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Explorer Plans Hunt For Genghis Khan's Long-Lost Tomb

Posted by samzenpus on from the awesome-digs dept.

Velcroman1 writes "The tomb of brutal Mongolian emperor Genghis Khan — the one who created the world's most powerful empire by raiding and invading across Eurasia, not Kirk's nemesis — is a lost treasure archaeologists have sought for years. And one man thinks he knows where it is. Last fall Alan Nichols, the president of The Explorers Club, mapped out possible locations for the tomb of Khan (also known as Chinnggis Qa'an). His hypothesis: Khan's tomb is located in the Liupan Mountains in Northern China, where the emperor who was born in 1162 and is said to have perished from an arrow wound in August 1227. Next fall, Nichols plans the next phase of his research: pinpointing Khan's exact resting place. 'Ghengis Khan's tomb is my obsession,' Nichols, a noted authority on the emperor, said recently. 'I couldn't stop thinking about it. But I'm not happy just reading about it, or knowing about it. I need to have my feet on it.'"

5 of 243 comments (clear)

  1. Re:What about Jesus's ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    >Genghis Khan existed. Jesus not.

    Jesus is everywhere, tending gardens across the United States. Cash only.

  2. Re:after all these years by Anne_Nonymous · · Score: 5, Funny

    If the remains are genetically related to half of Eurasia, it's the real Genghis.

  3. Fox News "noted authority" by T.E.D. · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Just because someone at Fox News put "Noted Authority" on the Chiron under a TV guest doesn't mean they know what they are talking about.

    I actually did a fair bit of research myself into this a few months back, to answer a question on History.SE. There is indeed a romantic notion of there being some undiscovered tomb with untold wealth in it. Then there's the reality:

    • The Mongols didn't bury their dead. They practiced Open-air "burials".

      Depositing the corpse in the steppe was meant to sacrifice it to predatory animals. According to Mongolians this is the last virtous act a person can carry out. This idea is much older than Lamaism and exhibits a really strong shamanistic element of spiritual thought.

    • All the assorted legends about where a supposed tomb might be came out of China (not Mongolia, where it happened) about 300 years after the fact, and describe things much closer to Chinese burial practices than Mongolian. In other words, they show all signs of being entirely made up.
  4. Joke all you want by Dareth · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Joke all you want, but according to a Darwinian fitness perspective he was one of the most successful humans to have ever lived.

    --

    I only look human.
    My mother is a halfling and my dad is an ogre, so that makes me an Ogreling
  5. Re:What about Jesus's ? by alexander_686 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Let’s consider you point. What is your Epistemology in this situation?

    Do you reject evolution? It’s got massive holes. There are bits that don’t (yet) make sense. Yet I still believe it because of the strong evidence. The holes take some extrapolation to move from point to point, but the logic to do so is consistent.

    Or, let’s choose an example more on point. Should I disbelieve in Socrates? Like Jesus no primary source material exists. None of his writings exist. Should I take the position that he was just the figment of somebody’s imagination?