As I said, we went up to the Egyptian bit first, I like stuff about Ancient Egypt and they even had a room of actual mummies which I thought was really cool, I don't think I've ever seen any before. My mum told me some of the places she's been - she went to Egypt a couple of years ago with her friend.
Then we went down to the Warriors exhibit and joined a queue to get in. We were quite near the front so we took our seats in the first bit, where we were shown a short video about the warriors and their discovery.
You were allowed to take photos as long as there was no flash. However maybe this one guy had misunderstood that because as my mum went to take her very first photo he told her off and said "no cameras!" We both looked at him and said "No flash not no cameras!" There were loads of people there, in fact the whole day was sold out Friday.
There was one warrior right at the beginning with his horse. Then there were loads of other artefacts and tons of information about China, the ancient dynasties, and what happened with the Army. Did you know that a historian, Sima Qian, wrote about the burial site of Qin Shi Huang just a hundred years after his death, but made no mention of the terracotta warriors? Isn't that bonkers to think that that information was lost in such a short space of time? I find that mindblowing. The warriors then went undiscovered for over two thousand years before they were found by accident when a group of farmers were digging for a well. They also think, due to underground radar and stuff, that there are about eight thousand figures still buried, but there's quite a lot of pressure within China to keep them buried, especially due to Chinese religious traditions of ancestor worship. I think that's really important - so many British museums especially are filled with things that we took from countries we colonised, which is disgraceful.
There were two of the smaller figures with bronze chariots, which are absolutely beautiful, I liked those a lot. Then there were seven warriors all in a line. They were behind a small barrier and we were warned about alarms, but it was really cool to see them so close. They all have different faces - apparently they've scanned all the ones they'd dug up and none of them have identical faces. Isn't that cool? The craft and workmanship that went into them is just mindblowing. There's also bunches and bunches of armour which have serial numbers and even the names of their makers on them. I just found the whole thing so, so interesting and almost beyond comprehension. I'm so glad I got to see them.
I'm going to let my photos speak for themselves mostly. If you get the chance to go to Liverpool before October to see them, definitely do!
The above photos are all from the Egyptian bit, obviously. I took some photos of the mummies but have left them out as I get they're not something everyone wants to look at. There were signs on the rooms warning people that the room contained human remains, which I thought was really good. I heard a woman explain to the small child she was with what that meant
This and the photo below aren't real armour as they're made out of stone and would be too heavy to wear in combat, but aren't they cool?
The warriors themselves
They are so, so cool
Most of them have hands which look like they're supposed to be holding spears and other weapons, but those have obviously eroded over the centuries
I think this one was my favourite. You can still see the paint on his chest - all the figurines were coloured but the paint decayed really quickly when they were excavated
They are about lifesize - all around six foot tall
These ones are smaller
I've decided I want to be buried in a jade burial suit
On the bridge coming out of the exhibit. I offered to take the photo of a couple coming out at the same time so they returned the favour for us
So gorgeous! I am so glad I got to go
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