Legacy of the Desert King: Textiles and Treasures Excavated at Niya on the Silk Road by Zhao, Feng and Yu, Zhiyong (editors) - 2000

China National Silk Museum, Hangzhou and Xinjiang Institute of Archaelogy, Urumqi, 2000 Book. Very Good. Soft cover. Chinese and English text; Paperback; 21.5 x 28.5 cm; 0.6 Kg; 109 with colour ilustrations.; Used with signs of wear on the exterior. Interior as new.; Catalogue from the exhibtion held at China National Silk Museum, Hangzhou from the 20th October to 20th of November 2000.; "The ancient site of Niya is located in the southern area of the Taklimakan Desert. About 2000 years ago, it was the Jingjue Kingdom, one of the 36 Kingdoms in the west regions. Although the population was small, the people lived peacefully and happily. By the end of the Eastern Han dynasty (2nd century AD), Jingjue was annexed to Shanshan Kingdom, but the ruler still called himself king. During the 3rd to the 4th century, this city was abandoned. The graveyard of the royal family was found in 1995, and large quantities of objects and mummies had been excavated. Among them, the tombs no.8 and no.3 are double burials containing, according to the research, two successive generations of rulers of the Jingjue kingdom, the so-called "Desert Kings". The discovery was one of the ten most important archaeological excavations in China in the same year. The unearthed jin-silk with the inscriptions wu xing chu dong fang and wang hou he hun are appraised as class one cultural relics. A selection of the treasures found in the tombs at Niya will be displayed this time. From them you can learn about the daily life of the Jingjue nobles, the important achievements of silk production in Central China between Han dynasty (206BC-220AD) and Jin dynasty (265-420 AD), and the cultural exchange between East and West in ancient times. " excerpt from the preface, 2000..