New discoveries at Sanxingdui Ruins highlight magnificence of Chinese civilization

By Zahi Hawass, Egyptian archeologist

The new archeological discoveries recently announced at Sanxingdui Ruins site in southwest China highlighted the magnificence of the Chinese civilization.

I believe that the discovery made in that city is of utmost importance for many reasons, the most important of which is that it shows the greatness of the Chinese civilization.

Chinese archaeologists announced in March the finding of six new sacrificial pits and more than 500 items dating back to around 3,000 years at the Sanxingdui Ruins in Sichuan Province, according to the National Cultural Heritage Administration.

The Sanxingdui ruins, located in the city of Guanghan, about 60 km away from Chengdu, the provincial capital of Sichuan, belonged to the Shu Kingdom that existed at least 4,800 years ago and lasted more than 2,000 years.

In four of the six pits, they found gold masks, gold foil, bronze masks, bronze trees, miniature ivory sculptures and carbonized rice and seeds.The rest of the newly discovered pits are still under excavation.

The discoveries, as a treasure consisting of 500 pieces, could lead to more archaeological treasures of the Chinese ancient Shu Kingdom, to which the discovered objects are believed to have belonged.

Those 500 pieces discovered by archaeologists in China can be studied and tell us a great deal of information about that ancient city, including the religious life back then, how they thought of the afterlife, and what the cultural life of the people who lived there was like.

It was contemporary to the New Kingdom of ancient Egypt, in which there were great kings like Ramses II, Amenhotep III and Thutmose III.

I believe that the world now looks at the Chinese civilization profoundly, knowing that this civilization provided science, art, religion and belief more than 3,000 years ago.

I look forward to seeing more Chinese archaeological discoveries, hoping that the coming excavations will include written items to provide more information about that region in China.We are waiting for future excavations to know more about this great city or the Shu Kingdom.