Did the ancients build elaborate, automated traps?
score:8
I thought that I provided an answer to this question, but I can't find it.
The First Emperor of China died in 210 BC and was buried in an elaborate tomb described about a century later by the Grand Historian of China.
In the ninth month, the First Emperor was interred at Mount Li. When the First Emperor first came to the throne, the digging and preparation work began at Mount Li. Later, when he had unified his empire, 700,000 men were sent there from all over his empire. They dug through three layers of groundwater, and poured in bronze for the outer coffin. Palaces and scenic towers for a hundred officials were constructed, and the tomb was filled with rare artifacts and wonderful treasure. Craftsmen were ordered to make crossbows and arrows primed to shoot at anyone who enters the tomb. Mercury was used to simulate the hundred rivers, the Yangtze and Yellow River, and the great sea, and set to flow mechanically. Above were representation of the heavenly constellations, below, the features of the land. Candles were made from fat of "man-fish", which is calculated to burn and not extinguish for a long time. The Second Emperor said: "It would be inappropriate for the concubines of the late emperor who have no sons to be out free", ordered that they should accompany the dead, and a great many died. After the burial, it was suggested that it would be a serious breach if the craftsmen who constructed the mechanical devices and knew of its treasures were to divulge those secrets. Therefore after the funeral ceremonies had completed and the treasures hidden away, the inner passageway was blocked, and the outer gate lowered, immediately trapping all the workers and craftsmen inside. None could escape. Trees and vegetations were then planted on the tomb mound such that it resembles a hill.
— Sima Qian, Shiji, Chapter 6.[5][6]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mausoleum_of_the_First_Qin_Emperor1
To repeat:
Craftsmen were ordered to make crossbows and arrows primed to shoot at anyone who enters the tomb.
So this is a very famous direct historical claim - possibly correct - that in one case automatic weapons were installed in a tomb. Of course that claim has not yet been verified by archaeology.
More post
- 📝 Why did Cleon say this in the Mytilenian Debate?
- 📝 Why was fellatio considered so horrible during the XIX century in Europe?
- 📝 Where did France build up its fleet in 1805-1814?
- 📝 Was there a town called Munich in Jackson County, Tennessee?
- 📝 Sources of iron in the middle east
- 📝 How did they cook on ancient ships?
- 📝 Why didn't Delhi became part of Pakistan?
- 📝 Can world systems theory apply to empires?
- 📝 When did Cicero Minor die?
- 📝 Why did Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia remain loyal to France during and after World War II?
- 📝 What wars or other serious crises have been caused by translation?
- 📝 How is serfdom related to slavery?
- 📝 WW1 Uniform - Which country does this uniform belong to?
- 📝 What does a "wage" mean in the time of 'The Odyssey'?
- 📝 How long does a generation last?
- 📝 How do archaeologists prove that two settlements belonged to the same civilization?
- 📝 When was the Passover Seder ritual formalized?
- 📝 What was the ratio of German to Soviet losses on Eastern front during different stages of the war?
- 📝 What "silly places" (according to Muggeridge) did Nikita Khrushchev go to during his visit in the United Kingdom?
- 📝 How does Upton Sinclair's The Jungle contribute to Historiography?
- 📝 Why was there a surge of writings about the Illuminati in America in the late 1910's?
- 📝 When did American elections begin to use the ballot?
- 📝 Age of majority in Washington state in 1945?
- 📝 How severe were the casualties in ancient/medieval battles?
- 📝 What is the best book to learn about medicine in medieval times? (research for a novel)
- 📝 Did the House of Representatives during Meiji Era exercise their powers?
- 📝 What cipher did Jefferson and Madison use to correspond?
- 📝 Toyotomi Hideyoshi threatened to exterminate all Japanese foxes unless he heard from the god Inari. What was the aftermath (if any)?
- 📝 When did India become a major trading center?
- 📝 Do (modern) audio recordings exist for the sound of Ancient Egyptian, Ancient Coptic, or other ancient languages?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 Did the ancients build elaborate, automated traps?
- 📝 Did the ancients or other pre-industrial civilisations engage in unsustainable practices?
- 📝 How long did it take to build siege engines in the middle ages?
- 📝 Why did the Germans build battle cruisers with a different profile than the British?
- 📝 Where did the money come from to build the Colosseum?
- 📝 How did the Romans build straight roads that stretched very long distances?
- 📝 Did the Portuguese build any settlement around the Cape of Good Hope?
- 📝 Did the emperor Ashoka really build hospitals or is that a myth?
- 📝 Where did the railroad companies find workers to build the rails?
- 📝 How many defensive lines did China build for the Second Sino-Japanese War?
- 📝 Did Empress Cixi divert funds for the Beiyang Fleet to build the Summer Palace?
- 📝 What machine technology did the Egyptians have to build the great pyramids?
- 📝 How did the Romans build their armies for the First Punic War?
- 📝 Did the British and the French build the Suez Canal?
- 📝 What methods did the Stasi use to build their surveillance apparatus?
- 📝 Why did Hitler attack the Soviet Union when he was still busy fighting the United Kingdom?
- 📝 When did people decide that all caps means the writer is shouting?
- 📝 Why did Native Americans die from European diseases while Europeans didn't catch serious diseases from the New World?
- 📝 When did the allies find out about the killing of Jews during WW2
- 📝 Did Adolf Hitler ever address the fact that his own appearance was almost an exact opposite of what he considered the ideal Aryan appearance?
- 📝 Why did the Confederacy think they could win the American Civil War?
- 📝 Why did archery not make a comeback when armor was phased out in the 18th century?
- 📝 Did medieval scholars believe the Earth was round?
- 📝 Did the ancient Greeks ever climb Mt. Olympus?
- 📝 Did Bill Gates steal the GUI concept from Steve Jobs?
- 📝 Why did the British scuttle the u-boats surrendered after WWII?
- 📝 Did Russian winter seriously contribute to German defeat on the Eastern Front in WWII?
- 📝 Why did Canada not join the American Revolution?
- 📝 Why did Churchill order the destruction of the bombes?
- 📝 Why did the USSR give Crimea to Ukraine?