11. The Tomb of Genghis Khan, founder of the Mongol Empire, has been kept a secret for almost 800 years at a terrible cost
Genghis Khan, the legendary founder and first ruler of the Mongol Empire, responsible for the deaths of an estimated forty million people, died on August 18, 1227 CE. Although the Genghis Khan Mausoleum exists in the modern-day Chinese province of Inner Mongolia, serving as a central site for the veneration of the Mongol leader, it was only built in the 20th century as a memorial; the true final resting place of the foremost conqueror in history remains a secret to this day. Leaving instruction that he should be buried without marking or physical memorial, it is believed that the body of the Great Khan was returned to his native Mongolia. He was interred, with the location staying a brutally guarded secret.
According to Mongolian legend, the funerary escort of Genghis Khan murdered every living creature, human or otherwise, that it encountered to ensure nothing knew of the location of their deceased lord. Furthermore, upon the completion of the tomb, the slaves who constructed it were put to death and thereafter the soldiers who killed those slaves were subsequently killed. In addition to murder, various additional methods of concealment were reputedly employed to protect the location. Some stories refer to a diverted river, similar to the ancient burials of Gilgamesh or Alaric, whilst others contend that horses were used to stampede the site into obscurity and then a forest was planted atop the tomb. Regardless of the methods used, by the time of Marco Polo, just fifty years later, even the Mongols themselves did not know the location of their revered ruler’s tomb. The chief source of Mongolian history, “The Secret History of the Mongols”, provides no precise information regarding the burial location.