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

By Rihanna

陕西西安秦汉栎阳城遗址最近出土战国时期的“皇家浴室”，浴室内舖有地砖和墙砖，内部装修豪华，且排水设施也十分完善，专家估计这个古迹应该是秦国的国君与后妃的沐浴专用浴室。

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.

据考古学家称，在陕西省西安市的一座古城遗址中发现了三间皇家浴室。

该三间浴室于八月份在发掘栎阳时出土，栎阳在战国时期 (公元前475—公元前221年)曾经是秦国的都城，现在是北方城市燕梁区的一部分。

这些浴室专家认为是专为秦王和他的妃子使用的，其毗连区域就是皇室的后宫。

尽管目前挖掘过程仍在进行，具体的尺寸还有待明确，但是可以鉴定三间浴室的形状都是矩形的。浴室的墙壁和地板都贴有带着图案的粘土砖砌。同时浴室还自带排水系统，且保存仍然完好。

中国科学院考古研究所研究员刘瑞说:“这是我们首次发现带有如此完整排水系统的秦国浴室。”

自2013年以来，中国科学院和西安文物保护研究所的12名挖掘者一直在发掘栎阳。

在该地区发现了三座宫殿，占地面积4.6平方公里，而浴室恰巧处于复杂建筑群落的中心。