Gyeongju — City of the Ancient KingsKorean Shamanic Mythology

Gyeongju was the capital of the Silla Kingdom (57 BCE-935 CE), one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, and the unified Silla dynasty that ruled most of the peninsula from 668 to 935 CE. The founding myth of Silla describes how the elders of six clans gathered to pray for a king. A strange light descended from the sky to a well called Najeong, and from a large egg, a beautiful boy emerged. He was named Bak Hyeokgeose and became Silla's first king. His queen, Aryeong, was born from the side of a dragon beside another well.

The egg-birth motif connects Silla's founding mythology to a broader Northeast Asian tradition of divine rulers born from eggs — Jumong, founder of Goguryeo, was also egg-born, as was the legendary ancestor of the Manchu people. These myths encode the idea that legitimate rulers come from outside the ordinary human order — they are heaven-sent, marked by miraculous origin.

The golden crowns discovered in Silla royal tombs feature upright tree-shaped projections and hanging jade ornaments that scholars interpret as representations of the World Tree (similar to Yggdrasil in Norse mythology) — a shamanic cosmic axis connecting the underworld, middle world, and heaven. The king, wearing this crown, was literally wearing the universe.

Gyeongju is a city of approximately 260,000 people in southeastern South Korea, about 55 miles from Busan. The modern city is built among and around the ruins of the Silla capital. Large grass-covered burial mounds (tumuli) rise directly from the city center — Daereungwon Tomb Complex alone contains 23 royal tombs.

The Bulguksa Temple and Seokguram Grotto (both UNESCO World Heritage Sites) on the slopes of nearby Tohamsan mountain are masterpieces of Silla Buddhist art. The Cheomseongdae observatory (built c. 634 CE) is the oldest surviving astronomical observatory in East Asia. Anapji Pond (Wolji) — a royal garden pond — has been partially restored. The Gyeongju National Museum houses the spectacular Silla gold crowns and other tomb finds.

Silla was founded traditionally in 57 BCE and grew from a small city-state to a kingdom that unified most of the Korean peninsula in 668 CE. During its golden age (7th-9th centuries), Gyeongju was one of the largest cities in the world, with an estimated population of over one million. The Samguk Yusa (Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms), compiled by the Buddhist monk Iryeon in the 13th century, preserves the founding myths and legends of the Silla kingdom.

Archaeological excavation of the royal tombs, beginning with the Cheonmachong (Heavenly Horse Tomb) in 1973, revealed spectacular grave goods: gold crowns, gold belts, glass vessels from the Silk Road, and the famous painting of a flying horse on a birch-bark saddle flap. The tombs' construction — wooden chambers covered by stone cairns and earthen mounds — preserved these treasures for over a millennium.