The Ruins of Ancient Niya

The archeological site known as Niya (hereafter referred to as the Ruins of Ancient Niya), which lies deep in the Takla Makan Desert on the southern rim of the Tarim Basin in present-day Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, has been called the Pompeii of the East, owing to Niya having been buried, quite suddenly, as had ancient Pompeii ages earlier. Or so it seems, for no one really knows what caused the residents of Niya to abandon their city in such a panic that they even left their dogs tethered in front of their houses, apparently fleeing for their lives from some unknown-to-us, impending calamity.

Located in the desert 150 kilometers (approximately 93 miles) from Minfeng County in Hotan, it is a major national cultural relic According to historical records, it was once the site of the Jingjue Kingdom which was occupied by the western minorities in ancient China. It was an oasis located deep in the Takla Makan Desert, lying to the north of Niya River. It was a famous kingdom among the 36 kingdoms located in that area. Like Pompeii, it was once prosperous but suddenly disappeared. No one knows the actual reason. Some people believe that it was destroyed by war, but others believe that it was destroyed by wind-blown sand.

The ancient city is surrounded by rolling sand hills and was first discovered in 1901 by a British explorer. Wooden implements, stone implements, bronze wares, iron wares, pottery, woolen goods and even remnants of food such as wheat, highland barley wild oat, mutton, and pork were excavated. The cotton clothes unearthed are regarded as the earliest cotton textiles that can be found in China. The relics of amanuensis including imperial edicts, public documents, and letters are valuable material for studying the history of minorities in ancient China. A site used for smelting iron in the Han Dynasty (206 BC - 220) was also discovered near site of this ancient city. The relics unearthed provide precious and accurate information that is very useful in studying the ancient minorities in China, the history of Silk Road and the cultural exchange between China and foreign countries. 

Nowadays, the local Cultural-Relic department has set a Cultural-Relics Agent who imposes a high fee to the exploration teams. In order to develop the travel industry, a sealed access road has been constructed. Here you can also see the relics of houses, courtyards, furniture, artwork, Buddhist pagoda, and coffins, each of which was made by drilling on one log.

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