Secrets of the Silk Road – Teacher Packet - Bowers Museum

Xinjiang Institute of Archaeology Collection
L: 110cm
The Beauty of Xiaohe", c. 1800-1500 BC
Excavated from Xiaohe (Little River) Cemetery 5, Charqilik (Ruoqiang) County
Xinjiang Institute of Archaeology Collection
H: 152cm H: 60.8”
Below are a couple of items people in the Tarim Basin area may have used when alive to protect
themselves from the harsh elements, but that were used as funerary items also.
ACTIVITY 3: MYSTERY ITEM
Without allowing your students to read the text for the item below, ask them to tell you what they
think the item is. You’d be surprised at some of the wild guesses you’ll get!
Bronze Eyeshade, 7 th -9 th Century
Excavated from Tomb No. 227, Astana,
Turfan
Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Museum
Collection
L: 15cm W: 5.1cm
L:6” W:2.04”
Bowers Museum Education Department
March 2010
This mummy has been preserved extremely well, with the entire body covered in an even layer of thick,
milky white substance. Quite shapely, the mummy’s e\belly is rather plump. Its eye sockets are deep-set
with long, flaxen eyelashes. The bridge of the nose is high and straight, the mouth open slightly. The
outline of the thin lips is prominent. The hair has also been covered in the thick, milky substance and
there are some casings from maggots stuck in it. When the milky substance is cleared away, it reveals a
head of thick, flaxen hair with a natural part that has grown long down to the chest.
Except for the head, calves, and feet, the entire body was wrapped in a wide, white wool cloak. The cloak
has tassels that fan outward around the neck and shoulders. The wrap was closed over the front of the
deceased from right to left. At the chest are inserted two engraved wooden pins and two tamarisk sticks
that have been burnt at the end. Poking through the cords on the right edge of the cloak are three small
pouches, 5-6 cm in diameter. One of the bags is tied near the neck inside the cloak. The other two bags
are tied to the cloak on either side of the wooden pins. Inside all three of the bags are broken pieces of
ephedra, a kind of evergreen shrub with medicinal properties.
There are numerous other striking attributes of the burial that merit separate description, e.g. the wooden
phallus on her chest, the magnificent felt hat, the fine fur-lined leather boots, and the string skirt. All in
all, this is a sumptuous burial stunningly beautiful woman who was much loved by those who interred her.
This eyeshade was hammered from a piece of bronze placed over a mold. When it
was discovered it was resting over the eyes of the tomb’s occupant. The style is not
dissimilar from today’s eyeglasses. The border of the eyeshade is circled with small
punch holes that would have been decorated with textiles such as cotton, hemp,
silk, or brocade. In the center of the shade small holes have also been punched,
allowing the wearer to look out on the world, but also avoid the wind and the sand.
In real life Eskimo and Orochen people have the custom of wearing eyeshades to
guard against the strong reflections of the sun from the ice and snow. People who
live in plains also have the custom of wearing eyeshades to keep out blowing sands
and ultraviolet radiation. However in the Turfan region during the Tang dynasty,
eyeshades were not for actual use; they were funerary goods used for covering the
eyes of the deceased. In the Astana tombs of this time it was customary to cover
the face of cloth. The area where the eyes should be was cut from the face cover
and then an eyeshade like this one was sewn to the fabric.
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