Cheonmachong, formerly Tomb No.155 in South Korea, is a

tumulus A tumulus (plural tumuli) is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or ''kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a mound of stones bu ...

located in Gyeongju,

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

. The name "Cheonmachong" means Sky horse tomb. This tomb was built in the style of Silla. Excavation of the tomb began on April 16, 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 or Shilla (57 BCE – 935 CE) ( , Old Korean: Syera, Old Japanese: Siraki2) was a Korean kingdom located on the southern and central parts of the Korean Peninsula. Silla, along with Baekje and Goguryeo, formed the Three Kingdoms ...

Kingdom.Barbara Ann Kipfer
''Encyclopedic Dictionary of Archaeology'', p.232
/ref> 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. Sarah Milledge Nelson
''The Archaeology of Korea'', p.250
/ref> This kind of tomb is said to follow the pattern of a Scytho-Iranian tomb in Pazyryk,

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

.Richard Rutt, Keith L. Pratt
''Korea: A Historical and Cultural Dictionary'', p.165
/ref> 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 may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

Flying horse), 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 (37 BC–668 AD) ( ) also called Goryeo (), was a Korean kingdom located in the northern and central parts of the Korean Peninsula and the southern and central parts of Northeast China. At its peak of power, Goguryeo controlled mos ...

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 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 and a gold girdle, both replete with jade comma-shaped beads. 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 and the use of the dragon motif in gold plates which matches treasures in the

Baekje Baekje or Paekche (, ) was a Korean kingdom located in southwestern Korea from 18 BC to 660 AD. It was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, together with Goguryeo and Silla. Baekje was founded by Onjo, the third son of Goguryeo's founder Jum ...

King Muryeong 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. The crown is considered one of the most valuable gold crowns in Silla. It features a large cluster with three branch shaped ornaments and two deer horn shaped ornaments, and it is full of jade and spangles. The crown and cap was made by combining four gold plates decorated with bore patterns. It is believed to have been placed on top of a hat made of birch bark. Various types of patterns were precisely drilled into it to make it beautiful, including the T-charge pattern, the diamond-shaped pattern, and the twisted dragon pattern. Currently under renovation.

Gallery

File:Korea-Gyeongju-Cheonmachong-Entrance-01.jpg, The entrance File:Korea-Silla-Cheonmado-01.jpg, ''Cheonmado'' (Painting of the Heavenly Horse), No. 207

National Treasure The idea of national treasure, like national epics and national anthems, is part of the language of romantic nationalism, which arose in the late 18th century and 19th centuries. Nationalism is an ideology that supports the nation as the funda ...

File:Gold_crown_from_Cheonmachong.jpg, Gold crown of Silla, No. 188 National Treasure File:Korea-Silla Kingdom-Golden hat-01.jpg, No. 189 National Treasure

Notes

References

*Kim, Jeong-gi et al. :1974 ''Cheonmachong Balguljosa Bogoseo'' heonmachong Excavation Site Report Office of Cultural Properties, Seoul.

External links

Cheonmachong - World History Encyclopedia

Asian Historical Architecture: Heavenly Horse Tomb
{{coord, 35, 50, 16, N, 129, 12, 45, E, region:KR-47_type:landmark_source:dewiki, display=title Silla Archaeological sites in South Korea Buildings and structures in Gyeongju

Gallery

See also

Notes

References

External links