"GUANGZHOU: Zhao Mei, known as "the King of Nanyue (South China)", may have been
a victim of his own "pills of immortality."
The king may have died after taking the elixir of life he tried to make more than 2,000 years ago, senior archaeologists said Monday.
Archaeologists found many "pills of immortality" inside Zhao's tomb yesterday in Guangzhou, capital of South China's Guangdong Province, after they dug out the ancient tomb for archaeological studies.
The five-colour pills which reach a diameter of 1.8 centimetres are actually
made of sulphur, crystal, red realgar, calaite and alunite, archaeologists said.
Two large stoves used to make "the pills of immortality" were also found.
The pills which ancient Chinese kings and emperors used to take to avoid growing old were actually poisonous, said Wang Fang, a professor from Zhongshan University, in South China. But Zhao is believed to have died in his 40s due to chronic poisoning.
It is the first time the death of an ancient Chinese king is believed to have been connected to the elixir that many ancient Chinese kings and emperors used. " ChinaDaily
The king may have died after taking the elixir of life he tried to make more than 2,000 years ago, senior archaeologists said Monday.
Archaeologists found many "pills of immortality" inside Zhao's tomb yesterday in Guangzhou, capital of South China's Guangdong Province, after they dug out the ancient tomb for archaeological studies.
Two large stoves used to make "the pills of immortality" were also found.
The pills which ancient Chinese kings and emperors used to take to avoid growing old were actually poisonous, said Wang Fang, a professor from Zhongshan University, in South China. But Zhao is believed to have died in his 40s due to chronic poisoning.
It is the first time the death of an ancient Chinese king is believed to have been connected to the elixir that many ancient Chinese kings and emperors used. " ChinaDaily
Behold, all souls are mine;
as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the
son is mine:
the soul that sinneth, it shall die.
Ezekiel 18:4
