Silla and El Dorado, what do they have in common?

In Republic of Korea, the city of Gyeongju―the modern-day location of what used to be the capital of Silla Kingdom―was anciently referred to as the City of Gold (or Geumseong in Korean). The ancient kingdom gained this reputation for the renown five golden crowns which were excavated from different royal tombs in the region. These crowns are also known as the Gold and Jade crowns of Silla. Their design itself demonstrates cultural interactions between the Korean peninsula and the Eurasian steppe and artistic influence from the gold crowns found in other regions such as the Black Sea, Bactria (a province of the Persian Empire), and China. Moreover, the diadems fitted up tall, upright antlers and tere-like formations also reflect a link with Scytho-Siberian shamanism. The pendants of twisted gold wire decorated with crescent-shaped pendants of jade that decorate the diadem symbolize new life. Lastly, the fragile construction of these crowns has led many scholars to assert that they were specifically created for burial. Not only were these five gold crowns unearthed and preserved, but other artifacts such as earrings, caps, ornaments, and even girdles produced in gold metal serve as a testament to the richness and splendor of craftsmaking during the Golden Silla. Although the majority of the golden artifacts that scholars have studied to this day from Silla Kingdom were created with the purpose of adorning the dead, the wear and tear on some of the other pieces suggest that they were actually used during the living life of the tombs’ occupants.

 

Much like the grandiose golden works of the Silla Kingdom, similar spectacular artifacts from pre-Columbian, native indigenous civilizations were preserved from regions all across Colombia. The most representative of these works is the ‘Balsa muisca,’ (600 – 1600 AD) an ancient artwork, which tells the legend of El Dorado. There are different versions of this legend, however the most renowned one is about the offerings of gold that the muiscas would give to their gods in the lake of Guatavita. According to the legend, everytime a new leader of the Muisca was appointed to the throne, they would hold a ritual which consisted in decorating the entire naked body of the new leader in pure gold. Then, the future leader would set off on a raft full of gold and jewel offerings until the center of the lake. Once they arrived at the center, the leader would dive into the lake waters with all of the offerings to ask the gods for a session of good harvest.

 

The legend of El Dorado was born from this ritual ceremony. When the Spaniards first heard about the stories of a leader who would dive into water covered from head to toe in gold and jewels, they could only imagine what kind of gold city existed, and they were shocked at the way in which such treasures of gold were “wasted.” For this same reason, the Spaniards attempted to drain Lake Guatavita in 1545―the location where the legend was said to take place. Although gold was immensely valuable to the Muiscas, it didn’t have the same monetary value that it did for the Spaniards. Apart from the legend itself, regions all across Colombia were discovered to have artifacts of gold such as masks and emblems that mixed natural and wildlife elements with tribal art designs―many of which are exhibited in the Museum of Gold in Bogota, Colombia.

 

(A special thank you to my good friend and proud ambassador of Colombian culture, Kimberly Jiménez Hernández, for helping me piece this entry together.)

 

Written by: Luisa Ramirez Montoya

Originally from Medellin, Colombia. Current 4th-Year Undergraduate International Student at Sogang University pursuing a B.A. in Political Science and International Affairs. Intern at VANK (Voluntary Agency Network of Korea)