'There is no limit to my sorrow. I just cannot live without you': Anguished love letter buried with 445-year-old mummy and written by the pregnant wife he left behind



The mummy is that of Eung-tae, who was tall, probably handsome and a member of Korea's ancient Goseong Yi clan

Written in old Latin, the letter is addressed to ‘Won’s father’ and was found with a bundle of 12 others in the tomb with a pair of hair slippers



The male mummy was unearthed in Andong City, South Korea, and the letter has inspired an opera and numerous novels

A moving love letter found placed on top of the mummified body of a man has revealed the grief of his pregnant wife 445 years ago.



The male mummy was unearthed in Andong City, South Korea, along with 13 letters addressed to a man called Eung-tae, who is presumed to be in the tomb.



One of the letters is particularly touching as it is written by the dead man’s grief-stricken wife, who was pregnant with his child.

Scroll down to read a translated version of the letter

A moving love letter (pictured) found placed on top of the mummified body of a man, has revealed the grief of his pregnant wife, 445 years ago

The letter, which was discovered and translated in 2000, reveals the woman’s sense of loss and sorrow.



The letter is addressed to ‘Won’s father’ Eung-tae, whose mummy measures 5 feet and 9 inches and was found with a bundle of 12 others in the tomb.



The letter was found on the mummy’s chest, where his partner must have placed it and asked him to ‘look closely at this letter and come to me in my dreams and show yourself in detail’.



She also asks Eung-tae why he left her and their baby and confesses that she is not sure how she will be able to live without him.



She wrote: ‘I just cannot live without you. I just want to go to you. Please take me to where you are. My feelings toward you I cannot forget in this world and my sorrow knows no limit.’



Scientists have said the letter dates to 1568, and although its author is anonymous, a little more is known about her partner.



The full transcript of the heartbreaking poem written in 1586

The said Eung-tae is thought to have been a member of Korea's ancient Goseong Yi clan.



He was taller than most Korean men at the time and the mummy’s skin and beard are well preserved, which indicate he was quite dashing in his day.



Se-kwon Yim, former director of the Andong National University Museum told the Archaeology journal and one of the first people to see the mummy, said: ‘The dark moustache made me feel that he must have had a charming appearance.’

A pair of slippers woven from the woman’s hair and wrapped in a delicate paper parcel were also found next to the mummy’s head in the tomb.



His partner also wrote on the package, saying: ‘with my hair I weave this […] before you were even able to wear it’.

The letter was found on the mummy's chest, where his wife must have placed it and asked her partner to 'look closely at this letter and come to me in my dreams and show yourself in detail'. Here, archaeologists in Andong City in 2,000, unwrap cloth covering the 16th-century mummy of Eung-tae

WHAT IS KNOWN ABOUT EUNG-TAE?

Eung-tae died 445 years ago and was buried in Andong City, South Korea.



He is thought to have been a member of Korea's ancient Goseong Yi clan, a group indigenous to the area.



According to the letter, Eung-tae was about to become a father.

He was taller than most Korean men at the time and his mummy measures 5 feet and 9 inches.

Thanks to his well-preserved body, archaeologists know he had a dark beard and probably a 'charming appearance'.

The age at which Eung-tae died and the reason for his death remains unknown.



While slippers made of hair might seem unusual to people living in the west, they reoccur in Korean literature as a symbol of love and hope for recovery from an illness.

Chris Scarre, head of archaeology department at the University of Durham, told International Business Times that the body, letters and slippers were so well preserved as some burials were sealed in concrete, which preserves organic materials exceptionally well.



Archaeologists reportedly broken open a hardened earth shell of the tomb, a little like concrete, to expose the wooden coffin with the mummy inside, which was hidden beneath some clothes.



He said: ‘As well as studying changes in rank and ideology, archaeologists who investigate tombs are often moved to wonder about the character of the deceased, the thoughts of the mourners and their hopes and fears on the passing of a person dear to them. In this extraordinary burial from Korea, we hear these voices directly.’

