Sunheung Mural Tomb, Yeongju

About this place

This mural tomb, excavated in January 1985 by the Cultural Properties Administration and Daegu University, is designated as a historic site and is of exceptional academic and cultural value. Its construction date is estimated at approximately 539 AD based on the inscription 'gimijungmyo-sanginmyeong' (己未中墓像人名) on the south wall of the burial chamber. The internal structure is a stone-chamber tomb with a corridor; the burial chamber lies at the end, with a relatively high coffin platform on its east side and a smaller secondary platform in the northwest corner. The chamber measures approximately 3.5 m (E–W) × 2 m (N–S); the four walls taper inward toward the ceiling, which is covered by two large flat slabs. Colourful murals were painted on all interior walls and on the sides of the coffin platform; guardian warrior figures on the east and west walls of the corridor — notably a warrior grasping a snake on the west — are interpreted as protective spirits. The tomb, influenced by Goguryeo in both mural style and structure, is considered an ancient Silla tumulus. Together with the nearby Sunheung-eosukmyo (Tomb of Eosuk), it is one of only two mural tombs discovered within Silla territory, and is the only named Silla tumulus known. The Goguryeo-influenced lotus motif and the Goguryeo-style name 'Eosuk' suggest this region served as a cultural corridor between the two kingdoms.