Posted on 03/31/2004 7:24:50 AM PST by TigerLikesRooster
Surprising Discoveries in Silla's Royal Tomb No. 98 (including Greco-Roman artifacts)
King Nae-Mool(birth/death: unknown/402 AD) and his queen's royal tomb in Dae-Roong-Won, Kyong-ju, S. Korea was excavated in 1973-75 to yield some truly unexpected findings later. Many artifacts were quite different from those known to be produced in Korea or China. Exotic designs and materials abound. Further research established that these artifacts originated from Central Asia, Black Sea, Caucasus, Persia and Eastern Mediterranean. This is quite far away from the South Eastern tip of Korean Peninsula, where this ancient Kingdom, Silla, located. The last of 5 short videos below shows how artifacts found in Silla's royal tombs match up with the ones found in these far-away areas.
(my note: Many scholars now advance a hypothesis that nomadic tribes around Tien-shan Mountains(N.W. China, next to Central Asia) started migrating out in the 3rd century AD, due to a weather-related disaster. These people were under the Scythian cultural influence, which was, in turn, heavily traded with Greco-Roman culture. Some went West, others went South, and still others went East. Part of those who migrated East ended up in S.E. Korea, while some of them even went further and reached Japan around 400 AD. Some speculate that they maintained the trade links with the West even after they settled down in S.E. Korea, even though they cannot yet pinpoint with confidence the trade route these people could have used.)
(Click the start button on the left to view the video) Artifacts found inside the tomb. A silver vessel, a gold-plated bracelet, many glasswares. They were only found in the Kyong-ju area of Korea. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
(Click the start button on the left to view the video ) The golden crown found inside the tomb. Such a crown was not used in other parts of Korea and China at the time. Unfolded, we can see that the crown has three tree shapes in the middle and two deer antler shapes on each side. What is the significance of such a design? The next two video answers the question. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
(Click the start button on the left to view the video) The video from the turn of the century shows a Siberian shaman conducting his ritual. A tree is an important part of his ritual. A tree is a passage way to bring Shaman's soul to the heaven and commune with god and back to earth carrying god's messages. The trees in the crown have a religious significance. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
(Click the start button on the left to view the video) Deers were important food source for people in Eurasian steppes. Naturally, it was also the object of religious worship. Hence, deer antlers also have a religious significance. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
(Click the start button on the left to view the video) The Altaic shaman mask at the start of the video has three trees on its head but no deer antlers. However, the combination of trees and deers does show up in a Scythian golden crown. The video shows the Eremitazhu Museum in Russia(?). It has many Scythian golden artifacts, including a golden crown which has one tree in the middle, two deers on each side(, and extra figure on the right side.) Short comments from a Russian scholar follow. After that, more Scythian golden artifacts are shown, starting with a golden comb. For the last 40% of the video, it shows the surprising match between artifacts found around the Steppe Road which Scythians used and the ones found in Silla's ancient tombs in S. E. Korea. The table below serves as the annotation of the video clip.
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Hindu and Celtic Culture Are One
One of the hallmarks of Celtic culture is the use of the sacred Ogham (pronounced Oh-wum) alphabet by the Druuids, who are Celtic Brahmins. Many scholars believe that Ogham was only used by the Irish, and not by other Celts. However, this is clearly disproved by many Ogham inscriptions appearing in different places, including France, Iberia (Spain and Portugal), the Danube valley, and the Tocharian regioins. Furthermore, inscriptions of Ogham have been found in ancient sites in Japan, some of them megalithic. One Japanese scholar who studies these inscriptions and the sites they are found in believes that the inscriptions indicate that some of the Buddhist monks who brought Buddhism to Japan were Tocharians, or had maintained the use of the sacred writing system of the Tocharians.
Weren't you mentioning a 25k date last night for the Venus figurines and other art artifacts that had wide spread similarities?
This is not out of line with Victor Mair's thinking.
Yes, for the earliest known examples. But I should mention that Venus figurines of various styles appear all the way down into the Iron Age in some places (for example Syria-Palestine--Biblical Archaeological Review has run some articles on this), so there would have to be additional information to pinpoint a date for a given figurine. One thing I find interesting is that Venus figurines appear in the Indus Valley civilization towards the end of the 2nd millennium BC, which seems like it could potentially link with the Silk Road trade at that time. . .
BTW, here's something completely different I just found:
The skeletal remains from southern China are predominately negroid.(Chang 1964, p.70)
The so-called Mahayana Buddhism spread out to Central Asia first from India as far as I know. Principal inhabitants of Central Asia at the time were Caucasians. From there, it spread to Steppe nomads in the East. All barbarian dynasties in N. China after 304 AD adopted Buddhism this way. I agree that Tocharian scripts could be used for Buddhist literatures among these societies. These Northern dynasties sent missionaries to further East and South. That is how all ancient Korean kingdoms got their Buddhism, even though there is no known reference to Tocharian scripts in Korea up to now.
In China, Buddhism started to overshadow Confucianism as a state ideology. China was on the verge of civilizational collapse. Chinese population plummeted from the peak of 100 million in the late Han dynasty to mere 8 million by the time the barbarian dynasties establish themselves, according to a recent research on the historical demographic change in China. Expanding northern dynasties also brought in new cultural elements from the West and the Central Asia. China was on the defensive on both demographic and cultural front. It took China 300 years to reconstitute herself, absorbing truly diverse ethnic groups and culture from all directions, leading to the rise of Tang dynasty which was quite international in its character. It is also principally a Buddhist dynasty.
Thanks, I've seen this before. Negroids also turn up everywhere. I will caution you to take articles by Clyde Winters with a grain of salt though.
I kinda figured a grain of salt was in order there :) That's one reason in my excerpt I included the Chang source he cites--I want to see if I can get ahold of that and see where he's getting that from. It does get me wondering about the Negroid features found in places like Melanesia, though.
Daoism you refer to is quite different from Daoism of Lao-tze and Chiang-tze. The former has the definite concept of heaven and god while the latter is devoted to the ever-elusive way of nature, Dao. No deities, nor heaven nor hell.
I did not know that it was inspired by Manicheism.
There is also a religious idea spread in both directions, this time, from India. The concept of vampire was said to have originated in India. It spread to the West, resulting in all these familiar Balkan vampire myths. It also spread to the East. Chinese folklores feature a "walking dead", pale as a corpse and with blood dripping from its mouth, never allowed to die and take the final rest.
I am very interested in the information on vampire traditions you mention. Believe it or not I am writing a vampire novel on the side, which is one reason I do the historical research I am. My story involves a vampire-worshipping cult with a branch in India, which as you may know is also where the Rom ("Gypsies") of the Balkans are believed to originate; I'm planning to tie some Indian and Balkan traditions together in that way. I'd be interested in any more information or references you have on Asian vampire traditions and their parallels with Balkan traditions. Here is one site I've found useful:
I am interested in the Far East and Southeast Asia because we live there about 7-8 months out of the year (my wife is Thai though now a USA citizen and educated at Univ of Arizona). I am really very much a novice but many years ago, a friend was doing salvage work for the U of A along a proposed natural gas pipeline (near Oracle, AZ) and I was lucky enough to be able to help her on my days off -- that got me started).
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Interesting. Not surprising. I know Koreans had contact with many other people. Koreans are the this one pure ethnic group that we are raised into thinking. It is possible Korea in the past was a multi-ethnic society that merged together to become the Koreans we know today. Korea before the Tungus tribe came was possibly inhabited by proto-Caucasian or Australonesian people. One thing I have noticed that some Koreans have red hair. I alway wondered how that happens.
Thanks, TigerLikesRooster. Here's a bttt:
China Unearths Ancient Caucasian Tombs
The Australian/AFP ^ | 10-25-2004
Posted on 10/24/2004 12:43:53 PM PDT by blam
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1255447/posts
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