2,000-year-old royal baths unearthed in China shed light on Qin rulers

By Rihanna

陜西西安秦漢櫟陽城遺址最近出土戰(zhàn)國時期的“皇家浴室”，浴室內舖有地磚和墻磚，內部裝修豪華，且排水設施也十分完善，專家估計這個古跡應該是秦國的國君與后妃的沐浴專用浴室。

Three royal baths have been unearthed among the ruins of an ancient city in Xi’an,Shanxi province,archaeologists said.

They were found in August during excavations of Yueyang,the capital of the state of Qin during the Warring States Period(475—221 BC),which now forms part of the northern city’s Yanliang district.

The baths are thought to have been for the exclusive use of the Qin king and his consort,with adjoining areas reserved for the royal harem.

All three are rectangular in shape,although with excavation ongoing the exact dimensions have yet to be revealed.Clay bricks engraved with patterns line their walls and floors.A well-preserved drain system has been found under one.

This is the first royal bath of the Qin state we’ve found with such complete drainage,said Liu Rui,a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences’Institute of Archeology.

A team of 12 diggers from both the CAS institute and the Xi’an Institute of Cultural Relics Protection has been investigating Yueyang since 2013.

It has unearthed three palaces,covering an area of 4.6 square kilometers,and identified the complex surrounding the baths as the group’s core.

據考古學家稱，在陜西省西安市的一座古城遺址中發(fā)現(xiàn)了三間皇家浴室。

該三間浴室于八月份在發(fā)掘櫟陽時出土，櫟陽在戰(zhàn)國時期 (公元前475—公元前221年)曾經是秦國的都城，現(xiàn)在是北方城市燕梁區(qū)的一部分。

這些浴室專家認為是專為秦王和他的妃子使用的，其毗連區(qū)域就是皇室的后宮。

盡管目前挖掘過程仍在進行，具體的尺寸還有待明確，但是可以鑒定三間浴室的形狀都是矩形的。浴室的墻壁和地板都貼有帶著圖案的粘土磚砌。同時浴室還自帶排水系統(tǒng)，且保存仍然完好。

中國科學院考古研究所研究員劉瑞說:“這是我們首次發(fā)現(xiàn)帶有如此完整排水系統(tǒng)的秦國浴室?！?/p>

自2013年以來，中國科學院和西安文物保護研究所的12名挖掘者一直在發(fā)掘櫟陽。

在該地區(qū)發(fā)現(xiàn)了三座宮殿，占地面積4.6平方公里，而浴室恰巧處于復雜建筑群落的中心。