History is rife with lost treasures, from Aztec gold hidden during the Spanish conquest to the Ark of the Covenant, which vanished during the destruction of Jerusalem over 2,500 years ago. In his book, “The Museum of Lost Things: True Tales of Fabled Treasures, Legendary Cities, and Mythical Creatures That Vanished From History” (National Geographic Partners, LLC, 2026), writer Sam Kean examines all things lost to time.
In this excerpt from the book, he looks at how the tomb of Genghis Khan, arguably the most successful ruler in history, has remained hidden for nearly 800 years and counting.
If archaeologists could vote on which lost grave they’d most like to find, Genghis Khan’s would likely appear near the top of the list — in part to fact-check the gruesome legends surrounding his burial.
He was born in Mongolia around 1162, and supposedly emerged from the womb clutching a clot of blood in his fist. By all rights, the boy — whose original name was Temüjin — should have died young. His father, a nobleman in their tribe, was poisoned by a rival tribe when Temüjin was nine, and greedy schemers within his own clan banished the boy’s family to the empty steppes, expecting them to starve. Historical accounts describe Temüjin as overly sensitive, terrified of dogs and prone to crying.
But he grew up fast. Even before adolescence, he’d already been enslaved (he engineered his own escape) and killed his older half brother. As a young man he discovered that soldiering suited him, and he ruthlessly eliminated all potential rivals among other nomadic tribes, until he was crowned Genghis Khan — universal ruler — in 1206. His other nickname was the Disturber of the Universe. His warriors were bold and battle-tested, and when they stopped murdering each other and turned their attention outward, they proved unstoppable.