Excavations at Karakorum - History Forum ~ All Empires

German excavation team revealed a city that looked much like

a miniature Beijing.

1. A big stone slab written in Han and mongol script commemorated

the birth of the city.

2. Chinese coins and pottery were found.

3. Foundations of Ogodei's palace was excavated, miniature of forbidden

city palace.

4. Many stone turtles excavated.

Seems like a typical Han city. Thanks to Yeliu Zhu Cai and his crew.

r's

Clive

The Uighur was the grandson or son of Chinkin, a protege of Yeliu.

r's

Clive

Clive,

I am always looking for more info on Kharakhorum. If you have a link for the German excavations would you please post it. :)

BTW,

UNESCO has a pdf - The Ancient City of Kharakhorum. It has very detailed info on Kharakhorum and the surrounding area. Here's the direct link:

http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0011/001159/115960Eb.pdf

On The National Museum of Mongolian History page you can see artifacts found at Kharakhorum. Those green roof tiles must have made the buildings striking to look at.

And from HERE:

"The palace of Ogodei Khan was a masterpiece of the architecture of the period. The two-storey building contained a vast central reception hall, supported by sixty-four columns and tastefully appointed; its walls were adorned with paintings and the floor was of green glazed tiles. All the roofs, made of green and red tiles, had ornamentation of relief. This love of ornament and the inventive use of a few decorative motifs, characteristic of the architecture of the time, gave this palace a festive air."

(And of course don't forget the Silver Tree! Read William of Rubruck's account of it.)

One thing that is not well known is that the Khans were at Kharakhorum only for short periods of time out of the year and mainly for ceremonial occasions. They spent most of their time at various seasonal encampments/palaces. Some of these encampments such as Gegen-chaghan Palace, Ormektu Palace and Tuzghu-Balyk Palace, are mentioned in the above posted pdf, The Ancient City of Kharakhorum.

I don't want my first post here to be too long. So here's one last link because it does have a good picture of the layout of Kharakhorum.

There is rest and healing in the contemplation of antiquities. - Mark Twain

It simply means "Black stone (desert)" in Turkic

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