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The Mongols Dined Atop their Live Enemies and Other Fascinating Historic Facts

Khalid Elhassan March 2, 2020 36 min

Battle of the Kalka River - Mongol Empire — Mongols feasting atop captives. Pintrest

Reconstruction of Tumulus MM, named after King Midas. Museum of Anatolian Civilizations

1. Discovering Midas

In 1957, further evidence of Midas’ existence emerged when a massive tomb compound was unearthed near the site of ancient Gordium, in today’s Turkey. Measuring about 900 feet long and 160 feet high, the compound included a royal burial from circa 740 BC, housing the remains of a coffin containing a 5 foot 3 man in his 60s.

Accompanying him to the afterlife were ornate tables and bronze vessels containing traces of alcohol – apparently, a final feast for the departed. The tomb was named the “Midas Mound“, after the legendary king, although later dating indicates that it was probably not the grave of our Midas, but that of his father.

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Where Did We Find This Stuff? Some Sources and Further Reading

Atlas Obscura – The Great French Moustache Strike of 1907

Brands, Henry William – The Man Who Saved the Union: Ulysses S. Grant in War and Peace (2012)

Clement, Dominique – Canada’s Rights Revolution: Social Movement and Social Change, 1937-82 (2009)

Cracked – 5 Historical Facts That Were Way Too Stupid For the Movies

Daily Beast, May 12^th, 2019 – Happy Mother’s Day! Meet the Worst Mothers in History

Encyclopedia.Com – Fashion During the French Revolution

Gabriel, Richard – Subotai the Valiant: Genghis Khan’s Greatest General (2004)

Girard, Philippe R. – The Slaves Who Defeated Napoleon: Toussaint Louverture and the Haitian War of Independence (2011)

Gonick, Larry – The Cartoon History of the Universe III (2002)

History Today – Victory on Lake Nyasa

Irish Times, September 12^th, 2017 – Fake Smiles and False Teeth: A History of Dental Pain

Jackson, Peter – The Mongols and the West (2005)

Live Journal – Andrew Jackson, Man of Honor

National Geographic History Magazine, February 6^th, 2019 – Who Was the Real Robin Hood?

Popkin, Jeremy D. – Facing Racial Revolution: Eyewitness Accounts of the Haitian Insurrection (2008)

Ranker – 12 Characters From Ancient Mythology That Might Have Actually Existed in History

Remini, Robert V. – The Life of Andrew Jackson (1988)

Telegraph, The, July 6^th, 2014 – First World War Centenary: The Battle of Lake Malawi

Time Magazine, November 28^th, 1955 – Foreign News: Banzai

Wikipedia – 1775-95 in Western Fashion

Wikipedia – Midas

Wikipedia – Richard Lawrence (Failed Assassin)

Williams, John Alden, ed. – The History of Al-Tabari, Volume XXVII: The Abbasid Revolution, AD 743-750 (1985)

WTVR News 6, July 14^th, 2016 – Hero Who Served in WWII, Korea and Vietnam Says 1 Thing Kept Him Alive

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.