Heavenly Horse Tomb
Encyclopedia
Cheonmachong, formerly Tomb No.155, is a tumulus
Tumulus
A tumulus is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds, Hügelgrab or kurgans, and can be found throughout much of the world. A tumulus composed largely or entirely of stones is usually referred to as a cairn...

 located in Gyeongju
Gyeongju
Gyeongju is a coastal city in the far southeastern corner of North Gyeongsang province in South Korea. It is the second largest city by area in the province after Andong, covering with a population of 269,343 people according to the 2008 census. Gyeongju is southeast of Seoul, and east of the...

, South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...

. The tomb was excavated in 1973 and is believed to date probably from the fifth century but perhaps from the sixth century CE. The tomb was for an unknown king of the Silla
Silla
Silla was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, and one of the longest sustained dynasties in...

 Kingdom.

The tomb, in typical Silla style, is a wood-lined chamber running east to west and is covered in a mound of boulders and earth. This kind of tomb is said to follow the pattern of a tomb in Pazyryk
Pazyryk
The Pazyryk burials are a number of Iron Age tombs found in the Pazyryk Valley of the Ukok plateau in the Altai Mountains, Siberia, south of the modern city of Novosibirsk, Russia; the site is close to the borders with China, Kazakhstan and Mongolia.The tombs are Scythian kurgans, that is...

, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

. The tomb is 47 metres in diameter, 157 metres in circumference, and 12.7 metres in height.

The chamber of the tomb contained a lacquered wooden coffin which had burial goods placed around it. A total of 11,500 artifacts were recovered from the tomb. The name of the tomb derives from a famous painting of a white horse which is depicted on a birch bark saddle flap, also referred to as a mud-guard. The horse, a Cheonma (Korean
Korean language
Korean is the official language of the country Korea, in both South and North. It is also one of the two official languages in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in People's Republic of China. There are about 78 million Korean speakers worldwide. In the 15th century, a national writing...

 pegasus
Pegasus
Pegasus is one of the best known fantastical as well as mythological creatures in Greek mythology. He is a winged divine horse, usually white in color. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as horse-god, and foaled by the Gorgon Medusa. He was the brother of Chrysaor, born at a single birthing...

), has eight legs and is depicted with wings on its feet. This painting is a rare example of extant Silla painting and indicates a strong influence by the Korean Goguryeo
Goguryeo
Goguryeo or Koguryŏ was an ancient Korean kingdom located in present day northern and central parts of the Korean Peninsula, southern Manchuria, and southern Russian Maritime province....

 Kingdom. The burial of horse trappings and the sacrifice of a horse with the king shows the importance of horse culture in Silla society and indicates the central role of the king in shamanism
Shamanism
Shamanism is an anthropological term referencing a range of beliefs and practices regarding communication with the spiritual world. To quote Eliade: "A first definition of this complex phenomenon, and perhaps the least hazardous, will be: shamanism = technique of ecstasy." Shamanism encompasses the...

 practiced by the people. The other side of the saddle flaps depict horsemen and the phoenix. The tomb also yielded many other treasures including a gold crown
Crown of Silla
The crowns of Silla were made in the Korean kingdom of Silla approximately in the fifth and sixth centuries of the Common Era.These crowns were excavated in Gyeongju, the former capital of Silla, and are designated National treasures of South Korea....

 and a gold girdle, both replete with jade
Jade
Jade is an ornamental stone.The term jade is applied to two different metamorphic rocks that are made up of different silicate minerals:...

 comma-shaped beads
Gogok
Gobeunok or Gogok is a Korean word for comma-shaped or curved beads and jewels, which originated and is found in Japan but later transferred to Korea...

. These trappings of royalty indicate that a king was buried in the tomb. Additionally, the fact that the girdle in the Heavenly Horse Tomb is similar to a girdle found in the Gold Crown Tomb
Gold Crown Tomb
The Gold Crown Tomb , is a Silla tumulus located in modern-day Gyeongju, South Korea, the former capital of the ancient Silla Kingdom. Believed to date from the fifth or sixth century CE, the tomb was excavated in 1921. The tomb was the first to bear one of the sumptuous gold crowns of the Silla...

 and the use of the dragon motif in gold plates which matches treasures in the Baekje
Baekje
Baekje or Paekche was a kingdom located in southwest Korea. It was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, together with Goguryeo and Silla....

 King Muryeong
Muryeong of Baekje
Muryeong of Baekje was the 25th king of Baekje, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. During his reign, Baekje remained allied with Silla against Goguryeo, and expanded its relationships with China and Japan.-Background:...

 also indicate a royal king was interred in the tomb. Besides the crown and girdle, the chamber also held gold bracelets and gold rings for every finger of the buried king. The tomb also contained a chest full of burial goods which including the aforementioned painted saddle flap, and also iron kettles, pottery, bronze vessels, lacquerware, saddles, and a 98 centimeter long sword.

See also

  • History of Korea
    History of Korea
    The Korean Peninsula was inhabited from the Lower Paleolithic about 400,000-500,000 years ago. Archeological evidence indicates that the presence of modern humans in northeast Asia dates to 39,000 years ago. The earliest known Korean pottery dates to around 8000 BC, and the Neolithic period began...

  • Silla
    Silla
    Silla was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, and one of the longest sustained dynasties in...

  • Korean art
    Korean art
    Korean art is art originating or practiced in Korea or by Korean artists, from ancient times to today. Korea is noted for its artistic traditions in pottery, music, calligraphy, and other genres, often marked by the use of bold color, natural forms, and surface decoration.-Introduction:The earliest...

  • Crown of Silla
    Crown of Silla
    The crowns of Silla were made in the Korean kingdom of Silla approximately in the fifth and sixth centuries of the Common Era.These crowns were excavated in Gyeongju, the former capital of Silla, and are designated National treasures of South Korea....

  • Gold girdle of Korea

External links

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