The spear on the elephant bone chair of the elephant king of the Central Highlands was stolen.

The chair made of white elephant bone of the elephant king of the Central Highlands, which had two spears placed on both sides, had one of them stolen - Photo: TAN LUC

On April 8, speaking with Tuoi Tre Online , a leader of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Gia Lai province said that the police are investigating the theft of some antiques at the Gia Lai Tay Nguyen Paradise exhibition space.

Camera records two young men stealing antiques from the Central Highlands elephant king's chair

The stolen artifacts included metal harpoons and an ancient jar.

According to the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Gia Lai province, the unit has received a report of the incident and is coordinating with relevant agencies to handle it.

It is known that the theft happened on the night of March 27. At that time, two young men sneaked into the elephant house and elephant bone chair display area and removed a spear from the elephant bone chair.

After the incident, the authorities inspected and discovered that in addition to the spear on the elephant bone chair, the exhibition area had also been stolen an ancient jar and two ancient spearheads.

Some ancient spearheads at the Xo Dang communal house exhibition area were also stolen - Photo: TAN LUC

This elephant bone chair is the highlight of the exhibition space, it is a unique artifact of the elephant king of the Central Highlands.

According to researcher Dang Minh Tam, the elephant bone chair is made of white elephant bone and is 700 years old. It is displayed with a collection of unique tools for hunting and taming wild elephants.

It is known that in December 2023, Gia Lai Provincial People's Committee coordinated with Viet Mot Company Limited and researcher Dang Minh Tam to deploy the exhibition space Tay Nguyen Paradise - Gia Lai. The exhibition space lasts for 1 year, located at Dai Doan Ket Square, Pleiku City.

Here, thousands of antiques were brought by collector Dang Minh Tam to display, introducing to the public the lifestyle and activities of the ethnic groups in the Central Highlands.

The artifacts include weaving tools, hunting crossbows, ethnic musical instruments, production and daily life tools, typical brocades of ethnic groups, wooden statue gardens, collections of ancient jars, buffalo skin drums, etc. and other artifacts in the lives of ethnic groups in the 5 Central Highlands provinces.

Speaking to reporters, collector Dang Minh Tam said that Pleiku City Police are currently providing maximum support in the investigation to quickly find clues and recover the artifacts.

According to Mr. Tam, many of these antiques were collected by him over 40 years.

Hunting and taming wild elephants is a traditional custom of many ethnic groups in the Central Highlands. Before hunting elephants, hunters hold a solemn ceremony to ask permission from the “elephant king”. The “king” will sit on a chair made of elephant bones to perform the ceremony and perform rituals to worship the gods. This chair consists of many large elephant bones woven from forest vines and decorated with harpoons and ropes to increase the bravery and solemnity of the ceremony.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/chiec-lao-tren-ghe-xuong-voi-cua-vua-voi-tay-nguyen-bi-trom-mat-20240408165312979.htm