Love has been one of the most important emotions of human beings since ancient times, whether it is ancient mythology or modern history, whether it is Western civilization or Eastern civilization, there are many love stories widely spread.
But these stories, though poignant or warm, are ultimately just stories, only in people's words.
However, in the Archaeological Museum in Pennsylvania, there is a collection excavated from Iran. This collection may not be as valuable as other collections in terms of historical value, but in terms of emotional value, it far exceeds them.
Because the special thing about this collection is that it is two extremely well-preserved remains that kissed each other, and after carbon measurement, the history of these two skeletons can even be traced back to 2800 years ago.
archaeology
No similar archaeological object has been found before, in other words, perhaps these two skeletons are the oldest proof of love ever found.
Therefore, after discovering them, archaeologists carefully invited them into the museum, so that this "crystallization of love" was permanently sealed in the pavilion.
And who are these two skeletons? Why are they sealed underground for thousands of years? Why did they kiss together at the last moment? All this has to start with the archaeological site at that time.
archaeology
Couple bones, see the light of day
With the development of modern science and technology, human beings have continuously advanced the origin of their own history, and according to archaeological theory, the large river basins of various continents often have countless ancient human tribes, and these tribes migrate back and forth, annex each other or are destroyed, and finally evolved into a mature country or civilization.
In Azerbaijan, Iran, in 1972, a U.S. archaeological team based on this theory successfully found a historical site and began archaeological excavations.
This place, known locally as Mount Thapay, was first established more than 3,000 years ago, but with climate change and human war activities, it has been abandoned many times and rebuilt, and most of the remaining archaeological objects are of little value, and there are very few cultural relics that can make people shine.
archaeology
But as the archaeological excavation deepened, sharp-eyed archaeologists found something different under the excavator - large pieces of human bones.
After the excavator stopped, the archaeological team took tools and carefully began to clean up the excavated pit and surrounding clods, and finally found several white bone pieces carved out by the excavator, as well as a skeleton buried deep in the earth.
This makes the archaeological team very happy, after all, if you can excavate human bones, you can get a lot of things through scientific means, which will bring a successful end to this archaeology.
archaeology
But as the soil around the skeleton was gradually cleared out, archaeologists were surprised to find that next to this skeleton, there was another well-preserved skeleton.
And the two skeletons face each other, one skeleton's arm around the other body's waist, the skull slightly down, while the other skeleton puts its hand on its neck bone, the skull is slightly raised, and the two seem to die while hugging and kissing each other.
Although this pose is more difficult to describe, it is quite intimate, giving the impression of a couple sleeping peacefully and then being buried under the dust in their sleep. It wasn't until more than 2,000 years later that it saw the light of day again.
Faced with this situation, what archaeologists want to know most is naturally the origin of these two skeletons, as well as the cause of their death, and the most crucial question - why do they maintain this posture before death?
archaeology
Study of skeletons
After analyzing the bones, some basic information is in front of the eyes of archaeologists. According to the bone growth of the skeletons, the two skeletons were basically around 20 years old, died about 2800 years ago, the cause of death is unknown, and the head of one skeleton was structurally damaged during the excavation process.
But after splicing, it can be judged that in addition to the damage caused by the excavator, there are several other injuries, while the other skeleton is well preserved.
At the same time, according to the bone size comparison of the two skeletons and the size of the pelvis, one of the bones was male and the other was female, and it is likely that before death, it was a small couple in their twenties.
But this begs the question, why do they die at the same time and remain so at the end of their lives? What happened to them during their lifetime?
study
In order to solve these problems, archaeologists have proposed a number of hypotheses based on past experience. Some believe that they suffered a natural disaster in their sleep, just as Pompeii was instantly destroyed by a volcanic eruption; It is also believed that the couple died of injuries on the way to escape because of obvious trauma on the head of the male skeleton.
But in the end, these conclusions did not fully prove their correctness. After excavating the bones, archaeologists also found other things around the deep pit where the bones were located — some charred pottery and rice.
From the evidence at the site, the place where the bones were located may be the warehouse used by the ancient city to store grain.
After investigating the surrounding geographical environment, archaeologists also found that there were neither volcanoes nor high mountains around this place, let alone in the seismic zone, which can be said to be a place with a fairly peaceful geological environment.
Therefore, it is difficult for both the natural disaster theory and the flight theory to prove themselves correct. In order to uncover the mystery, archaeologists began to look through the history books in order to find a suitable answer in history and bring a scientific and reasonable explanation to these questions.
fire
History 2,800 years ago
Since the site is located in Iran, archaeologists will need to understand the history of Iran thousands of years ago.
Because the history of each period will always give birth to a specific social culture, if there is enough historical material interpretation, then deducing today's historical relics from historical materials can often have a multiplier effect with half the effort.
Iran's geographical location determines that its region is itself easy to nurture human civilization, but due to its abundant resources and geographical convenience, these civilizations are also easily annexed by outsiders. 2800 years ago, there was a relatively short-lived civilization in the Azerbaijani region of Iran, called the Elamite civilization.
Due to the early formation of this civilization, the overall culture and technological level is still in the late tribal culture, and Mount Thape is one of the cities of this civilization.
ancient times
According to the archaeological excavations on site and historical records, due to the level of production, Mount Thape was small overall, only able to accommodate 800 to 1,000 people, belonging to small and medium-sized cities at that time, but also had a certain self-defense ability.
The place where the two skeletons were excavated was in the middle of the ancient city, and from the surrounding environment, it can be inferred that the ancient city stored food and other materials at that time, and it was also damaged to a certain extent. In the absence of external natural disasters, the central buildings of the ancient city were destroyed, most likely due to rebellion or invasion by outsiders.
But according to common sense, in a city of 1,000 people, if there is civil unrest, food and weapons themselves are the most needed things for the rebels, and under the natural conditions at that time, unless the rebels are to completely destroy the city, there is no need to burn the granaries.
Therefore, archaeologists have focused on the more likely invasion of outsiders.
battlefield
When compared with world history, this possibility is supported by historical evidence. According to the attribution, the ancient city of Thape belonged to the Elamite civilization, and the Elamite civilization also overlapped with the Assyrian civilization that was active in the surrounding areas of Iran at that time.
And according to some historical documents, the Assyrian civilization annexed or destroyed the early civilization in Iran in the process of its own expansion.
Therefore, under the comparison of many conditions, archaeologists have made a more reasonable conjecture.
It was during this period that the Elamite civilization probably began to suffer Assyrian invasions 2800 years ago with the expansion of the Assyrian civilization and the annexation of other civilizations within the Two River Valley. The ancient city of Thapae may have been caught up in war during this time.
battlefield
During the war, the male skeleton was likely seriously injured - because he had some destructive damage to his skull, and then after the invaders invaded the town, he and his girlfriend hid in the granary in the middle of the ancient city.
Judging from the situation of the two skeletons, there are no remaining obvious trauma on their skeletons, and it can be assumed that they were not found by invaders.
However, because the man was seriously injured, he could not leave the granary.
The scorched marks found in the archaeological site also proved another possibility, that is, outsiders set fire to the buildings in the ancient city after plundering other materials, and the two people hiding in the granary were trapped in the fire because they could not leave, and finally suffocated in each other's arms.
archaeology
This may also explain why there are no visible trauma and no visible signs of struggle on the woman's body.
And because the ancient city of Thape was burned down, it is likely that the survivors left the ancient city.
The Elamite civilization was also annexed and integrated by the Assyrian civilization in 639 BC, so the ancient city of Thape disappeared into history, and the two were buried under the mud and sand, and finally forgotten.
It was not until a thousand years later that under the excavations of archaeologists, it was seen again and proved to the world the existence of sincere love.
archaeology
summary
Since ancient times, faithful love has been easier said than done, and when faced with death, how many couples can still become birds in the same forest, instead of flying separately at the end of a catastrophe?
Therefore, when this kind of love really walks out of the story, spans thousands of years of history, and appears in front of the world as a skeleton, it is inevitable that people will praise this great feeling that crosses time and space from the bottom of their hearts.
"In heaven's wish to be a winged bird, in the earth's wish to tie the knot and branches", but for them, perhaps it is possible to add the phrase "in death wish to kiss the bones".
bibliography
[1] Qi Peicheng. "On the Relationship between the Ancient Kingdom of Elam and the Two River Basin"[J].Journal of Zhaoqing University,2015;
[2] Wu Yuhong. The War between Assyria and Elamite [J], Foreign Studies in Foreign Studies, June 1994
[3] Xu Rong. The Military Expansion of the Assyrian Empire [J].Arab World, May 1999