纪录片《大英博物馆世界简史》 050传丝公主画版（7）（在线收听）

"These painted tablets, like all the others subsequently discovered... were undoubtedly still in the same position in which they had originally been deposited as votive offerings by pious worshippers. The last days of worship at this small shrine were vividly recalled by far humbler yet equally touching relics. On the floor near the principal base, and near the corners, I discovered several ancient brooms, which had manifestly been used by the last attendants to keep the sacred objects clear of the invading dust and sand." ('Ancient Khotan', p. 251)

And it was not just the painting of the silk princess that these brooms kept clean. This Buddhist shrine also contained painted images of the Buddha, as well as the Hindu gods Shiva and Brahma. Other shrines in the complex have pictures of Buddhist, Hindu and Iranian gods, as well as very local deities. The gods that travelled the Silk Road were, like the traders themselves, happy to share accommodation.

In this programme, we've been in the company of a legendary princess, uncovering the meaning of her story. Next week we will be with other princesses and great ladies - real ones - praying and plotting, suffering and singing, in the courts of the world's great powers around 800 AD.

And we'll begin with an extraordinary tale of blood-letting, a long way from the Silk Road... we'll be with a Maya queen, in Mexico