Silla: Korea’s Kingdom of Gold.

Throughout world history there have been civilizations, such as the Scythians, the Aztecs and the Asante who were known for their gold, but another should be added to that list. The Korean Kingdom of Silla which existed from 37 BCE – 668 CE as one of 3 Korean Kingdoms, and from 668 CE to 935 CE after its unification with Koguryo and Baekche. (It conquered the other two.)

cof

The Gyeongju National Museum houses a fantastic display of artifacts discovered in the burial mounds of important officials and royalty from the Kingdom of Silla.

cof

There are a large number of these tumuli in Gyeongju some of which produced a multitude of artifacts.

cof

Silla was a large city, perhaps one of the largest in the world during that time period.

mde

It was on the eastern part of the Silk Road from China so commerce and trade were important aspects of its economy. Silla was also known for its amazing craftsmen and artists.

mde

For those who could afford it gold was the medium of choice.

cof        mde

 

mde

img_20171024_170419_1-1.jpg

cof

The royals were wealthy enough to have ample leisure time and so poetry, music and games played a part in their daily lives.

oznor

Even their horses wore gold.

cof

Other incredible jewelry was found.

cof

cof           cof

To really take in and appreciate the beauty of all that the museum has to offer I would suggest a visit of at least a few hours.

cof

There was a lot more items on display than I could show here, including everyday objects as well as armor and sculpture.

oznor                      mde

cof            cof

Have a great day everyone.

 

Please do not copy or use without permission and accreditation. Photo credits to Elizabeth Marzec.

You may also enjoy reading Juryeonggu: A Fourteen Sided Dice From The Golden Age Of Silla, and Baduk, The Korean Game Of Weiqi, Or Go.

 

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s

%d bloggers like this: