Terracotta Warriors

Earlier this fall, we noticed an advertisement about an upcoming exhibit at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.  The exhibit was for the Terracotta Warriors from China.  We were so excited because Alex has read all about them in his National Geographic magazine and our whole family was interested in seeing the exhibit!  Gramma Linda and Grandpa Mark actually got to see the pits where they were being excavated a few years ago when they visited China.  Here are a few pictures that Gramma sent Alex from their trip!

 

In case you aren't familiar, the First Emperor of China (starting around the year 245 BC) commissioned a giant army of terracotta statues sculpted and buried all around his future tomb.  He thought that the army would protect him in the afterlife.  One of the amazing things about these terracotta warriors, was that no one knew they were underground until they were discovered in 1974 by some farmers near Xi'an, China.  Archaeologists have been excavating the pits since and there are estimated to be nearly 9,000 sculptures of warriors, chariots, and horses.  Each of the terracotta figures are unique, and no two look exactly alike.  The whole thing is historically and archaeologically fascinating!!  

 Over Christmas break, Mom, Mark, Bon, Tim, Tad, Alex, Joe, and me, all went to see the exhibit!  It was so interesting and we loved learning more about the terracotta warriors and all of the cultural contexts of China at that time.  There were several of the actual sculptures at the exhibit and it was amazing to see them and think about how old they were and how long they had survived that we could now see them.  Alex was super engaged and interested in the exhibit too, his favorite part was seeing the terracotta horses!  Even though he already knew quite a bit about them, we all learned a lot too!!

For a Christmas gift, Alex also received his own kit to excavate a terracotta warrior from Bon and Tim!  He was thrilled and declared that he might like to be a archaeologist when he grows up!  He's been diligently working on excavating it, so that he can see what is buried inside!