Expansion of Baekje

[Narration]
What you see in front of you is a sword with a round pommel and a gourd-shaped jar. They were discovered in an ancient tomb in Gongju that dates back to around the early or mid 3rd century.

[Tourist]
The sword with the round pommel looks similar to the one found in the Royal Tomb of King Muryeong. I assume that these were also found in the tombs of other Baekje kings?

[Narration]
No. They were excavated from tombs of ancient peoples that existed before the Baekje kingdom.

[Tourist]
Do you mean that there were countries other than Baekje?

[Narration]
Yes. There were a lot of small countries on the Korean Peninsula. I suppose you could compare them with the polities, or city-states of Greece. These small countries would develop alliances among themselves or engage in conflicts. It was through this sequence of alliances and conflicts that they were able to develop.

[Tourist]
The vessel looks very interesting. The people who made this vessel must have had a very unique culture.

[Narration]
Yes. The people from these small countries were believed to have gathered together at important times of the year such as spring, the sowing season: and fall, the harvest season. They danced and sang together all night while holding rituals and festivals. They had unique burial rituals involving digging ditches around the tombs. After Baekje conquered these small countries, these unique burial rituals disappeared. Unfortunately, the small countries were lost, and only the swords with round pommels and their unique earthenware are left to tell us of their beautiful past.