Tomb of Genghis Khan

Those, who have read my books, know that I am quite interested in Genghis Khan’s story. His leadership fascinates me. He was so advanced for his time. And the mystery of his death and the tomb location intrigued me and many other people for years. 

It is also interesting to notice that actually no tomb of his children and grandchildren was discovered yet. They robbed vast territories and brought a lot of wealth back to Mongolia, but those valuable pieces have not turned up anywhere yet, not in any significant quantity at least. Which indicates that – for whatever reason – their tombs are still hidden. Why? Where are they?

There were many hypotheses, most of them tested and proved to be wrong, some remain unverified. But recently I have learned about one that I believe is pointing at the right spot and explains everything.

The mountain Burkhan Khaldun was most often named as the candidate for Genghis Khan’s tomb location. However, it is part of the sacred lands of Northern Mongolia, and nobody was allowed to access it. However, in 2015 and 2016, a team of French archeologists was able to get there illegally and to do some studies using drones and ground-penetrating scans. I picked up this information from the documentary “The Tomb of Genghis Khan: The Secret Revealed” directed by Cedric Robion. Some images I am going to use are also from this documentary.

First, here are a few images of the geographical locations of the original tribes that eventually were united by Genghis Khan.

By the way, the area described in Crater is in the area where Tungus lived, as depicted on this map – to the north-east of the Lake Baikal in the heart of Siberia.

That is why Burkhan Khaldun was a primary candidate for his tomb location. But nobody was allowed to go there.  Until the French team led by the archeologist Pierre-Henri Giscard broke the rules and went there without permission.

Here are two more images of Burkhan Khaldun mountain that show how prominently it presents itself from a distance.

As in many other cultures, not all directions are equal from the Mongolian point of view. That is why all the graves are located on one side (which faces north).

Now let us glance at Chinese imperial tomb in Xian. The tradition states that, after Genghis Khan saw it, he told his generals: “If I ever die, make me something like this.”

Pierre-Henri Giscard made a comparison and the results are presented in the documentary “The Tomb of Genghis Khan: The Secret Revealed” (directed by Cedric Robion) as follows:

Back in France, Pierre-Henri Giscard was able to identify the three tamgas from Burkhan Khaldun as follows:

For me, it looks very convincing. The reason Mongolian government resists excavation there is that Genghis Khan today embodies Mongolian identity and has almost divine status. Digging him up will diminish his statue, they think.

Pierre-Henri Giscard mentioned that more details about his researches may be published posthumously. It seems, he does not want to do it now because he collected data illegally.