Tomb of Wirkak

Tomb of Wirkak
The tomb of Wirkak (roof reconstructed), Xi'an City Museum.[1]
Created580 CE
Xi'an is located in Continental Asia
Xi'an
Xi'an
Xi'an is located in China
Xi'an
Xi'an
Sogdian tombs in China
Anyang funerary bed550–577 CE
Tomb of Kang Ye571 CE
Miho funerary couchc. 570 CE
Tomb of An Jia579 CE
Tomb of Wirkak580 CE
Tomb of An Bei589 CE
Tomb of Yu Hong592 CE
Kooros couch557–618 CE
Tianshui tomb581–624 CE

The Tomb of Wirkak (Sogdian: wyrkʾk), in Chinese commonly referred to as Tomb of Master Shi (Chinese: 史君墓; pinyin: Shǐ Jūn Mù; Wade–Giles: Shih3-Chün1 Mu4), is the grave of the Sogdian Sabao (Chinese: 薩保, "Protector, Guardian", derived from the Sogdian word s’rtp’w, "caravan leader") Wirkak and his wife Wiyusi, dating from 580 AD (Northern Zhou dynasty). The tomb was discovered in 2003 in the east of Jingshang village in Daminggong township, Weiyang District, Xi'an, and excavated between June and October in the same year.[2] It is especially significant for the rich content of the reliefs on the stone structure contained in the tomb and a bilingual epitaph.[3] Sogdian tombs in China are among the most lavish of the period in this country, and are only slightly inferior to Imperial tombs, suggesting that the Sogdian Sabao were among the wealthiest members of the population.[4]

  1. ^ Li, Yusheng (2016). "STUDY OF TOMBS OF HU PEOPLE IN LATE 6TH CENTURY NORTHERN CHINA". Newsletter di Archeologia. 7: 125, Fig.17.
  2. ^ "Ancient Tombs of Laowai Found". china.org.cn. 2005. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  3. ^ Dien, Albert E. (2003). "Observations Concerning the Tomb of Master Shi". Bulletin of the Asia Institute. 17: 105–115. JSTOR 24049308.
  4. ^ GRENET, Frantz (2020). Histoire et cultures de l'Asie centrale préislamique. Paris, France: Collège de France. p. 320. ISBN 978-2-7226-0516-9. Ce sont les décors funéraires les plus riches de cette époque, venant juste après ceux de la famille impériale; il est probable que les sabao étaient parmi les éléments les plus fortunés de la population.