Valley of the Kings (Tibet)

Valley of the Kings
Riwo Dechen monastery, Qonggyai, near the Valley of Kings
Map showing location in Tibet
Map showing location in Tibet
Shown within Tibet
Alternative nameChongye Valley
LocationQonggyai County, Shannan, Tibet
Coordinates29°0′36″N 91°40′48″E / 29.01000°N 91.68000°E / 29.01000; 91.68000
Typevalley
History
CulturesTibetan Empire

The Valley of the Kings (Tibetan: བོད་རྗེ་པང་སོ, Wylie: bod rje bang so; Chinese: 藏王墓; pinyin: Zàngwáng Mù) or Chongye Valley branches off the Yarlung Valley to the southwest and contains a series of graveyard tumuli, approximately 27 kilometres (17 mi) south of Tsetang, Tibet, near the town of Qonggyai on Mure Mountain in Qonggyai County of the Shannan Prefecture.

The site has eight large mounds of earth resembling natural hills that are believed to contain eight to ten buried Tibetan kings.[1]

"According to Tibetan tradition all the kings from Dri-gum onwards are buried at ‘Phyong-rgyas, but as the site now presents itself, there are just ten tumuli identifiable as the tombs of all the kings from Srong-brtsan-sgam-po to Khri-lde-srong-brtsan, including two princes . . . ."[2]

Other sources, however, have indicated that there are actually nine mounds rather than eight or ten.[3] The kings believed to be buried at the site include Songtsen Gampo (the founder of the Tibetan Empire), Nansong Mangsten, Tridu Songtsen, Gyangtsa Laban, Tride Tsugtsen, Trisong Detsen, Muni Tsangpo and Tritsu Detsen.[1][4][3]

  1. ^ a b Tibet:A Fascinating Look at the Roof of the World, Its People and Culture. Passport Books, Shangri-la Press, Chicago, United States. 1986. pp. 143–145.
  2. ^ Snellgrove and Richardson (1968), pp. 51-52.
  3. ^ a b "The Graveyard of Tibetan Kings". Travel China Guide. Retrieved September 8, 2009.
  4. ^ Stein (1972), pp. 201-202.

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