English to Bulgarian Social Sciences History археология

Контекст

From the many tombs that have now been discovered and excavated, and from writings of the time, archaeolo¬gists have been able to put together a picture of certain aspects of the belief in an afterlife as shown by some burial rituals in ancient China. The ancient Chinese believed that the afterlife was an extension of life on Earth. A ruler's tomb was his or her palace in death. Inside the tomb, the dead ruler was expected to have feasts and carry out the same religious rituals the live one had. Of course, they would need their servants to do the cooking, cleaning, and waiting that they had done so well in life. So, when a ruler died, the ruler's personal servants were often
killed, too, in order to serve their mas¬ters in the afterlife. This practice was called "following in death" and was common in many ancient cultures. It was more common during the Shang dynasty and in earlier times. By the time of the Qin dynasty, figurines of servants had replaced the real thing.