Similar activity has been reported in the Batanghari in Jambi, the next big river north of Palembang.' 'The river is broad (1 km wide) in Palembang. 'I think the looting is probably still in progress,' Miksic wrote in an email to Live Science. These were the most valuable of the Musi River discoveries, Miksic wrote in 2012 - objects with less commercial value were sold locally around Palembang. Artifacts included bronze statues of Buddha, glass beads, stamps used to imprint words on clay, and scale weights probably used by merchants, according to a 2012 newsletter article by Miksic.Д«etween 20, a huge number of artifacts likely dating to Srivijaya's heyday appeared on the antiquities market in Jakarta, according to the 2019 Australian report. This amateur method often caused damage to more fragile artifacts, such as porcelain, wrote John Miksic, a professor of Southeast Asian studies at the National University of Singapore, in a paper presented in 2012 at the conference of the European Association of Southeast Asian Archeologists.

Glittering artifacts appeared with the sand, leading many local workers and fishermen to moonlight as divers, using hoses attached to compressed air tanks to breathe as they probed the river bottom with iron rods. The signs that the Musi River might hold the secrets of Srivijaya first emerged in 2011, when construction workers began to dredge sand from the Musi for large construction projects. It's also possible that a geological event, perhaps related to Sumatra's volcanic activity, could have buried the site of Srivijaya, Kingsley said. Most of Srijivaya's structures would thus have rotted within a few generations, Kingsley said, leaving behind perhaps a few posts and stumps. Houses are constructed on rafts and lashed together into a kind of floating city. This water-world style of architecture is still seen on some rivers in Southeast Asia today. How could such a wealthy civilization vanish with nary a trace? One likely possibility is that Srivijaya was made up mostly of wooden structures built right on top of the river. (Image credit: Gunawan Kartapranata / CC BY 3.0) This map shows the extent of Srivijaya around the eighth century. And then there was gold - naturally occurring deposits of it, eroding out in the Musi River. Srivijaya had vastly rich local natural resources, Kingsley said, including desirable plants such as sandalwood and camphor. The city's tributes to China also hint at its wealth, both homegrown and acquired by trade: The city gave ivory, crystal statues, perfumes, pearls, coral and rhinoceros horn, according to a 2019 report published by the Australian National Centre of Excellence for Maritime Archaeology. These accounts give a sense of the place, but are often sensationalized and reveal little about daily life in the port city.Дuring the 10th century, Srivijaya's ruler paid to have Buddhist temples built in China and India, according to a 2006 report by French archaeologist Pierre-Yves Manguin. They wrote of volcanoes belching smoke and fire, man-eating snakes, parrots that could mimic Hindi, Greek and Arabic, and well-armed sailors willing to attack any vessel that tried to pass without entering Srivijaya. Rowling's 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,' Kingsley said.

These merchants and visitors described a world that was 'Lord of the Rings' meets J.K. Most of the information about the city comes from foreigners who wrote about their travels to Srivijaya. Previous archaeological research around Palembang, Indonesia, the modern Sumatran city near where Srivijaya once sat, had turned up only small hints of the once-wealthy port: brick temples and a few inscriptions. Related: 30 of the world's most valuable treasures that are still missing The last Srivijayan prince, Parameswara, attempted to regain control of trade in the region in the 1390s, but he was soundly defeated by forces from the nearby kingdom of Java afterward, Srivijaya and its surroundings became a haven for Chinese pirates. From then on, Srivijaya declined in influence, though trading there continued for another two centuries, according to historians. Srivijaya, which was ruled by a king, controlled the Straits of Malacca between the mid-600s and 1025, when war with the Indian Chola dynasty broke the city's power.

These treasures all point to one thing: Scientists have located the lost city of Srivijaya, once a wealthy and powerful port along the ocean trade route between East and West. They have found golden sword hilts and gold-and-ruby rings, carved jars and wine jugs and flutes shaped like peacocks. Divers probing the muddy river bottom have hauled up hundreds of figurines, temple bells, tools, mirrors, coins and ceramics.

Temple of the one oblivion