GUANGZHOU: Zhao Mei, known as "the King of Nanyue (South China)", may have been a victim of his own "pills of immortality."

The king may have died after taking the elixir of life he tried to make more than 2,000 years ago, senior archaeologists said Monday.

Archaeologists found many "pills of immortality" inside Zhao's tomb yesterday in Guangzhou, capital of South China's Guangdong Province, after they dug out the ancient tomb for archaeological studies.

The five-colour pills which reach a diameter of 1.8 centimetres are actually made of sulphur, crystal, red realgar, calaite and alunite, archaeologists said.

Two large stoves used to make "the pills of immortality" were also found.

The pills which ancient Chinese kings and emperors used to take to avoid growing old were actually poisonous, said Wang Fang, a professor from Zhongshan University, in South China.

Archaeologists and experts will continue testing Zhao's bones and the pills to prove the king did in fact die of the elixir, Wang said.

Wang said the discoveries of the ancient stoves and "the pills of immortality" indicate Zhao used to make and take the pills for longevity purposes. But Zhao is believed to have died in his 40s due to chronic poisoning.

It is the first time the death of an ancient Chinese king is believed to have been connected to the elixir that many ancient Chinese kings and emperors used.

Meanwhile archaeologists also found many other valuable relics from ancient tomb groups under Guangzhou's downtown areas. The relics include jade clothes sewn with gold thread, imperial jade seals, ceramics, bronze mirrors, jade, jewelry, glass, and even ivory.

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