The Mausoleum of Tangun is an ancient burial site in

Kangdong Kangdong County, is one of Pyongyang's two suburban counties. In 1983 it was separated from South P'yongan Province and assumed direct governance by the Pyongyang City People's Committee. It is bordered by Sŏngch'ŏn-gun (Songchon County), Sou ...

near

Pyongyang Pyongyang (, , ) is the capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is known as the "Capital of the Revolution". Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. According to the 2008 populat ...

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

. It is claimed by North Korea to be the tomb of

Tangun Dangun (; ) or Dangun Wanggeom (; ) was the legendary founder and god-king of Gojoseon, the first Korean kingdom, around present-day Liaoning province in Northeast China and the northern part of the Korean Peninsula. He is said to be the "g ...

, legendary founder of

Gojoseon Gojoseon () also called Joseon (), was the first kingdom on the Korean Peninsula. According to Korean mythology, the kingdom was established by the legendary founder named Dangun. Gojoseon possessed the most advanced culture in the Korean P ...

, the first Korean kingdom. A pyramid was built on top of the grave in 1994, consisting of 1994 blocks of stone. The complex occupies about 1.8 km² (.70 mi²) on the slope of Mount Taebak (대박산). The complex is divided into three major sections: restoration work area, stone statue area, and the burial site. Dangun's grave is shaped like a

step pyramid A step pyramid or stepped pyramid is an architectural structure that uses flat platforms, or steps, receding from the ground up, to achieve a completed shape similar to a geometric pyramid. Step pyramids are structures which characterized several ...

, about 22 m (72 ft) high and 50 m (164 ft) on each side. According to the

Samguk Yusa ''Samguk yusa'' () or ''Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms'' is a collection of legends, folktales and historical accounts relating to the Three Kingdoms of Korea (Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla), as well as to other periods and states before, duri ...

, Gojoseon was thought to have been founded in 2333 BCE. North Koreans claim that their current excavations have dramatically changed the estimates of North Korean historians back to at least 3000 BCE, making the site c.5011 years old (±267 years in 1993).

Background

's leader

Kim Il-sung Kim Il-sung (; , ; born Kim Song-ju, ; 15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) was a North Korean politician and the founder of North Korea, which he ruled from the country's establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994. He held the posts of ...

insisted that Dangun was not merely a legend but a real historical person. As consequence, North Korean archaeologists were compelled to locate the purported remains and grave of Dangun.In the october of 1993, through the thesis called the "Excavation reports of the mausoleum of Dangun(단군릉발굴보고)", North Korean academia announced that 86 human bone remains were found that can be traced to two individuals, one man and the other woman, and by dating the bone of the man using the method of

electron spin resonance dating Electron spin resonance dating, or ESR dating, is a technique used to date materials which radiocarbon dating cannot, including minerals ( e.g., carbonates, silicates, sulphates), biological materials (e.g., tooth enamel), archaeological materials ...

, it was found to be from more than 5011 years ago.

Controversy

A nail found in the

mausoleum A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be cons ...

, dating to the

Goguryeo Goguryeo (37 BC–668 AD) ( ) also called Goryeo (), was a Korean kingdom located in the northern and central parts of the Korean Peninsula and the southern and central parts of Northeast China. At its peak of power, Goguryeo controlled mos ...

period (37 BCE-668 CE), has been the subject of much controversy. This discovery has thus led some North Korean historians to conclude that the mausoleum was discovered and renovated during that period. Many observers and historians outside of North Korea, including South Korea, consider the data and the interpretation compromised by politics and nationalism. North Korea has permitted no independent testing to resolve the questions over authenticity and dating. South Korean historians think its more likely to be a tomb of a regional power during the

kingdom based on the artifacts found at the site.

References

External links

''King Tangun's Mausoleum''
at

Naenara Naenara () is the official web portal of the North Korean government. It was the first website in North Korea, and was created in 1996. The portal's categories include politics, tourism, music, foreign trade, arts, press, information technology ...

Websites dealing with the controversy

* http://san-shin.org/dan-gun-1.html * https://archive.today/20010404054658/http://web.edunet4u.net/~lost/ * https://web.archive.org/web/20050204054431/http://www.kimsoft.com/2002/danggun.htm {{Authority control Korean mythology Gojoseon Archaeological sites in North Korea

Dangun Dangun (; ) or Dangun Wanggeom (; ) was the legendary founder and god-king of Gojoseon, the first Korean kingdom, around present-day Liaoning province in Northeast China and the northern part of the Korean Peninsula. He is said to be the "gran ...

National Treasures of North Korea Buildings and structures in Pyongyang

Background

Controversy

See also

References

Further reading

External links

Websites dealing with the controversy