybe some would find it improper that if many of the consorts of the First Emperor (and even the reconstructed face of his son is not exactly a "classic" Mongoloid) were not Han Chinese then the offspring of the first Chinese emperor would've been "mixed" with foreigners (granted, most of it died the most gruesome deaths under his younger son's tyrannical rule). I also didn't understand the strong emphasis in the article about the unlikelihood of frequent contacts with Europe or Central Asia "proper", to explain why these reconstructed faces should be controversial.

I mean, it's pretty well established (the mummies and all) that the Tarim Basin and also the Altai Mountains were inhabited by West Eurasian-looking people. China's First Emperor didn't need to go as far as Uzbekistan or, far less, Europe to find a West Eurasian bride, especially because the fundaments of his empire was in Shaanxi and his capital was Xi'an (also in Shaanxi) - remarkably closer (in comparison to later Han capitals) to that Western China formerly inhabited mostly by West Eurasians. I wonder how (or why) they could've missed that evidence.

 

[Ygorcs]

^{I've fancied one might have been from Ethiopia or Yemen, perhaps even the Queen of Sheba.}
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Song_of_Songs
https://www.archive.org/stream/theworldenglishb08249gut/web2210.txt

"001:005 I am dark, but lovely, you daughters of Jerusalem, like Kedar's tents, like Solomon's curtains.
001:006 Don't stare at me because I am dark, because the sun has scorched me."

Wow I hadn't read that passage from the Bible. Interesting, it really seems to confirm that she certainly came from the south, from somewhere around the Red Sea. Many Ethiopians insist that the connection between Judaism and Ethiopians go back to the Queen of Sheba and Solomon. I don't know, but if that were true it would really make sense. If she came from Yemen it wouldn't be that different, especially because by that time Yemen and Oman (South Arabia) were probably much less "Arabic" and had their own cultural and linguistic flavors, clearly a bit closer to the Semitic populations of the Horn of Africa than the latter Arabs.

 

[Angela]

Maybe there are some nationalistic/ethnocentric overtones to the background of this story that we miss. Maybe some would find it improper that if many of the consorts of the First Emperor (and even the reconstructed face of his son is not exactly a "classic" Mongoloid) were not Han Chinese then the offspring of the first Chinese emperor would've been "mixed" with foreigners (granted, most of it died the most gruesome deaths under his younger son's tyrannical rule). I also didn't understand the strong emphasis in the article about the unlikelihood of frequent contacts with Europe or Central Asia "proper", to explain why these reconstructed faces should be controversial.

I mean, it's pretty well established (the mummies and all) that the Tarim Basin and also the Altai Mountains were inhabited by West Eurasian-looking people. China's First Emperor didn't need to go as far as Uzbekistan or, far less, Europe to find a West Eurasian bride, especially because the fundaments of his empire was in Shaanxi and his capital was Xi'an (also in Shaanxi) - remarkably closer (in comparison to later Han capitals) to that Western China formerly inhabited mostly by West Eurasians. I wonder how (or why) they could've missed that evidence.

I'm sorry to say it, but so much of the "science" coming out of China is tainted by nationalism.