8,000 Soldiers under the ground!

This piece amazed me. Or rather, the 8,000 pieces that this is.. 8,000 terra cotta soldiers, lined up in a row. All so beautiful with 100 life size ceramic horses. And could you believe, even better, that this whole thing, was not found until 1974?

How long.. how long was this underground, before someone unearthed it? What might have the sculptor been thinking? How many sculptors did it take? These are all questions I feel when I see the picture of this.. Seeing this, i feel strength in numbers, yet, some sort of animosity when I think about how long they were underground, untouched.. Not to mention, they STILL haven't excavated the tomb mound.. who's to say what is next underneath there? But, the thought of 8,000 still standing soldiers underneath the ground, for thousands of years, with out extra air, and breaking the light of day, kinda creeps me out! I mean, here we are, everyday life, and there they are, just chilling while we're walking RIGHT over top of them.

But, what mostly confuses me, is why they were facing east. ALL of them were... why? I have, NO idea myself. Nothing brings this to mind for me. I can't figure out why. Could someone answer this for me?

That's a lot of people just for one guy!

Married Couple (Larth Tetnies and Thanchvil Tarnai) Embracing

I absolutely love this, even though it's the lid of a sarcophagus. I don't know if I would want my gravestone that magnificent. I love the way it's cut, I almost wanna touch it. The way that it's carved, you can see the texture, and the fine lines in the wrinkles of the sheets. But the romantic aspect is captured in the book, and I couldn't have said it better: "this loving pair has been caught for eternity in a tender embrace..."

Akhenaten and his family, pg. 71

First, I would like to say that this relief is.. beautiful. I think personally, the showing of family in such a relaxed setting is rare, making it amazing in itself. Another thing that puzzles me to no end, is why in the world, the most beautiful woman in the world, is with what looks like an ALIEN. I don't understand what she saw in him, as Joyce said in class, "He must have had a good personality or something, I don't know." The fact that they look so happy makes it seem more natural.

This is my first post so.....

Ello'.... this is my first post! :)