Bulguksa Temple Sakyamuni Pagoda: Reliquaries

SOUTH KOREA, North Gyeongsang, Gyeongju; Unified Silla dynasty

These reliquaries were recovered from the second tier of the Sakyamuni Pagoda at Bulguksa Temple in 1966. They were listed as National Treasure No. 126 in 1967.
The square reliquary container has a floral openwork design on all four sides. It has a gently sloping, square pyramidal roof with a lotus bud in the center. The oval reliquary is placed inside the reliquary container, and inside, there is a second green glass reliquary.
The reliquary container houses various items, such as a gilt copper alloy box and a silver vase. There is also a paper scroll of the Pure Light Dharani Sutra printed using woodblocks. The scroll is 6 cm long and 8 cm wide, with eight to nine characters per row; the characters were printed in a type of script that was not used after 751. Based on the paper and the script, it is thought that the scroll was printed during the mid-8th century, which would make it the oldest extant printed scroll in the world.