KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!!!

~I recently went to the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences to see a special exhibit titled “Genghis Khan: The Exhibition”:

The exhibit was a series of rooms containing Mongol artifacts and modern reproductions, educational displays, and the mummy of a Mongolian woman from the time of the Big G Himself. 

The exhibit also included a clever “character” system, in which you received a bookmark at the beginning of the exhibit with the name and description of one of six fictitious people who might have lived during the lifetime of Genghis Khan.  Throughout the exhibit, there were electronic displays that let you track your character’s life and development.  I had Ivan, a Russian who was going to be a priest, but drank too much and later became a spy in service of the Mongols.

 

^ My favorite part of the exhibit was this life-size display of Mongolian warriors.  I wouldn’t want to meet these guys on the steppes, unless of course I was carrying one of the diplomatic passports issued by the Khan to messengers and dignitaries such as Marco Polo.

^ There were plenty of ancient weapons on display.  These bad boys were probably used by Mongolian warriors, such as the bad boys in the previous picture.

 

^ Me in front of the statue of Genghis Khan at the entrance to the exhibit.

One of the principal aims of the exhibition was to, in at least some ways, “reform” the popular image of Genghis Khan as a bloodthirsty conquering warlord.  It pointed out the many cultural achievements of the Mongolian empire, which integrated many different cultures, religions, ethnicities, and territories.  Under Genghis’ rule, there was a significant increase in travel, trade, and cultural exchange between Europe and East Asia, as well as the development of legal codes and the construction of an amazing capital city.

That being said, I couldn’t help but notice that according to a timeline in the exhibit, by around 150 years after Genghis Khan’s death in 1227 (which occurred of sickness during a campaign to subdue a rebellious province in China), his empire had ceased to exist. His glorious capital city of Khara Khorum was razed, and is now little more than a few shattered stone walls.  His homeland is now sandwiched between and dominated by its far more powerful neighbors.  While Genghis Khan’s rule may have stimulated trade and cultural exchange, this was done at the cost of tens of millions of lives and unfathomable suffering and destruction; entire advanced civilizations, such as the Xi Xia, were wiped out by the Mongol horde.  It’s a bit like wondering if the technological achievements that came out of World War II (such as space travel) somehow justify the toll in human suffering that conflict engendered.  I think most (sane) people would favor a more peaceful path to development, even if it takes longer.

The mummy was interesting – her clothes were amazingly well-preserved – but the biggest prize of Mongol history (and perhaps that of the entire discipline of archaeology itself) remains undiscovered: the tomb of Genghis Khan himself.  Perhaps somewhere out there on the Mongolian steppes lies a tomb of such incredible riches and archaeological value that it is rivaled only by the tomb of King Tutankhamen!  I hope I live to see the day that the Khan’s legacy is brought to light.

Of course, no piece of writing about Genghis Khan would be complete without this:

If I Had a Nickel For Every Time I’ve Been to Monticello…

~…I’d have exactly 5 cents.  That’s because last week, I went to Charlottesville, Virginia, to see the late Thomas “T.J.” Jefferson’s house.  You may have heard of him: he was ambassador to France, argued a lot with Alexander Hamilton, designed gadgets (like an automatic door), and I think he may have been elected to some sort of political office, and possibly wrote a paper of some kind.

^Anyway, our first stop was a park on the outskirts of town, home to the Lewis and Clark Exploratory Center.  Charlottesville was where the famous Lewis & Clark expedition began (more or less), and outside of the (unfortunately closed) Exploratory Center was a full-size replica of a riverboat similar to that used by the titular explorers.

^ The Rivanna River flowed past the park.  It looks great for kayaking!

^ Dad, hanging out on a boat ramp along the river.

^ The next day, we were ready for Monticello.  After driving up the mountain, we encountered this statue of T.J. outside the visitor’s center.

^ The famous house itself that we’ve all seen a thousand times on the back of five-cent coins.  Jefferson designed the house himself and continued to add to it throughout his life.  Built on land he inherited, the architectural style was inspired by classical Greco-Roman buildings Jefferson admired while living in Europe.

^ From the other side.

^ [Please click on the above panoramic image for a much better view]
Monticello isn’t just a house, it’s an estate.  It has two wings with rooms built into the hillside (slave quarters, stables, and storage), and two outbuildings on either side.  The building on the left was an office of Jefferson’s son-in-law, while the one on the right was actually the home of Jefferson and his wife while the main building was being constructed.

^ The left wing of Monticello.  The main house is just visible on the right.  Notice how the ground slopes down and the outlying wing is built into the ground.  Tunnels lead into basement storage and work areas.  Most of the work was done in these underground areas: cooking, washing, storage, and so forth (by slaves, of course); this left the rooms in the main house free for rest and entertainment.

^ Stables under one of the wings of the estate.  Debatably more comfortable than the slave quarters.

^ Monticello was (and is) a productive, working plantation, not a rest home for a retired politician.  Hundreds of workers, both free and slave, worked here to produce a large variety of foods and goods.  The picture above shows part of the garden area.  Of course, this being winter it was mostly fallow, but each section of the garden was marked with replica signs showing Jefferson’s unique classification system, displaying the wide variety of vegetables grown here.

^ Another view of the gardens.  They are still in use today.  Incidentally, Monticello has been owned by the Thomas Jefferson Foundation since 1923, and is also listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  As you can see from the above image, it also commands an impressive view of the surrounding countryside, especially in the winter.

^ Taken from the back of Monticello, showing another mountain behind the estate.  Farther down the path is a cemetery with Jefferson’s grave (and his impressive tombstone).

^ The vineyards.  These must be impressive in the summer!  Jefferson loved his wine; in fact, when I heard him speak recently, he described wine as “A panacea for all ills and conducive to fine conversation!”

^ This chimney and foundation stones are all that remain of a building near the vineyards that was once a house for some of the slaves.

^ Mom in front of one of the many impressive trees on the estate grounds.

^ Another bizarre tree!

The interior of the house was as impressive as the outside, filled with interesting artifacts (both original and replicas), as well as many of Jefferson’s inventions, such as a weighted clock that displayed both the time and the day.  However, photography is prohibited inside, so if you want to know what it looks like, you’ll have to visit Monticello yourself!