Goryeo › The Legend of Sargon of Akkad » Origins and History
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- Goryeo › Ancient History
- The Legend of Sargon of Akkad › Antique Origins
Ancient civilizations › Historical places, and their characters
Goryeo › Ancient History
Definition and Origins
Goryeo (Koryo) ruled ancient Korea from 918 CE to 1392 CE. The kingdom oversaw an unprecedented flourishing in culture and arts with developments in architecture, ceramics, printing, and papermaking. The kingdom was repeatedly invaded by the Mongols in the 13th century CE and thereafter became less independent and more culturally influenced by their northern neighbours. Korean independence was re-established under the Joseon (Choson) dynasty from 1392 CE. Kuryo is the origin of modern Korea's English name.
THE FALL OF SILLA
The Unified Silla Kingdom (668- 935 CE) had held sway over the Korean peninsula for three centuries, but the state was in a slow decline. The rigidity of its class structure, based on the bone rank system, meant that few could rise above the position of their birth and ideas and innovation were stifled. The aristocracy began to resent the power of the king, landowners resisted centralised control, and the peasantry grew more and more rebellious over the incessant taxes levied upon them. The state was falling apart from within.
The period of political turmoil which followed is referred to as the Later Three Kingdoms period (889-935). Gyeon Hwon (Kyon Hwon), a peasant leader, took advantage of the political unrest in 892 CE and formed a revival of the old Baekjekingdom in the south-west portion of the peninsula. Meanwhile, an aristocratic Buddhist monk leader, Gung Ye (Kungye), declared a new Goguryeo state in the north in 901 CE, known as Later Goguryeo. There then followed a power struggle for control of the peninsula. Kyon Hwon attacked Gyeongju, the Silla capital in 927 CE while Gung Ye's unpopular and fanatical tyranny led to his death at the hands of his people. He was succeeded by his first minister, the able Wang Geon ( Wang Kon), in 918 CE who attacked Later Baekje, now beset by leadership in-fighting, and then Silla. The last Silla king, Kyongsun, surrendered in 935 CE and left Wang Kon to unify the country once again but under a new name, Goryeo.
WANG KON DECLARED HIMSELF KING & FOR HIS CONTRIBUTION TO CREATING THE NEW STATE OF GORYEO HE WAS GIVEN THE POSTHUMOUS TITLE OF KING TAEJO OR 'GREAT FOUNDER.'
A UNIFIED KOREA
Wang Kon was eager to rekindle the former glories of the Goguryeo ( Koguryo ) state, which had thrived during the Three Kingdoms period (37 BCE – 668 CE), and perhaps for this reason selected the northern city of Songdo (Modern Kaesong) as his new capital. Wang Kon declared himself king and for his contribution to creating the new state he was given the posthumous title of King Taejo or 'Great Founder.' However, Taejo's kingdom was far from secure and the Khitan (Qidan) tribes in the north proved stubbornly resistant to Goryeo's expansionist policies of the late 10th and early 11th century CE.Indeed, the Khitan counter-attacked twice and briefly took Songdo. A third battle in 1033 CE finally saw Goryeo victorious, and a defensive wall was built stretching right across the northern Korea border. This wall became especially useful when the Jin dynasty overran the old Khitan territories in the first quarter of the 12th century CE.
GOVERNMENT & CLASS SYSTEM
The Goryeo system of government was much like previous Korean kingdoms with a centralised government presided over by a monarch who might consult a small council of senior administrators. The civil administration was dominated by an expanded but still exclusive aristocracy ruling over a largely peasant populace with some skilled artisans producing manufactured goods such as ceramics, weapons, and art objects. Intermediary between these two levels were local magistrates (often large estate owners with their own private army) whose authority could be all-powerful in the districts where the centralised government was absent (perhaps 60% of districts remained semi-independent).
Map of the Goryeo Empire (11th century CE)
At the bottom of the social ladder were slaves (prisoners of war, debtors, and criminals) who worked on the estates of the landed gentry or for the government on building projects such as fortifications. There was very little social mobility as any positions of significance and even entrance exams to those positions were strictly limited to those of a particular status decided by one's birth. Entrance to the state schools system (centralised in 992 CE) was also limited to those of a certain social rank.
In Goryeo, the female line was often as important as the male line, which meant that women were treated more favourably than in contemporary cultures such as China. Sometimes a husband moved into his wife's family home, women could divorce and keep custody of their children, and they could also inherit equally with their male siblings.
One significant change from previous regimes was that Goryeo made slavery hereditary with a reform in 1037 CE; any child was to inherit the status of the mother. Many landowners took it upon themselves to expand the scope of this edict and classify as slaves any child born to a slave father too. This greatly increased the number of slaves so that they eventually rose to around 30% of the total population.
RELATIONS WITH CHINA
Bronze Korean Coin, Goryeo Dynasty
Cultural ties were also strong with Chinese literature being very popular, and the state administration modelled on the Chinese approach with a civil service examination introduced in 958 CE and Confucian principles followed. The state religionwas Buddhism, which had been introduced from China centuries before and which continued to be endorsed by the king with many temples and monasteries being built. The Buddhist temple -monasteries, with their landed estates, royal patronage, and exemption from tax, became wealthy and the whole religious apparatus rivalled that of the state itself. Many such monasteries even had their own armed forces recruited from warrior-monks and the general populace. Buddhism was practised not only by the elite families, which often sent a son to study at a monastery and become a monk, but also by the lower classes too.
KOREA HAD LONG USED CHINESE CURRENCY, BUT GORYEO BEGAN TO MINT ITS OWN COINAGE FROM 996 CE.
One more example of the cultural ties with China is coinage. Korea had long used Chinese currency but began to mint its own coinage from 996 CE. These coins imitated those of the earlier Chinese Tang dynasty (618 – 907 CE) and were made of iron and copper. Even the 'heavy coin of the Qianyuan period' inscription was translated from the Chinese Qianyuan zhongbao ) to the Korean Konwonchungbo. The Goryeo mint did add an identifying mark such as 'Eastern kingdom' ( Tongkuk ) on the reverse side of their coins. As with Chinese coins, the Korean coins had a square central hole. An alternative to coins was the unbyong (aka hwalgu ) silver vases which were made from 1101 CE. The vases took the shape of the Goryeo empire and were marked as legitimate currency by having the official state seal engraved on them.
PAPER, PRINTING & PAINTINGS
Buddhism was directly responsible for the development of printing for it was to spread Buddhist literature that woodblock printing improved and then movable metal type was invented in 1234 CE. Improved quality ink and hanji paper made from mulberry trees accompanied these developments, the latter gaining fame as the finest paper in the world. The period also saw an interest in documenting the history of the country with the famous Samguk sagi ('History of the Three Kingdoms') written in 1145 CE by Kim Pu-sik. Drawing extensively on earlier sources now lost, it is the single most important historical text on ancient Korea.
Buddhist Illuminated Manuscript, Goryeo Period
Another Buddhist contribution to the arts is illuminated manuscripts. These sagyong are usually of texts from the sutras (sermons) attributed to Buddha and formed scrolls and folded books. They were written by monk-scribes on indigo hanji paper using bright dyes and sometimes even silver and gold. Buddhist monks also painted frescoes and silk wall hangings to decorate temples with bodhisattvas and water-flowers being the most popular subjects. Non-religious paintings of this period have not survived so well but were popular at the time, especially the specialised art form of fan-painting. It is known that painting was not merely done by professional artists but also as a hobby by those with the leisure time and means to pursue it.
GORYEO SCULPTURE
Goryeo's sculptors used a variety of mediums including marble, stone, terracotta, and metal. Figures of Buddha as Maitreya (the coming Buddha) were popular and some are massive such as the 17.4 metre (57 ft.) high one at Paju and the 18.4 metre (59.3 ft.) tall figure at the Kwanchok temple in Nonsan which were both carved out of natural boulders in the 11th century CE.Many figures wear unique tall hats and this may represent a link with shamanism, long practised in ancient Korea. Standing figures of soldiers or officials were commonly placed in pairs outside tombs, as per the China model. In the second half of the period, sculptures are mostly small-scale and made with gilt-bronze.
Another area of metalwork was the production of bells for Buddhist temples. Smaller than the giant bells made by the earlier Unified Silla kingdom, Goryeo bells can still be up to 1.7 metres tall and were cast in bronze and decorated with dragons and heavenly figures amongst others. One unique feature is the lotus medallion cast at the point where the bell was struck. Bells must not have been too popular with the local populace as they were often compelled by monasteries and temples to 'donate' bronze goods so that they could be melted down and recast. Handbells, temple gongs, incense burners, and vases were also cast in bronze and sometimes embellished with very fine silver and gold inlay.
Maebyeong Celadon Vase, Goryeo Dynasty
GORYEO CERAMICS
Goryeo potters produced unglazed stoneware and white porcelain, but their most celebrated creation is celadon ware. The latter, also known as greenware because of its pale green colour, has a smooth glaze and pieces typically have fine inlaid designs ( sanggam ), especially Buddhist motifs such as the lotus flower, cranes, and clouds. Celadons were first introduced into Korea from China during the 9th century CE, but Korean potters became so skilled at their manufacture that their wares were exported back to China and, even today, Korean celadons are amongst the most prized ceramics in the world. All manner of items were made from incense burners to ink stands to roof tiles, but the most quintessential shape is the tall elegant jar with bulbous neck known as a maebyeong.
GORYEO ARCHITECTURE
Muryangsujeon, Buseoksa, Korea
The best-preserved tomb from the Goryeo period, located near Kaesong, is that of king Kongmin (r. 1330-1374 CE) and his Mongolian wife Noguk. The two mounds of the tomb have stone balustrades with statues of tigers and sheep, which represent yin and yang. Within the mound are two stone chambers decorated with wall-paintings and constellations on the ceilings.11th and 12th century CE tombs are also to be found at Kaesong and are similarly decorated, the animal zodiac occurring in several as it does in Kongmin's tomb. Many Goryeo tombs contained slate coffins which were decorated with relief carvings of the four animals of the cardinal directions.
MONGOL INVASIONS
The years of relative peace in the 12th and 13th centuries CE allowed for a flourishing of the arts, but it also resulted in a steadily increasing decadence among the ruling elite, corruption, and social unrest. A significant rebellion led by the king's father-in-law Yi Chagyom in 1126 CE and another by the monk Myochong in 1135 CE were quashed, but matters came to a head in the reign of king Uijong (1147-1170 CE) who was much criticised for building lavish palaces and water parks. There were, too, conflicts between the various sects of Buddhism and claims the king favoured the Kyo sect over the others. The military, with not much else to do and no status in higher society, staged a coup in 1170 CE. Uijong was replaced by his brother Myeongjong, but he only remained as a puppet sovereign. Decades of turbulent in-fighting between all levels of Goryeo society ensued with more coups, assassinations, and slave rebellions.
A new threat to Korea emerged in the early 13th century CE when the Mongol tribes, united by Genghis Khan (Chinggis), swept through China and conquered Beijing in 1215 CE. The crisis came in 1231 CE when the Mongols, now led by Ogedei Khan, invaded Korea, forcing Goryeo to move its capital to Kanghwa Island the following year. While the ruling elite was safely ensconced on their island, the rest of the Goryeo population had to face six Mongol invasions over the next three decades. By 1258 CE the people had had enough, and the military ruler was assassinated, the king reinstalled with full powers, and peace made with the Mongols. The price for the latter was an obligation to provide ships and materials for the (failed) Mongol invasions of Japan in 1274 and 1281 CE. Korea then became increasingly influenced by Mongol culture, princes were required to live as hostages in Beijing, and several kings married Mongolian princesses. Korea would have to wait another century to re-establish its independence when, in 1392 CE, the general Yi Song-gye formed the new state of Joseon.
This article was made possible with generous support from the British Korean Society.
The Legend of Sargon of Akkad › Antique Origins
Ancient Civilizations
Sargon of Akkad (also known as Sargon of Agade and Sargon the Great, reigned 2334 to 2279 BCE), the founder of the Akkadian Empire, was a man keenly aware of his times and the people he would rule over. While he was clearly a brilliant military leader, it was the story he told of his youth and rise to power that exerted a powerful influence over the Sumerians he sought to conquer. Instead of representing himself as a man chosen by the gods to rule, he presented a much humbler image of himself as an orphan set adrift in life who was taken in by a kind gardener and granted the love of the goddess Inanna. According to the cuneiform inscription known as The Legend of Sargon (his autobiography), he was born the illegitimate son of a "changeling", which could refer to a temple priestess of the goddess Inanna (whose clergy were androgynous) and never knew his father. His mother could not reveal her pregnancy or keep the child, and so she placed him in a basket which she then let go on the Euphrates River. She had sealed the basket with tar, and the water carried him safely to where he was later found by a man named Akki who was a gardener for Ur -Zababa, the king of the Sumerian city of Kish.In creating this legend, Sargon carefully distanced himself from the kings of the past (who claimed divine right) and aligned himself with the common people of the region rather than the ruling elite.
Birth of Sargon of Akkad
The Legend of Sargon is one of many works in the Mesopotamian literary genre known as naru literature. According to the scholar OR Gurney:
A naru was an engraved stele, on which a king would record the events of his reign; the characteristic features of such an inscription are a formal self-introduction of the writer by his name and titles, a narrative in the first person, and an epilogue usually consisting of curses upon any person who might in the future deface the monument and blessings upon those who should honour it. The so-called "naru literature" consists of a small group of apocryphal naru-inscriptions, composed probably in the early second millennium BC, but in the name of famous kings of a bygone age. A well-known example is the Legend of Sargon of Akkad. In these works the form of the naru is retained, but the matter is legendary or even fictitious (93).
Even though the extant legend was written long after Sargon's death, it is thought that it conveys the story Sargon would have presented regarding his birth, upbringing, and reign. Naru literature such as The Legend of Cutha (or derivatives from naru literature such as The Curse of Agade ) uses a well-known historical figure (in both cases Naram-Sin, Sargon's grandson) to make a point concerning the proper relationship between a human being (especially a king) and the gods. Other naru literature, such as The Great Revolt and the Legend of Sargon, seeks to tell a tale of a great king's military victory or life. In Sargon's case, it would have been to his benefit, as an aspiring conqueror and empire builder, to claim for himself a humble birth and modest upbringing.
At the time Sargon came to power in 2334 BCE, Sumer was a region which had only recently been united under the king of Umma, Lugalzagesi, and even then it was not a cohesive union. Prior to Lugalzagesi's conquest, Sumerian cities were frequently at war with each other, vying for resources such as water and land rights. Further complicating the situation was the discrepancy between the rich and the poor. The historian Susan Wise Bauer writes on this, commenting:
Sargon's relatively speedy conquest of the entire Mesopotamian plain is startling, given the inability of Sumerian kings to control any area much larger than two or three cities [but the Sumerians] were suffering from an increased gap between elite leadership and poor laborers. [The rich] used their combined religious and secular power to claim as much as three-quarters of the land in any given city for themselves. Sargon's relatively easy conquest of the area (not to mention his constant carping on his own non-aristocratic background) may reveal a successful appeal to the downtrodden members of Sumerian society to come over to his side (99).
By presenting himself as a "man of the people", he was able to garner support for his cause and took Sumer with relative ease. Once the south of Mesopotamia was under his control, he then went on to create the first multi-national empire in history. That his reign was not always popular, once he was securely in power, is attested to by the number of revolts he was forced to deal with as described in his inscriptions. Early on, however, his appeal would have been great to people who were tired of the wealthy living as they pleased at the expense of the working lower class. The class system in Sumer was fairly rigid, with only a very few enjoying lives of leisure, and the majority doing all the work which allowed the cities to function. In this kind of social situation, a contender for rule who was the child of a single mother, abandoned, and taken in by a gardener, would have won the approval of the people far more than any of the elite who then ruled the cities.
The following translation of the legend comes from JB Pritchard's The Ancient Near East, Volume I, pages 85-86. It reads:
Sargon, the mighty king, king of Agade, am I.
My mother was a changeling, my father I knew not.
The brother(s) of my father loved the hills.
My city is Azupiranu, which is situated on the banks of the Euphrates.
My changeling mother conceived me, in secret she bore me.
She set me in a basket of rushes, with bitumen she sealed
My lid.
She cast me into the river which rose not (over) me,
The river bore me up and carried me to Akki, the
drawer of water.
Akki, the drawer of water lifted me out as he dipped his
e[w]er.
Akki, the drawer of water, [took me] as his son
(and) reared me.
Akki, the drawer of water, appointed me as his gardener,
While I was a gardener, Ishtar granted me (her) love,
And for four and [... ] years I exercised kingship,
The black-headed [people] I ruled, I gov[erned];
Mighty [moun]tains with chip-axes of bronze I con-
quered,
The upper ranges I scaled,
The lower ranges I [trav]ersed,
The sea [lan]ds three times I circled.
Dilmun my [hand] cap[tured],
[To] the great Der I [went up], I [... ],
[... ] I altered and [...].
Whatever king may come up after me,
[...]
Let him r[ule, let him govern] the black-headed
[peo]ple;
[Let him conquer] mighty [mountains] with chip-axe[s
of bronze],
[Let] him scale the upper ranges,
[Let him traverse the lower ranges],
Let him circle the sea [lan]ds three times!
[Dilmun let his hand capture],
Let him go up [to] the great Der and [... ]!
[...] from my city, Aga[de... ]
[... ]... [...].
The inscription was discovered in the Assyrian city of Nineveh in 1867 CE by the archeologist Sir Henry Rawlinson who was excavating the site. Rawlinson is famous for many important discoveries throughout Mesopotamia but perhaps most for uncovering the library of Ashurbanipal at Nineveh. The Legend of Sargon was part of that library and was a copy of a much earlier text. This, of course, indicates the story was still being read in the 7th century BCE, almost 2,000 years after Sargon's reign. The great king is carefully presented in the first twelve lines as the child cast off by his mother, who finds a home with Akki the gardener, and is loved by the goddess Ishtar. Once Ishtar and her favor is established in line 12, the narrator moves instantly to, "And for four years I exercised kingship" in line 13 and then devotes the rest of the piece to his exploits as ruler. To the people of ancient Mesopotamia, this would have inspired much in the same way that a "poor boy makes good" tale does in the present day. Sargon not only boasted about what he was able to accomplish as king, but told the people of his very humble beginnings, and how it was through the kindness of a stranger and the grace of a goddess that he was able to achieve his great triumphs.
There is no way of knowing whether any of what Sargon says about his early life in the inscription is true; that is precisely the point of it. Whoever Sargon was, and wherever he came from, is obscured by the legend - which is the only known work giving his biography. "Sargon" is not even his actual name but a throne name he chose for himself which means "Legitimate King", and although inscriptions and his name would indicate he was a Semite, there is no way of knowing even that for certain. He claims his home city is Azupiranu, but such a city is mentioned in no other extant texts and is thought to never have existed."Azupiranu" means "city of saffron" and, since saffron was a valuable commodity in healing as well as in other applications, he was perhaps simply linking himself to the concept of value or worth. The repetition of the image of Sargon being rescued from the river by a "drawer of water" would also have had symbolic resonance for an ancient Mesopotamian audience, in that water was considered a transformative agent.
The means by which a person accused of a crime was found guilty or innocent was known as the Ordeal, in which the accused was thrown into the river or leaped in and, if they were able to survive the ordeal, they were innocent; if not, the river had given judgment of their guilt. Further, the afterlife in Mesopotamian belief was separated from the land of the living by a river, and the deceased left their earthly life behind as they crossed over. His journey, then, from his home city, via the Euphrates River, to his destiny with the "drawer of water" would have symbolized transformation and also his worthiness, in that he had survived his own ordeal as an infant. The legend replaced whatever biographical truth there may have been and, in time, became the truth. This seems to have been the effect of much of the naru literature. The myth, in time, became the reality. Regarding this, the scholar Gerdien Jonker writes:
It should be made clear that the ancient writers were not aiming to deceive with their literary creations. The literature inspired by the naru formed an excellent medium with which, by departing from traditional forms, a new social "image" of the past could be created (95).
This is not to say that the legend could not be completely factual. Perhaps the child was abandoned by his mother in the river, floated downstream to be found by the gardener, was granted the love of a goddess, and rose to become the most powerful man in Mesopotamia through her grace and his own character. As there is no conflicting story to compare it to, it must be accepted as his accurate account of his life or, at least, the version he wanted future generations to remember. To some modern readers, of course, it may sound implausible but, to others who accept the re-working of Sargon's early life story in the tale of Moses from the Book of Exodus, it would not be. People around the world in the present day accept the story of Moses and the bullrushes and the Egyptian Princess as complete truth, and this is how Sargon's legend would have been received by the people of ancient Mesopotamia. It certainly did not hurt his cause, however, to be known as the orphaned son of a priestess instead of privileged heir to a throne.
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