VANISHED CITY

Shannon News, 26 January 1926, Page 4

VANISHED CITY

JLLiJLAUO -KMOTO- OF MONGOLIAN DESERT. ART OF PRINTING KNOWN TO GHENGIB .KHAN. One of the most interesting exhibitions seen in London was opened at the British Museum on July 14. It was an exhibition of archaeological Objects brought back by Sir Aurel Steint from his Central Asian expedition* which led him over vast portions of . the Eastern Turkestan and Westernmost China, and which, was „ carried out under the orders of the Indian Government. , During his tra\ Sir Aurel visited Kharo-Khoto, the c£ead city in Mongolia, not long ago discovered by the eminent Russian explorer, Colonel Kosloif. Sir Aurel's report on his expedition is now in the Press; but it so happens (says Lancelot Lawton, in the London “Daily Chronicle”) that I have just received, from Moscow an elaborate record, with photographs, of Colonel Koslofifs discovery of KharoKhoto. It is one of the most important discoveries of the age, for here archaeology breaks new ground. How ancient the city is no one knows, but it is certain that it goes back to the period (about 1368) which led up to the Golden Horde, when Mongolia, it seems, was a world Power. Some' original fragments of the teachings of Ghengiz Khan, set down by the scribes from his own words, were found amid the ruins, also business correspondence and the Debt Act of that period. Book of Sindibad.

More wonderful still, part of the celebrated Persian writings of the Book of Sindibad, “The Stories of the Seven Sages” (or Masters), was found in the original. One Arabic tQxt of the story is contained in the “Thousand and One Nights.” Whole libraries of books were recovered, 2,000 copies in all, including one of thirty-four pages on medicine for horses. Many were written on silk, and the . binding was of blue. They were as new-looking as though they had been inscribed yesterday. Several editions were printed; thus it is established that the art of printing was known in the East much earlier than had been thought. Nor was this all. Immense quantities of objects of all kinds were found, including hand-weaved gobelins of exquisite beauty, But of these perhaps the most valuable were 300 Buddhist paintings, chiefly on silk and thick linen cloth, which had been treated beforehand with a preparation of chalk and glue. The colours are fresh and even brilliant; some quite original tints are introduced, as, for; example, a tender pinkish, violet.

Fantastic Ikons. Looking at these Buddhist paintings, one is at once reminded of early Christian art. Often the Buddha is enveloped in clouds, and at each side is to be seen the* little figure of a monk, or in a coiner that of a pious layman, censer in hand. Some of these ikons ars unimaginably fantastic. The Mongolia of these days, tho days of Ghengiz Khan, was evidently a laud of great culture ,a land in which people from many distant parts of the civilised world assembled. It would appear that the Mongolians were not altogether the savages that we have imagined them to be. Khara-Khoto, about Which'we now learn for the first time, is a strange and mystical city. The Mongolians of to-day call it the Black City, and, believing that it is haunted by spirits .■will not enter it. No one would even tell the expedition where it was 10- 1

cated. One night a woman, caught by a storm was forced to take shelter there. Next day, raking over the ruins, she found a magnificent necklace composed of three ropes of pearls. It is said that the last ruling prince when besieged by the Chinese, buried eighty cartloads, of gold, silver and other treasure in the city. The Mongolians are confident that this treasure is there —but none dare seek it lest barm befall him. The city, which shows trades of having been well planned, contains a number of tap'ering towers and a temple of original design, with a cupola. In one of these towers, called the praying toiler, most of the books and paintings were found. Some of them were strewn about, but others were neatly piled, as if they had been carefully stored away for centuries, fne dry air of the desert had enabled them to survive for hundreds of years in an almost perfect state of preservation.

The country around Khara-Khoto is as strange as the dead city itself, but it is beautiful beyond dreams. Colonel Kosloif tells us that life in Mongolia is. a magical fairy tale. Everything is fairy-like. In the daytime the sky is a perfect turquoise blue, and at night the moon is surrounded by a ring of rainbow colours. On the plain enormous herds of camels, horses, antelopes, and sheep are to be seen —the explorer says that he has never seen so many animals assembled together before in his life. But all the animals are of an “original shape’*; even the bears which he came across looked unusual. Every night the expedition was entertained to a concert of howls from hundreds and hundreds of wolves whidh crept out.

Colonel Kosloff saw lakes literally covered with ducks, geese, seagulls, and storks, while overhead flew immense flocks of cygnets. Of vultures there are an abundance ,and of small birds, too; indeed, the desert is thickly populated with bird life. The explorer frequently observed an eagle swooping down upon a hare; but on each occasion the hare leapt over the back of its enemy and made. off. One curious fact is chat hares are tamed and run about the houses of the Mongolians just as cats do with us. In the winter there is great elemental activity. Storms sweep over Mongolia, the wind splits the rock of the mountains and polishes the stones until they are exquisitely smooth and curiously formed. Then the whole silhouette of the landscape is changed. So fascinated were the members of the expedition with the endless variety and beauty of these stones that they stuffed their pockets with them until the load became cumbersome, end they had to lighten it.