Three Royal Tombs in Bae-dong, Gyeongju

Samneung Royal Tombs in Bae-dong, Gyeongju take their name from the three royal tombs standing side by side, running east to west, on the western foot of Namsan Mountain in Gyeongju. Counting from the lowest, they are traditionally said to be the tombs of three kings of the Bak clan: King Adalla, the eighth ruler of Silla; King Sindeok, the fifty-third ruler; and King Gyeongmyeong, the fifty-fourth ruler. All three tombs take the form of round earthen mounds. The middle tomb, traditionally identified as that of King Sindeok, was looted in 1953 and 1963; investigation of its interior confirmed that it is a stone chamber tomb with a horizontal entrance passage. Inside, parts of the east and west walls of the stone chamber are painted, as though a folding screen had been set around them. Although this does not amount to a full-scale mural, it is notable as the first such find in a Silla tomb in Gyeongju that does not otherwise carry wall paintings. The colours used are red, yellow, white, ultramarine, and dark blue, arranged across twelve panels. Although Samneung Royal Tombs in Bae-dong, Gyeongju are traditionally said to belong to three kings of the Bak clan of Silla, there is no firm record to confirm this, and since some seven hundred years separate King Adalla of early Silla from Kings Sindeok and Gyeongmyeong, it is difficult to accept that their tombs would be gathered in one place. Moreover, large tombs of this kind did not yet exist in early Silla. The site's official name was changed from Baeri Samneung to Three Royal Tombs in Bae-dong, Gyeongju, as announced on 28 July 2011.

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Where it is

Region

Gyeongju, Gyeongbuk

Designation

Historic Site · 사적