Tumuli Park, Gyeongju, South Korea

December 1969 Issue

Tumuli Park, Gyeongju, South Korea

Unmistakable to those who have visited the site pictured here in the June 2014 issue are the royal burial mounds in Tumuli Park (also known as Daereungwon), located in Gyeongju (Kyongju), South Korea. There are 23 mounds in the park, each containing the ancient tomb of a king or nobleman from the Silla (Shilla) Kingdom, a dynasty that lasted almost 1,000 years, from 57 BC to AD 935.

Gyeongju is about 200 miles southeast of the country’s capital, Seoul, a 4-hour bus ride away. In the mid-1970s, houses were removed from the area and several tombs excavated. Visitors can walk to all of the tombs on paths winding through the park.

The most well-known tombs there are King Michu’s “Bamboo Tomb”; the double-humped tomb known as Hwangnam Daechong (believed to have belonged to a royal couple), and Cheonmachong (Heavenly Horse Tomb), where more than 10,000 artifacts were discovered in 1973. Cheonmachong is the only tomb open to visitors; it shows some of the artifacts and how they were arranged.

Nine correct answers were submitted, and ALLAN S. HODGSON of Lakeway, Texas, won the drawing. We thank Kathy Wilhelm of Cary, North Carolina, for submitting the photo.

Correct answers were submitted by:

Edna R.S. Alvarez, Los Angeles, CA; Terrell M. Emmons, Springfield, VA; Pauline Griffith, Los Angeles, CA; Signe Haugen, San Carlos, CA; WINNER: Allan Hodgson, Lakeway, TX; Jane & Clyde Holt, Hinesburg, VT; Linda Huetinck, Alhambra, CA; Theodore Liebersfeld, Boynton Beach, FL; Jill Sullivan, Waynesboro, VA.