More than 400 artifacts discovered in Wei Dynasty royal tomb

A team of archaeologists in Luoyang, China is excavating a Wei royal tomb, likely belonging to the empress of Cao Rui, Cao Cao's nephew.

Painting of Cao Cao reciting poetry before the Battle of Red Cliff. Photo: Wikipedia.

Archaeologists have discovered a large tomb of a queen from the Three Kingdoms period (220-280) in central China's Henan Province, Xinhua reported. Located south of Xizhu Village in Luoyang City, the tomb is 52 meters long, 13.5 meters wide and 12 meters deep along a steep bank, according to the Luoyang Cultural Relics and Archaeology Research Institute.

"The layout and design of the seven-story staircase indicate that the tomb belonged to a high-ranking royal family member in the Cao Wei kingdom. Through examining the artifacts, we discovered and compared them with historical records that this could be the tomb of Cao Rui's empress," said Shi Jiazhen, director of the institute.

Cao Rui succeeded his father Cao Pi to rule the Wei kingdom. Cao Pi was the son of Cao Cao, one of the most famous generals of the Three Kingdoms period.

The tomb was discovered by a local resident in 2015. Fearing that the tomb would be robbed, the institute decided to excavate it early. "The tomb had been heavily damaged by robbers during the early Song Dynasty (960-1257)," Shi said.

The excavation team unearthed more than 400 samples of pottery, lacquer, bronze, iron and jade, along with 100 stone steles listing the burial objects in the tomb.

According to VNE