The Miho funerary couch is a

Northern Dynasties The Northern and Southern dynasties () was a period of political division in the history of China that lasted from 420 to 589, following the tumultuous era of the Sixteen Kingdoms and the Eastern Jin dynasty. It is sometimes considered as ...

period (439-589 CE) funeral monument to a

Sogdia Sogdia () or Sogdiana was an ancient Iranian peoples, Iranian civilization between the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya, and in present-day Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. Sogdiana was also a province of the Achaemen ...

n nobleman and official in northern China. The tomb is now located in the collections of the Miho Museum. Its structure is similar to that of the Anyang funerary bed. It has been dated to circa 570 CE. It is rumoured to have been excavated in

Taiyuan Taiyuan; Mandarin pronunciation: (Jin Chinese, Taiyuan Jin: /tʰai˦˥ ye˩˩/) is the capital of Shanxi, China. Taiyuan is the political, economic, cultural and international exchange center of Shanxi Province. It is an industrial base foc ...

in the 1980s, before being sold on the American art market.

The tomb

The stone couch is composed of 11 stone slabs and 2 gate pillars, decorated with reliefs showing the life of the deceased and scenes of the afterlife. Many elements of

Zoroastrianism Zoroastrianism ( ), also called Mazdayasnā () or Beh-dīn (), is an Iranian religions, Iranian religion centred on the Avesta and the teachings of Zoroaster, Zarathushtra Spitama, who is more commonly referred to by the Greek translation, ...

appear in the reliefs. The owner of the tomb was probably in charge of commercial affairs for foreign merchants from

Middle Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian suffix " -sta ...

doing businesses in China, as well as Zoroastrian affairs. He probably held the official Chinese title "Sàbǎo" (薩保, "Protector, Guardian", derived from the Sogdian word ''s’rtp’w'', "caravan leader"), used for government-appointed leaders of the Sogdian immigrant-merchant community.

Ethnographical aspects

Numerous Turkic men appear in the reliefs of the Miho funerary couch. As for the

Tomb of An Jia The Tomb of Ān Jiā, also sometimes read Ān Qié ( zh, t=安伽墓石門暨圍屏石榻, l=Stone tomb gate and couch of An Jia), is a Northern Zhou period (557–581 CE) funeral monument to a Sogdian nobleman named "An Jia" in the Chinese epita ...

, the depictions in the tomb show the omnipresence of the Turks (at the time of the

First Turkic Khaganate The First Turkic Khaganate, also referred to as the First Turkic Empire, the Turkic Khaganate or the Göktürk Khaganate, was a Turkic khaganate established by the Ashina clan of the Göktürks in medieval Inner Asia under the leadership of Bu ...

), who were probably the main trading partners of Sogdian merchants. The Hephthalites are essentially absent from the

, but appear in four panels of the Miho funerary couch with somewhat caricatural features and characteristics of vassals to the Turks. The Hephthalites probably had been replaced by Turkic hegemony by that time (they were destroyed by the alliance of the

Sasanians The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranians"), was an Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651. Enduring for over four centuries, the length of the Sasanian dynasty's reign ...

and the Turks between 556 and 560 CE). In contrast, the Hephthalites are omnipresent in the Tomb of Wirkak, who, although he died at the same time of An Jia was much older at 85: Wirkak may therefore have primarily dealt with the Hephthalites during his active years. File:Turanid looking Western Gokturk–Ak-Hun Turkic men, Miho Museum.jpg, Türks in the Kazakh steppe. File:Miho couch central panel.jpg, Miho couch central panel, with Zoroastrian fire ceremony scene.

External links

Miho funerary couch (Miho museum)

References

{{reflist Buildings and structures completed in the 6th century 2001 archaeological discoveries Archaeological discoveries in China Northern Zhou Tombs in China