Some people manage to remain enigmatic even in their death, like my grandmother, who we didn’t understand why she salted her dishes so much and who we discovered when reading her will that it was because she hated us. At the historical level, there are several enigmatic tombs of great figures in history and today we are going to look at that of the greatest conqueror in the world: Genghis Khan.
Funeral legends
1. A particular character
Not only was Genghis Khan not a convenient person, but he also had a tendency to do quite violent things like installing large wooden planks on his enemies and dining on them while they were dying. His wish was to have an anonymous grave kept secret, either out of modesty (which I doubt) or so that no enemy came to piss on it in rage (because he had a few).
2. Only a few manuscripts give a clue to the location of the tomb
No record of the time speaks precisely of the place where the Khan was buried except for a handful of manuscripts which mention the region of Ordos in which the sacred mountain Burkhan Khaldun is found. It would be in this region that would be the tomb but it is more than 240km2, so as much to tell you that it is not simple.
3. He knocked out everyone who buried him
A funeral escort took care of taking Genghis’ body and slaves to bury it high in the mountains of Mongolia. On the way the escort would have crossed a caravan of travelers who were massacred because no one had to know where the body was. You are going to tell me “but the escort knew where he was buried” and you are right. That’s why all the members of the escort were also killed (legends speak of nearly 2000 people). Useful to avoid spoilers.
4. Dozens of different legends
A lot of legends are told around the location of Genghis Khan’s tomb, which does not help at all to find it. However, two versions can find some credibility:
– A river would have been diverted to cover the site of the tomb, making sure that the place was never visible.
– We would have brought a hundred horses to trample the ground, we would have planted trees and presto, a few years later it was already impossible to find the location.
5. Sources say the body never made it back to Mongolia
Well in addition to having a completely hidden place, some texts say that the tomb would not even contain the corpse of Genghis Khan. Indeed some argue that only his clothes would have been brought back to Mongolia and that his corpse would have been buried far from his native land.
The search for the tomb
6. The mountain finally open to archaeologists
For many years access to the mountain was forbidden and people who ventured there could be killed, so it was not really a good idea to go looking for the treasure. In recent years, access has finally been opened to archaeologists and researchers who respect the environment of the region.
7. “If he wanted to be found he would have left signs”
The search for Genghis Khan’s tomb is not really something that concerns the Mongolian people, in their own opinion one should respect the Khan’s wish to be entitled to an unmarked grave and not violate his wish. They take the lack of location information as an argument to support the desire to remain hidden and this desire for discovery therefore concerns more Westerners.
8. Multiple Abandoned or Stopped Researches
Historically, many researches have taken place, including a very important one in 1900 led by Mongolian and Japanese scientists. But protests halted the search. Some people think that finding the tomb might cause a curse and decide to prevent them. But another aspect that really slows research is the nature of the terrain: the landscapes of Mongolia are vast and sometimes inhospitable, not to mention the fact that there are almost no roads. A bit boring to look for something already very well hidden.
9. We started looking for the satellite location
In order to find visible traces before going there and to avoid damaging the protected sites, scientists have started to use satellite images to do their research. The operation was open to volunteers and thus several thousand sites were checked, which made it possible to find nearly a hundred locations which could be tombs and cemeteries dating from different periods and some of which date back to the Bronze Age. .
10. Finding his grave could reveal how he died
One of the other mysteries that surrounds Genghis Khan is the real reason for his death, by finding his corpse one should be able to identify which of the versions of his death is the true one. Some sources speak of an assassination, others of a fall from horseback, others of an arrow in the knee and an infection… It’s hard to tell right from wrong, but finding the Khan’s body could help to have an official version of his death.