This Silk Road cemetery is unlike any other cemetery that we knew till now. There is nothing much that resembles the modern cemeteries. First of all this is historic and as old as 1700 years.
The cemetery has been found in a place where history resides, Kucha in China. It was an important trade center for hundreds of years along the historic Silk Road. Historians claim that the silk route that was used by Roman traders and then the Arab Muslim traders who used it to supply goods to China and back to Baghdad that was the most prosperous capital in the entire world from 8th century till around thirteenth century when the whole of the Europe was in complete darkness. This route was reportedly used by renowned traveler Ibn Battuta, who is known for his extensive travels, accounts of which were published in the Rihla or ‘Journey’. Over a period of thirty years, Ibn Battuta visited most of the known Islamic world as well as many non-Muslim lands including China
Researchers claim that they found the cemetery buried in the city of Kucha, which is in northwest China. Ten tombs were excavated, seven of which turned out to be massive brick structures. They claim that a tomb that they have named “M3,” has carvings of several mythical creatures. Some of them depict seasons and even heavens the White Tiger of the West, the Vermilion Bird of the South, the Black Turtle of the North and the Azure Dragon of the East.
They claim that one of the biggest tombs that is made of bricks namely the M3 also “consists of a burial mound, ramp, sealed gate, tomb entrance, screen walls, passage, burial chamber and side chamber”. The report has been carried by Chinese Cultural Relics.
The tombs are not recent findings. In fact they were excavated in the year 2007 by Xinjiang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology. The researchers were led by Zhiyong Yu, director of the Xinjiang Archaeological Institute.
