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Wall hanging with centaur and warrior
2nd century B.C.–2nd century A.D.
Tapestry-woven wool
Centaur fragment: warp 21 5/8 in. (55 cm); weft 17 3/4 in. (45 cm); warrior fragment: warp 20 1/2 in. (52 cm); weft 18 7/8 in. (48 cm)
Excavated at Sampula cemetery, Lop, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, 1983–84
Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Museum
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This fragment of a monumental wool tapestry consists of an upper area with a centaur and a lower section with a spear-bearing warrior. The centaur of Greek mythology probably reached northwestern India and points further east as early as the military conquest of Alexander the Great in the third century B.C. The depiction of the centaur in this fragment, however, particularly the clothing and the horn that it plays, indicates that the textile was not manufactured in the Mediterranean region. The gigantic warrior also wears clothing similar to that known from various parts of Central Asia.
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