MONGOLIA:
ARCHAEOLOGISTS UNEARTH
TOMB OF GENGHIS KHAN
Öndörkhaan| Construction workers employed in road building near the Onon River in the
Khentii province of Mongolia, have discovered a mass grave containing the remains of many
dozens of human corpses lying upon a large rudimentary stone structure. Forensic experts and
archaeologists were called on the site, which was revealed to be a Mongolian royal tomb from
the 13th century that the scientists believe to be Genghis Khan’s.
The team of scientists affiliated with the University of Beijing, has concluded that the numerous
skeletons buried on top of the structure were most likely the slaves who built it and who were
then massacred to keep the secret of the location. The remains of twelve horses were also found
on the site, certainly sacrificed to accompany the Great Khan in death.
A total of 68 skeletons were found buried together, almost directly over the top of a rather crude stone
structure.
The content of the tomb was scattered and badly deteriorated, presumably due to the fact that
the site was located beneath the river bed for hundreds of years, until the course of the Onon
river changed in the 18th century. The remains of a tall male and sixteen female skeletons were
identified among hundreds of gold and silver artefacts and thousands of coins. The women are
presumed to have been wives and concubines of the leader, who were killed to accompany the
warlord in the afterlife.
The amount of treasure and the number of sacrificed animals and people, have immediately led
the archaeologists to consider that the site was certainly the burial site of a really powerful
Mongol warlord. After realizing an extensive set of tests and analysis, they were able to confirm
that the body belonged to a man aged between 60 and 75, who died between 1215 and 1235
AD. Both the age, the date, the location and the opulence of the site seem to confirm that the
tomb does indeed belong to Genghis Khan.
The simple rock dome discovered by the archaeologists, was presumably buried beneath the Onon river for
centuries.
The incontestable historical importance of Genghis Khan makes this new discovery one of the
most important in the history of archaeology. Born Temüjin (which means “of iron”), he was the
founder and Great Khan (emperor) of the Mongol Empire, which became the largest contiguous
empire in history after his demise. He is known for uniting the warring tribes of Mongolia and
merging them into one before launching a series of military campaigns in China, Central Asia, the
Middle East and even Eastern Europe. He conquered more than 31 million square kilometers of
land during his lifetime.
His legacy has taken many forms besides his conquest and can still be found today, making him
one of the most influential men in the history of mankind. He connected the East and the West
through the creation of the Silk Route, a trade route that would become and remain for centuries,
the main network of trade and cultural transmission in Eurasia, opening long-distance, political
and economic interactions between the civilizations.
Genghis Khan also has an incredible number of descendants, as some genetic studies have
shown that he could be the direct ancestor of 1 human out every 200 who are alive today. In
Mongolia alone as many as 200,000 of the country’s 2 million people could be Genghis Khan
descendants.