The Secret of the Two Slates

[Narration]
The two tomb steles in front of you appear so simple and common. But, because of these stone steles, the Royal Tomb of King Muryeong is regarded as one of the most important historic sites found in the Korean Peninsula. These steles were inscribed with the interred person’s biography, including their name and date of birth. Upon discovery of these steles, the Royal Tomb of King Muryeong became the only royal tomb from the Three Kingdoms Period to be conclusively identifiable.

[Tourist]
Wait a minute! It looks like the characters inscribed are Chinese. Doesn’t Korea have its own characters?

[Narration]
Yes, we do, but the Korean alphabet was only created in 1443. Before then, we used Chinese characters. This is similar to how Latin was used in Europe. The inscription on the steles provides a biography of the King and details about how he purchased the land for his tomb from the god of the earth.

[Tourist]
What? Are you saying that the King bought the land for his tomb?

[Narration]
The people of Baekje believed that divine beings dwelled in natural phenomena, such as the earth. On the steles, it is engraved that, "After negotiation, 10,000 mun were given to the god of the underground to purchase the site for use as a tomb." Approximately 90 ancient Chinese coins were found on top of the tomb stele, and they are believed to have been payment to the god of the earth.

[Tourist]
How interesting. Which of the two stone tomb steles belonged to King Muryeong?

[Narration]
When we look at the wall engraved with Chinese characters, the one on the right belonged to King Muryeong and the one on the left belonged to his queen. The Queen died 7 years after King Muryeong in 529 and was buried with the King.

[Tourist]
If the King and Queen were buried together does that mean the King was not buried until the Queen died?

[Narration]
No, that's not the case. The tomb was constructed after the King’s death. When the Queen died, the tomb was re-opened and she was laid in the tomb next to the King. However, neither the King nor Queen was buried immediately. They were buried 27 months after their deaths. We will talk about this later at another exhibit.

Nonetheless, the identities and dates of the death and burial of the King and Queen were ascertained by these steles. This is another reason why the Royal Tomb of King Muryeong was a valuable discovery.