Starting My Treasure Hunting In England

On the second day of the excavation, the atmosphere at the excavation site became more and more lively, because during the excavation process, more and more artificial traces below the soil were discovered.

For example, there are obviously renovated stone walls below the temple, and there are some fragments similar to ceramics or metal mixed in the soil.

Although most of these things do not reveal any valuable clues at all, they can prove one thing, that is, there are indeed some human remains hidden under this modern square that have never been discovered before.

This is why the staff present are so excited, because these excavated things show that there are still some hidden things in this ruins that have been discovered for hundreds of years.

When everyone was digging until the afternoon of the second day, they had dug down to a depth of about one meter and nearly two meters, and more and more artificial objects were unearthed at the same time.

In the beginning, maybe some pottery or metal fragments were enough to excite everyone, but now these things are just piled aside by everyone.

"There seem to be some reliefs underneath." At around two o'clock in the afternoon, just after taking a lunch break to avoid the scorching sun at noon, the staff digging along the stone wall discovered something unusual.

"Let me see -" After hearing the other party's cry, Liang En immediately said in Arabic, then put down a broken sculpture he was inspecting, and then followed the newly dug steps to the bottom of the pit.

"What we found is this -" the staff member said in a respectful tone immediately after seeing Liang En coming down, and then revealed the relief behind him.

The reason why he respects him is because Liang En, as a very important scholar, was able to endure hardships on the construction site with everyone, and at the same time he also demonstrated his extremely high academic level.

"Let me see what this is?" After nodding slightly to the staff member, Liang En muttered and came to the big pit, and then began to inspect it.

What appeared before him was an approximately triangular relief, and upon closer inspection, he discovered that it looked like the upper part of a door.

It is a pity that due to the erosion of floods with large amounts of silt, the original relief on the door was almost completely destroyed, leaving only a few identifiable traces.

"This thing has a certain ancient Roman style. Or ancient Greek style." After carefully identifying it, Liang En came to his own conclusion. "So dig this side first. I believe there should be a door below here."

After making this judgment, everyone immediately concentrated all their efforts and began large-scale excavation work on this place. Before the sun set, a small door that could allow one person to pass through appeared in front of everyone.

Like the Kazni Temple above, this is also a building dug directly into the soft sandstone, but it is much smaller in scale and does not look very eye-catching. But no one here could ignore the building.

On the one hand, the style of this building looks very similar to the Kazni Temple above, both in the style of ancient Rome and ancient Greece. On the other hand, the main reason is that it is located below the Kazni Temple, which was the center of belief at that time. Clearly one.

In the next half month, everyone carried out large-scale excavations under the temple. As a result, five grottoes were discovered, and some stone hooks carved for hanging items and a low wall that originally covered these grottoes were found. wall.

More importantly, they unearthed 11 skeletons from the caves, as well as a series of burial objects including small pottery sculptures and painted pottery plates. After identification, these cultural relics came from the early first century AD.

Since they date from the first century AD, it can be basically inferred that these tombs were built during the reign of Arida IV. Considering the integration of tombs and temples, it can be indirectly inferred that the king who ordered the carving of the Kazni Temple It's him too.

Arida was a very unpopular king in history, the kind that 99 out of 100 people would not know about, but he was the greatest and most successful ruler of Petra.

During his reign the Nabataean people reached their peak in power and wealth. To give the simplest example, more than 80% of the Nabataean coins have the portrait of Aridas IV on them.

Judging from the archeology of the city's cultural relics at this point in time, he should be the most active monarch in the development of Petra. The magnificent temples and city streets were completed during his tenure.

According to historical records, Arida IV had a reputation as a friend of the people, which made the Al-Kaznei Temple highly revered and even the centerpiece of a series of grand religious complexes.

This has also been confirmed in archaeology. In some pottery bowls excavated by Liang En and others, they found some carbonized incense and the remains of some animals, which are standard items used for sacrifices.

The presence of sacrifices on the altar means that this is a place for public celebrations and pilgrimages, and the number inside also shows that the civilization of the Nabateans, who were previously thought to be simple nomads, was obviously much more powerful than everyone imagined.

To give a simple example, they found lapis lazuli powder, burnt ivory, frankincense and myrrh in the bowl. There is no doubt that these things were very expensive in ancient times, especially after taking into account the transportation costs. in this way.

For example, the ivory should come from Africa, and the lapis lazuli comes from Afghanistan. This is definitely the top luxury product for Petra, which is located on the east coast of the Mediterranean.

But now it seems that Arida IV built this famous Kazni Temple as the core building at the entrance of the entire city, and also as his family tomb.

Although judging from the on-site archaeological conditions, none of the 11 remains unearthed matched his age, and the burial objects did not match his identity.

This seems to be consistent with some records proving that he was not buried here. But what is certain is that the choice of this cemetery as a burial site was a wish. Being able to share the glory with the temple and gain the protection of the gods.

"This should be a building that combines a religious center, a monument and a tomb." After summarizing his findings, Liang En came to his own conclusion.

"In other words, a mystery that has puzzled people for more than a hundred years has been solved. This building is actually similar to a monument, but it is a mixture of religion and ancient ancestor worship."

"Yes, we have found more clues in half a month than in the previous 100 years." Ali nodded, and then subconsciously glanced at the excavation site.

This discovery was so important to the archaeological and historical circles that dozens of historians and archaeologists from seven or eight countries arrived in just half a month and launched a comprehensive excavation.

Even if you just glance down from the simple house above, you can see archaeologists from several countries working together to dig. It is because of the participation of these people that they were able to find so many clues in half a month.

"That's right, but we also have to thank the scholars from various countries who came to help." Liang En raised the corner of his mouth slightly, "If it weren't for them and you could help us contact enough laboratories, we would never be able to push the progress to Now this place.”