During my first visit to Gyeongju, I came across several mound tombs. One can really feel a mystical sense of existence beyond the normal - the grounds of people who lived over a thousand years ago and the grounds of those who live today coexist! The tombs are spread around on the flatlands from the northern side of Mt. Nam to the Gyeongju National Museum, and past. Out of these, Daereungwon in Hwangnam-dong, which has 23 tombs within 125,500 square meters of land, is the largest tomb site. From a distance they all seem like small hills. Gyeongju National Museum has a fantastic display of relics excavated from the tombs in Daereungwon area.
There are many types of mounds, such as the half-moon type, the circular type, the resting cow type, and the double-ridged type. From a construction point of view, based on the excavations so far, they could be classified into (1) dolmuji jeokseokchong, stacked stone tomb and (2) dolmuji deonneol, tomb with stacked stones and a wooden coffin.
One of the tombs in Daereungwon, Cheonmachong is open to the public. This tomb, for an unknown Silla King, was excavated in 1973 and is believed to be from the end of the 5th century to the beginning of the 6th century. The circumference of the mound is 47 m and the height is 13 m. During the excavation, two horse saddle flaps made of birch, along with a gold crown, gold earrings, jade martingale, gold belt, and a decorative sword were unearthed. A flying horse is depicted on the side of the saddle flaps. This depiction of the 1500-year-old flying horse led to the naming of the tomb as Cheonmachong or "Heavenly Horse Tomb".
According to history, Silla was founded in 57 BCE. Its early name was Saroguk. Records indicate that six towns comprising Saroguk combined their strength under the first king, Bak Hyeokgose, who ruled from 57 BCE to 4CE. For about 300 years since the founding of Silla, rulers were interred in wooden coffin and wooden outer coffin tombs. Beginning in the middle of the second century, wooden outer coffin tombs sheltered the interred along numerous grave goods. Iron weaponry and axes were very common, and we can assume that iron was part of the foundation of the development of state-level societies.
In the fourth century, Silla annexed small polities in the eastern area of the Nakdonggang River, and developed into an ancient state. Silla developed further through strategies of war and diplomacy with Goguryeo, Baekje, Gaya, and Wae (Japan). This is the Maripgan period. During this period, many wooden chamber tombs covered by stone and earthen mounds containing golden cultural heritage were constructed in the center of Gyeongju and the nearby areas.
Towering, hill-like wooden chamber tombs covered in river cobblestones followed by a mound of earth were built between the middle of the fourth century and the middle of the sixth century. Gold crowns and other magnificent gold and glass objects were placed as grave goods in large quantities.
Gold crowns were used intensively in Silla during a time of rapid growth in the Maripgan period (4th - 6th century). The Maripgan (King) wore a crown and belt made of gold. Gold earrings were worn, as were gold rings, gold bracelets and necklaces. It is unclear from where they mined the gold. Silla was the kingdom of gold, and gold was the symbol of power and authority to its leaders. To this day, six Silla gold crowns have been excavated. Bronze goods were also considered as precious by Maripgan and the royal family.
Potteries shaped as horses, ducks, boats, wheels, horns, houses, and shoes are excavated from Silla burials. Also, potteries with human and animal figures attached and potteries with geometric designs have been discovered. Although simple in nature, they reflect the Silla people and their many emotions.
Approximately twenty-five glass vessels have been excavated from the Silla tombs that originated from the Mediterranean coast and in Sasanian Persia. The iron dagger with golden sheath excavated from Tom no. 14 at Gyerim-ro in Gyeongju is very similar to the one excavated from Borovoe in Kazakhstan.
Silla people used the blue-green colored amazonite to make ornaments and the silica was melted to make different kinds of glass beads. Using inlaying technique, they introduced many colors.
The tomb of the Maripgan was filled with iron-made weapons and agricultural tools. The decorated long sword of the ruler had a hilt and sheath made of precious metals such as gold. From the reigns of Maripgan Namul (356-402 CE) to King Jijeung (500-514 CE), the Monarch and his family were buried in huge tombs and had funerals with splendid gold and silver ornaments. From the time of King Beopheung (514-540), when Buddhism was introduced, funerals were held without ornamentation. The scale of the tombs of the royal family decreased gradually over time with fewer grave goods.
The stone monkey was originally part of a set of animal figures representing the oriental zodiac, which were placed around the tomb of King Seongdeok , 33rd Silla King, 702-737.
The above long necked jar is decorated with an attachment of various figurines, and is the most representative item of pottery with figurine attachments from Silla. Three figurines, representing a duck and snake biting into the back legs of a frog, were placed around the neck and shoulder of the jar at equal distance from one another. Ornamental figurines like these represented people's hopes for fertility and prosperity.
The above are the tombs of three Silla Kings: King Adalla (154-184), the 8th King of the Silla Kingdom; King Sindeok (912-917), the 53rd King; and King Gyeongmyeong (917-924), the 54th King.
Whenever I visited I could feel and touch the heart of Silla. The wind, waves, stones, earth, hills, tombs, mountains, temples and Buddhist sculptures told me numerous historical facts and stories that attracted me again and again to this cultural capital of Korea!