Tomb with murals dating back to Koryo period unearthed
October 5, 2026A new tomb with murals dating back to the Koryo period (918-1392) has been found in the township area of Jangphung County, Kaesong Municipality.
A research group of the History Faculty of
The tomb is composed of a stone coffin laid 1.5m deep from the earth surface and such outer setups as stone-stair and protection walls. The floor of the tomb is well compacted with weathered gneiss and its east, west and south walls are put up with trimmed granite pieces. Its north wall is composed of a black plain rock with the records on the deceased's career and family inscribed.
The stone coffin is covered with a lid stone 150cm long, 140cm wide and 35cm thick.
The murals on the east and west walls are landscapes in ink depicting the scenery of surrounding area on smoothly trimmed granite slabs.
The picture on the south wall shows two warriors standing guard in the front gate.
Inscribed on the north wall made of black slate are more than 1 000 letters in 42 rows, 27 characters in one row. The letters explain that the dead was a military officer in the first half of the 11th century and he was conferred honours of chief captain posthumously.
This tomb is of high academic significance.
There are not many tombs with murals of Koryo, including royal mausoleums, which have been discovered so far, but it was the first time to discover such murals of the recently unearthed tomb realistically reflecting the beautiful scenery, especially the actual landscape.
In addition, a great deal of monumental inscription was unearthed, making it possible to study at a new stage the history and culture of the Koryo period.
The inscription on the tomb carries data helpful to elucidating the political, economic, cultural and military fields of Koryo from the late 10th century to the first half of the 11th century.
The tomb murals have many things in common with those dating back to Koguryo (277 BC-AD 668) in content and painting.
KCNA