The Terrible Secret of Genghis Khan's Tomb

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[@decodingtheunknown2373]

Get an exclusive Surfshark Black Friday deal! Enter promo code DTU to get up to 6 additional months for free at surfshark.deals/DTU

[@DuplexWeevil337]

You didn't have to do South africa like that 💀 It was correct, though sadly 😭

[@altondowngrade77]

​@@DuplexWeevil337❤❤aaalp

[@umairs4241]

​@@DuplexWeevil337😂

[@ashassassin]

"Lets dig him up and see whats in there." The most british thing Simon has ever said😂

[@syresynth5778]

The most British thing that Simon has ever said in my opinion is "I have seen peasants... From a distance" This one made me chuckle aggressively

[@williamrizzo8574]

That’s all a bit rubbish

[@aurelcorstan5242]

Follow it up with, "Finder's, Keeper's", and you have described a large chunk of British Imperial history regarding almost everywhere they ever went. Lol.

[@DugeHick]

Yep. And let's steal it and keep it in London

[@michaelhart7569]

​@@DugeHick The Elgin Marbles were bought and paid for. If the Greeks couldn't sort out their local government issues with the Ottoman Turks then that's their problem.

[@quasitonality3887]

Steel existed in the time of Genghis Kahn, the production process was just difficult and unreliable. It produced a mixture of different grades of steel and iron that had to be folded together to get a reasonably homogeneous piece of steel. The best bits could be picked out and used to make the more expensive and high quality arms and armor.

[@itarry4]

Yhea they just didn't understand the difference or know what they were creating but understood making weapons in certain ways made for stronger better weapons. Some of the best steel ever discovered comes from 13th century Turkey.

[@robd9413]

I think Siri's answer of 18th Century may have been 18th Century BC.

[@itarry4]

@@robd9413 modern production, so the steel we basically use today was invented in 1850AD which is the answer Siri gives.

[@IreneWY]

​@@robd9413no, that's simply when us Europeans got the first steel plant... So obviously no one else ever had it. 😅

[@chrisblake4198]

@@itarry4 Both are correct. Steel artifacts have been dated back to 1800BC. Willing to bet Siri said that, but Simon didn't catch the BC.

[@denispenchev3201]

I just love how Simon is always bashing Siri for never providing him with an answer. And here, on the very rare occasion that she does, it is wrong and he takes it on a face value. Ah, pure gold .... or shoud we say steel

[@PhantomNull13]

If Simon is so much smarter than Birds, why does he need a license to do something they do easily?

[@resileaf9501]

Checkmate, factboi

[@mikaellugo4146]

Damn Simon is seething rn

[@gregorymeyer1798]

You can get a license to poop on people!?!? 😅

[@dannywilliams1279]

Legit, I come here for Ilsa's writing... Simon's inane, foolish, self entitled babbles are simply a necessary evil 😅

[@guerillagardener2237]

You don't need a license for a microlight or being superman or any other super hero with flight capabilities.

[@fuzzymurdermittens]

Back when I worked in a bookshop, I had an illiterate lady ask me to fill in a birthday card for her. I was happy to help, but I remember feeling so guilty because my handwriting was not great. Like, I was literate, so that met the minimum requirement she was looking for when she chose a bookshop to seek help in, but I wish I could have written it for her in beautiful handwriting instead of the slightly shaky way that it turned out. It must take so much courage to ask for help with stuff like that in societies like ours.

[@mariakelly90210]

Thank you for helping that lady. I'm sure that she really appreciated it.

[@thekeytoairpower]

When was steel invented? Going back to the beginning, we've found evidence of steel artifacts as far back as 1800 BC. However, the earliest signs of true steel production is from the 13th century BC in modern-day Turkey.

[@cherrydragon3120]

I was gonna say... there are pieces of steel made much earlier. Some by accident, but shit like damascus STEEL is certainly not made by accident

[@Peacebunnie]

Did... Did his result give him 1850 BC and he just missed the BC part?

[@jamiemetcalfe7945]

Genghis Khan did have crazy fast horses, that's how he conquered and maintained such a vast territory. Many more horses than men, actually. Not only did this allow soldiers to frequently swap out tired horses for fresh ones but the men lived off of kefir made from mare's milk. So they didn't have to pause to hunt or raid and probably slept in the saddle. The Mongol horde easily outran the news carried by fleeing survivors, so every engagement was a complete surprise to the besieged.

[@gooddad3575]

Thats not why he conquered so much. It was because of the recurved bow.

[@jamiemetcalfe7945]

@@gooddad3575 that and the ability to shoot very accurately from a galloping horse certainly helped tremendously! But better bows and bow skills aren't much good against a properly prepared fortification

[@Kinzarr4ever]

@@gooddad3575 The Mongols of the 13th century weren't the first to use recurve bows, not even the first in Asia. They were also not the first to originate from the Eurasian steppe (which is MASSIVE) with well-trained horse archers. The reason for their succes is most likely a combination of organisation (Genghis Khan broke up the clans and local family groups and basically made military units the defining organizing feature of society), skilled leadership, and luck.

[@windhelmguard5295]

i have to post a correction fact boi: while the practice of intentionally manipulating the carbon content of steel was indeed invented much later, steel (as in a carbon containing iron alloy) was in use for about as long as humanity had been using iron. you see pretty much all pre-industrial iron smelting processes were fuelled by charcoal and would nearly always introduce carbon into the crystal structure. sure the people didn't know they were making mild steel, but they usually were and sometimes they even made high carbon steel by accident.

[@bmxerkrantz]

6th century for Japanese high carbon steel production. they may not have known the specific chemistry, but I wouldn't call it an accident either. same with hardening and tempering processes. and that's just from a quick date confirmation from d knowledge. other areas culture's may have had earlier reproducible successes or a better understanding of what was happening. I won't hunt it down, but 1950s sounds like a modern process for an efficient bulk steel production process whose name escapes me. maybe the Bessemer? process.

[@Pachabel]

Agree... Yes Siri was wrong about steel...

[@tobias2287]

Medieval Europe had bloom steel, a low-quality sort of steel, but still steel. Later on, there are drawn and written records of what we refer to today as spring steel. The ancient metallurgy that baffles me is that ancient Chinese swords have been discovered to be a type of chrome steel - a process that we only mastered less than a hundred years ago, and has kept the blades sharp for thousands of years.

[@amosbackstrom5366]

Absolutely correct. The iron age was full of steel.

[@windhelmguard5295]

@@tobias2287 they likely made those by accident, similar to the Vered Jericho sword of Ancient Israel

[@bailey_GNEX]

As a teen I worked at a high street opticians and met an old gentleman who turned out to be illiterate. I was just about to do his pre testing (looking at the balloon and all that) and he suddenly broke down crying, ashamed that he wouldn't be able to read the letters for me. I felt for him and could reassure him that it was no problem at all, the tests I did involve no reading and I let his optometrist know beforehand that he needed that accommodation. I think they use pictures rather than letters in cases like his.

[@kempoficht]

Why not do the circles with the cut in it? Thats the standard if letters latin letters arent used

[@DerClouder]

@@kempoficht The finnish doctors use the letter E with different orientations and during the test the doctor points one of them on the chart and the patient says the direction the E is facing( up, down left, or right). No reading required and you can do it to small children as well.

[@trishapellis]

@@kempoficht This is what I was going to say, my optometrist just uses basically the letter 'c' oriented with the opening up or down or left or right

[@TN-rf7nt]

Some people are so dysgraphic or have such a strong essential tremor that they can't write. Or their writing is so illegible that it's better to have others do it for them. Hey Simon, wanna do an episode on dysgraphia for one of your channels? It's not as well known as dyslexia but it would be an enormous public service to draw more attention to it. A lot of people with Tourettes are also dysgraphic so you could tie it in to other neurological conditions.

[@emilemig5]

It reminds me of the time I had a colourblind customer in the flowershop I work at. He was so nice, and wanted red roses with some other flower we didn't have, and I suggested an alternative and when he asked me to describe the colour cause he was colourblind I instantly felt for him and tried my best to describe it and describe the colour of other alternatives as well.. I really hope the recipient of the flowers liked them 🥺

[@angelitabecerra]

Clearly Genghis Khan didn't want to be found, which we should respect. Furthermore, the local Mongolian people, the government, and their culture don't want his tomb found or people poking around in their country looking. And we absolutely should respect that

[@jasonplant5432]

I do believe in being fair. No one wanted this guy invading there countrys.see how he respected thier wishes. We should respect his in kind. I don't think anybody who has been killed by the horde didn't want to either. Temujin( ghengis) Made himself famous. He doesnt have a say in the matter. This person IS AND WAS NOT a hero, He was a murdering,rapist,totally incapable of receiving any honor from any culture anywhere. There was a recent man who was like this. Took the world to stop him. And you see how we celebrate his birth,death,and holidays. Umm no we don't. Monsters,just one bit of info on this guy. He had a shallow very large wooden barrel full of barbs and other bits of sharpened metal.and a lid that fit the barrel perfectly . Captives would be placed therein,lid put on, tables ,chairs,and other furniture whould be placed on top. Elaborate dinners whould be planed. And as they ate and made merriment the captives whould slowly be crushed and human juice whould seep out of the gaps in the slats. And everyone ,just accepting this as normal.carring on eating,drinking,and simply ignoring the dead and dying. And this is only one of his devilish pastimes.

[@Mikkelltheimmortal]

I've heard of one sensible story that he was buried on the way home in a random spot at night by people who knew him closely and knew he feared his enemies desiccating his grave to make sure no one can possibly remember when or where he was buried. It seems likely to me that he was buried in Mongolia but where could be anywhere

[@ChristopherGass]

I had an encounter with an illiterate person in the parking lot of a grocery store a few weeks ago. He came up to me and asked if I could read him a letter he had received from his landlord because he didn't know how to read. The guy owed a small amount (under $20) in past-due rent. It was quite strange to read that to a stranger in a parking lot. He was quite appreciative though.

[@Mr.MFuckingYTchangedmyname]

DO you mean he..um...y'know...nom nom nom

[@mariakelly90210]

I think that illiteracy is so sad.

[@twilightgryphon]

Simon: "People are gonna need these details when I have my empire!" Me: **Gesturing at all of SImon's KZbin channels** "Bruh. We're already there."

[@patrickmcconaughey6176]

Can we get some merch with", OH for FUCK sake! We have spent so much money on hay!" on it? This might be my new favorite Fact-boy quote.

[@MTGBear]

Did not expect this to be the "Simon loudly declares he's smarter than birds" video

[@Horvath_Gabor]

And it's the same video where Siri gives him a wrong date about the "invention of steel", and he just blindly accepts it. It's comedy gold.

[@jeffsorrows]

Reminds me of the back in the golden age of Business Blaze (brain blaze) where he had a space heater as his cohost, and mentioned how one day ETA may die or mysteriously dissappear. And sadly he did at one point, RIP in pieces ETA!

[@shaneeslick]

"Forensic Experts & Archaeologists were called in & they concluded that it was a Mongolian Royal Tomb from the 13th Century, One set of remains found under a stone slab belonged to a man aged between 60 & 75 who had died between 1215 & 1235" WOW! Simon & Ilza that is crazy the worked out he died at lunch time 😏

[@bunyipdragon9499]

😂😂

[@chelleyroberts]

Did a Skyrim joke just go over Simons head?

[@SoManyRandomRamblings]

I used to be an adventurer......then I took an arrow to the knee. 😉

[@jackvos8047]

I'm pretty sure I saw its reflection on Simon's scalp as it went over.

[@SoManyRandomRamblings]

@@jackvos8047 😂

[@SugarandSarcasm]

Are you surprised? He doesn’t know a whole lot of pop culture

[@angelitabecerra]

Guaranteed. His writers love to add anime and game jokes into the script, knowing it'll go over his head but we all get a kick out of it lmao

[@jamiebaker8017]

I was always under the belief 13th century Mongolians practiced sky burials and that’s why we can’t find his tomb… because there isn’t one 🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️

[@mariakelly90210]

Considering that the Mongols were Buddists Sky Burials make a lot of sense, and provides a plausible reason for why we can't find Khan's grave.

[@Stevenchefjones]

If there is nothing left to put In a temple then the mountain you named becomes your tomb.

[@certainperson9869]

The man didn't want to be found and he seemed to have succeeded. Looking at how many tombs modern people have dug up, I'd say the Khan was quite smart and prescient to have that foresight. No wonder he was able to conquer so many territories.

[@ferguson8143]

Organization, discipline, mobility, and ruthlessness helped

[@minedgravy380]

or Mongolia just doesnt let them dig up the sites that are most likely containing his tomb

[@NITROexpress17]

Because of the single fact that we haven’t found his body or tomb at all, I would say that maybe the diverging the river over it might be true (I mean the soviets accidentally did it like twice so even with basic tools it’d probably be hard but doable

[@TerenceClark]

It's wild when you run into people who break with what we all experience as "normal" like the person Simon had to help with the bday card. I had a customer come into Target with her daughter for something related to getting a Target card. I don't remember if she had to sign for it or whatever, but the reason the woman herself couldn't do it was because she didn't have a US Social Security Number. And she didn't have an SSN because she didn't have a birth certificate. She was born in the US, but was of an age and from a region of the country that when she was born not everyone had official birth records. I think there is a way to resolve that sort of issue, but I imagine it's a paperwork nightmare and she probably would just rather have her daughter occasionally help out than chase a paper trail so she can get a number assigned to her. I'm sort of a gerontology (old age research) nerd and I know from some of that that there were places in the US well past WWI that still didn't have reliable vital records. And there are other places where prior to digital record keeping, birth records had been destroyed in fires at vital records offices, etc. It's just interesting because we just take these things for granted and they aren't as universal as we're led to believe.

[@CornPopsDood]

Just two generations away from myself, & we’re not even talking 100 years. Late 40’s to early 50’s. My grandfather was born in a dirt floor shack out in the woods. A whole generation of people were born like that. It’s honestly wild to think about as it wasn’t that long ago all things considered.

[@Asher5250]

There are still religious groups, such as the Amish, whose members do not get SSN's today.

[@ElysetheEevee]

My husband's entire high school records and diploma were lost to a fire in there records-keeoing area in Michigan. He was homeschooling and went to public school for part it, though the homeschooling was vetted through the public school system. It was an absolute nightmare trying to get verification for jobs and stuff. Make sure to keep YOUR copy of a diploma or any other paperwork like that. I've lost my birth certificate three times from moving over the years. You only get so many of some papers and you may lose access to the history of it all at any point. For the record, he's only 35. I'm 34. We're not super old (yet).

[@gabrieljean-batiste2006]

​@@Asher5250That's because it's against their religion. They don't pay into Social Security and don't collect it.

[@Asher5250]

Kind of figured that, but thank you for confirming. I was never really sure. The Amish have always seemed a world apart, and so self-sufficient to me.@@gabrieljean-batiste2006

[@nichmiller4251]

I once bought a house (private sale/no realtor) from a man who knew only his name (in all caps) and numbers. I've never felt my honesty and integrity tested so thoroughly. Nice fellow, he was just a sweet old Cajun man who was never formally educated.

[@fluffyyote]

Simon, I’m in a really rough spot right now with my mom in the hospital and having a hard time keeping a job, but your videos are still here to distract me. Thank you so much and keep up the good work. ❤

[@jeffsorrows]

Wishing the best for your mother, and keep your head up high. Just try your best to focus on your work, its a good way to keep distracted for a bit, and I'm sure your mother wants your mental health to be as best as it can be even if its not in the best of places. - a caring stranger

[@elliejobonney2926]

Love ❤️ to you and yours xxx Try to look after yourself xxx Sending you n ya mum, good vibes from London UK xxx

[@fluffyyote]

@@jeffsorrows thank you so much. It means a lot. 😕💛

[@fluffyyote]

@@elliejobonney2926 thank you very much :( 💕💛

[@emilemig5]

Sending you and your family the best of wishes ♥️

[@TheKulu42]

Maybe Genghis Khan truly was buried in a simple grave. He knew that a big tomb would be difficult to hide, especially if it was filled with treasure. And if he wanted a simple, traditional burial, would it necessarily be loaded with treasure?

[@taskdon769]

People just cannot simply accept the fact of other people's tradition can be vastly different than theirs. No one can find the tomb of Genghis Khan just like they can't find the tomb of Ogedei Khan, Guyuk Khan, Mongke Khan, Kublai Khan, and the rest of emperors from Yuan Dynasty.

[@TheKulu42]

@@taskdon769 True. Those final resting places may never be found because they were simple and easily overlooked.

[@taskdon769]

@@TheKulu42 Exactly, Mongols weren't so obsessed of material goods so they don't bury "treasures" with them.

[@chrislong6541]

Pretty sure I remember reading somewhere he potentially had a river diverted over his grave it'll be impossible to find if true

[@Fusion_Stin]

@@taskdon769except there have been royal tombs found in Mongolia with treasure in them not saying genghis khans is but assuming other cultures share their traditions clearly isn’t the issue lol

[@canaanval]

Steel has been around a good 4000 years….not 150😂

[@TheBenjaminArgo]

I’m guessing they were going based on the modern steel industry rather than older versions of steel production

[@PenguinEconomics-st2ws]

Wrong. Simon invented steal and beards in 1873 for a laugh. He was quoted as shouting "Yeah! Science"

[@SoManyRandomRamblings]

​@@TheBenjaminArgo or he missed that Siri said "BC" after saying the 1800s

[@angelitabecerra]

Please do an episode on the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum heist 🙏🏾 It has it all; mysterious break in, something not quite right with the security guards, stolen pieces of art including Rembrandt's only known seascape, the Mafia connection, empty frames awaiting the return of their pieces all these decades later, $1m award that's never been claimed, etc, etc

[@canedust]

"Me and Stalin, same page!" Theres a context-less quote for the ages

[@DemonsRun42]

Genghis Khan: the first person to take man-made climate change serious and offer solutions

[@oliverseiler2871]

Greta is his biggest fan! 😂

[@asmo1313]

The very fact that there are people these days that seriously think there are too many people on this planet is terryfing and should not be joked about. Because sooner or later some whacko will take it upon him/her/itself to do somethink about it. I really don`t want to ask my self "was that terrorist hit because of religious reasons or because of a psychotic vegan this time"

[@rhondaparr5739]

The only one

[@camronfox6636]

He went straight to the source of pollution: humans 😂

[@LockandLoad79]

@@camronfox6636 Agent Smith loves him.

[@shoogie1994]

Steel production goes back to the 13th century BC in Turkey. But it wasn't practical to make large amounts of steel (ie. enough for buildings and rail roads) until the modern process for making steel was invented in the 1850s. People have been making steel weapons and Armour for much longer than that

[@IreneWY]

Even earlier. Indian smiths could successfully produce steel in 400BCE. Before that, in the ancient world, they made steel from chunks of meteorite. Pharaoh Tut had a dagger. But obviously they didn't understand what made it different to bronze (that was before iron age) or that all the metals needed were available on earth.

[@GoodThings4GoodPeople]

I just have to say, you are easily one of our favorite presenters, all across your 1000 different channels and different topics! Dunno how much time you spend per week in front of a camera and microphone but WE appreciate it!

[@jeffsorrows]

"I'm a whore for money" - Simon Whistler, and for that I think we all appreciate him for finding all these great writers and editors to keep all his channels going!

[@GoodThings4GoodPeople]

@@jeffsorrows Teamwork makes it happen! They certainly have a heck of a team working together there at Factboy HQ!

[@delilahfrost403]

The whole thing with him affecting the climate, it's true it's because of how many people he killed but also, Genghis Khan planted trees everywhere he went, he loved them, and planted them often and everywhere and that combined with the people he killed is what caused that change, thank you for the wonderful video and wonderful topic! You guys rock!

[@PhilosoShysGameChannel]

Just damascus/wootz goes back over two thousand years ago... Yet Simon seems to think, thanks to sir leading him astray, that the war for American independence was done in the bronze age! XD

[@annasophiarobb69]

Sir, we all know the bronze age collapse happened due to the wars of German unification. They do say after all that Otto von Bismarck is the bronze chancellor.

[@battlebeard2041]

Simon “I know I’m brighter than birds, even the ones that fly to Africa” flexing while having fully dialed into the “why would I lean how to get places, there’s GPS!?” mentality 😂

[@SupraKilla14]

I love how we can tell how much time passes by Simons drink change.

[@declanryan7285]

42 minute long video, takes Simon 42 seconds to reveal theres no tomb

[@FairbrookWingates]

Just home from work; great thing to be able to unwind to a Simon Whistler video. Thank you!

[@LordDustinDeWynd]

10:26 Heroin: For years, I had a pot grower sending me packages of weed via USPS.

[@LetterlessAlphabet]

Simon starts rambling about customs.. skip skip skip.. “The internet is a wild place. What was I talking about?” Perfect timing.🤣🤣

[@J_Z913]

Happy belated Ghengis Khan Day! Premodernist has a couple great videos regarding Genghis Khan Day that are well worth watching.

[@bilinasmini3480]

"Lets dig him up and see whats in there." Simon's most British-sounding remark to date

[@Alex-ug9wx]

I was under the impression that the progressiveness he was credited with in this video can be attributed to Kublai Khan, his grandson (?). Though, my knowledge of this particular dynasty is from Marco Polo (which needs to be picked up by another streaming service, or so help me, I will revolt). Edited to add: at least in the show (which is meant to be quite accurate), Kublai’s mother was Christian, and so was his uncle. Hence his unprecedented acceptance of any and all religions. He also (again, according to the show), allowed one of his wives to run a ‘charity’ of sorts, for women who were widowed. So, relatively progressive in terms of women’s rights and social support.

[@sinjun1973]

I read a book once where the author came up with an interesting theory for why no one can find the Kahn’s tomb. He wrote that to be sure no one ever could disturb his tomb his people diverted a river then buried him in a tomb under the riverbed. Then when they were done they put the river back on its original course going right over the tomb of the great Kahn. That would definitely protect it from tomb robbers.

[@sovereign_doom]

yet another Siri L. first evidence of steel production was in 1300bc smh.

[@spaceghostnow4010]

Thank you!

[@mtaylor7171]

"The Roman gladius was an early example of swords forged from blooms of steel." Another solid research source (Wikipedia 😂)

[@josefstrauss9017]

@@mtaylor7171Katanas too, since the 14th century. Wikipedia for the win 😜

[@randallcraft4071]

I think Simon didn't understand what Siri said because if you ask Google or Siri it says 1800 BC Or 13th century BC depending onHow you ask the question. I think it was more a Simon hearing Or comprehension fail

[@robertlewis8295]

That answer was more accurate for the Bessmer Process for fluid steel. Also one famous person who was jailed for being gay was Alan Turing

[@selkie76]

We've had steel for millennia - the 1850s was merely when modern mass-production techniques were developed. But, It would surprise me not to learn that you knew that and simply want to generate comments for the benefit of the algorithm. Ah, how easily we fall prey to the Cunning of the Fact-Boy ^_~

[@resileaf9501]

A quick Google tells me that we have evidence of steel from 1800BC, so I think it's more that Simon misheard Siri's answer.

[@SoManyRandomRamblings]

​@@resileaf9501you're probably right.....especially since BC would be the very last thing said....it would be super easy to miss it.

[@elizabethmcglothlin5406]

The steppes are a very big place. He's there somewhere. We are still finding famous people, sometimes in car parks.

[@rashkavar]

There actually is a "magical gold detector" already, though I'm not sure if it's sensitive enough to pick up a treasure hoard in a tomb. Gravimetric surveying is a tool used in the mining industry to look for particularly heavy metal deposits, which create a very *very* slight difference in the gravitational field. It's an easy first pass because you can just fly over it in a low flying plane or helicopter with the gear and get an idea if it's worth putting a surveyor on the ground to figure out if that heavy rock contains lead, gold, uranium, or something else.

[@ChineseKiwi]

When you watch multiple channels that Simon hosts and know when they were recorded based upon if he uses Siri or ChatGPT 😂

[@wisconsinaquatics]

"I thought the silk road was just a place to sell crack on the internet" 🤣 I haven't heard of that in ages

[@matthiasmitu]

The story of the illiterate woman remembered me of the the time i found out that some people really believe in god. Before i just thought people go to church because of tradition and they tell their children about god to make them obedient like they do with Santa Claus.

[@IreneWY]

How old were you? 😅 How can you not know that religious people believe in a diety or several ones? Especially with so many different religions around

[@matthiasmitu]

@@IreneWY i was about 14/15. I thought there may be some people who really believe in a diety, just like there are people believing in a flat earth. I was baffled that there are so many people, well educated people, believing in god. God always was a completely fictional character - like Santa Clause with his christmas elves - for me. My family is not religious and in germany religion seems to be a more private thing, nobody really talks about it alot. So it never was a topic that came to my mind.

[@IreneWY]

@@matthiasmitu OK, that's fine. You were a kid. I thought you were an adult, that would've been wild :) sorry if my comment was attackish 🙏

[@K8E666]

Ground Penetrating Radar is still only useful on ‘virgin’ land ! It uses radar (obviously 🙄) to detect any ‘abnormal/man-made’ disturbances in the earth below, BUT if it’s been farmed etc BEFORE then it’s only detecting the impact of previous farming activity and perhaps previous archeological activity within the area. It definitely needs to improve quite considerably before we can detect EVERY possible burial site that’s ever existed !!! We’ll definitely need decades or more to figure that one out 😂

[@letsdothis9063]

Lidar is pretty cool. It detects formations in fields that have been farmed for hundreds of years. It's kind of amazing.

[@Knoffles]

I love that these should really be about 20mins long and the inane ramblings of Simon extends them and just makes the episodes!

[@kaiying74]

Genghis Khan used to be an explorer like you until he took and arrow to the knee.

[@infinatep1mp737]

Lol to the fact he has to justify he's smarter than a bird😂

[@playedout148]

Ravens are smart af.

[@femmytwinkmachinst8941]

You are thinking of Atilla the Hun who allegedly but probably not died from being killed by a wife from a ethnic group he genocided a bit.

[@SebastianMeusel]

Now we finally know where Bethesda got that famous quote: “I used to be a conqueror like you, but then I got an arrow to the knee.”

[@fattywithafirearm]

Im not sure what factboi said at 36:16 but now my desk is floating.

[@nayfepacewell8923]

I remember hearing that Ganges Kahn died mistakenly, at the hands of one of his own men. He had "employed" a group of witch doctors or mongle alchemists who were tasked with making him a potion to achieve his goal of immortality. Many potions crossed his lips until one day, desperate for a result, the alchemists tried some rather extreme ingredients such as nickel and mercury. Needless to say, this potion was his last, and he died in transit to another town to pillage. His death was kept a secret for many months, however, to maintain the influence of fear that his name cast across the land.

[@Mr.MFuckingYTchangedmyname]

"Ganges Khan"? The Indian one? Anyway, you are thinking of the Chinese emperor Qin Shi Huang

[@nayfepacewell8923]

Ahhhh that's probably more on the money. I was very young.

[@duckpin]

That was a Chinese emperor named Qin Shi Huang who was completely obsessed with the idea of immortality. Ironic as he died early because of this obsession

[@carolyncasner4806]

Couldn't you follow the trail of dead bodies to figure out which way they went. Sometimes it's not the presence of something but the lack of something that gives things away. All these missing people maybe they passed this way

[@ferguson8143]

Exactly as Mongolians killed off 11 percent of the world's population

[@blueberrybane1025]

I was once asked to write a birthday card for a stranger who was sat near me on a bus. She couldnt write or speak English that well and was over in the UK visiting family. After I filled in what she asked, she looked at my terrible writing and gave me a look like she wished she had given me money just so she could ask for it back as I did such a bad job. Lol

[@Windgoddess540]

I love the phrase “it drives me putty” for “for it drives me mad/crazy”. It makes it seem like a more unnecessary or silly mad to me.

[@animistchannel]

You won't find his tomb. There isn't one. He was "sky-buried" (left out for natural scavengers) anonymously and was therefor quickly recycled through the ecosystem. He was a shamanist, not a pharoah or confucian emperor.

[@Light_910]

I love reading such stupid shit on the internet

[@admiral_franz_von_hipper5436]

This. I don’t know how people overlook this important concept of Mongol culture. There is a reason you don’t find ancient burial sites in Mongolia.

[@Light_910]

@admiral_franz_von_hipper5436 Sounds like you don't know anything about Mongolia. They very rarely let Archaeologists excavate burial sites. Sky burial is Tibetan. You severely underestimate the human ego if you think the man who conquered the known world was sky buried.

[@animistchannel]

@@Light_910 It was at his own request. Having explored the strength of strength in the material world, he also wanted to be unified with the land, sky, and water in eternity, not trapped in a box (however grand) that could be raided by mere men in future times. He was the great conquerer, and would not be conquered by others after his lifetime. Only the cosmos itself was big enough to hold the spirit of the Grand Rider, and so still he defies the hands of mortals. To so disappear into the elements is perhaps the biggest statement of self-empowerment of all, as if to say, "You couldn't own or contain me in life. You cannot own or contain me in death." It is very much like "I Am a Leaf on the Wind..."

[@DidMyGrandfatherMakeThis]

@@Light_910no it is pretty remarked that sky burials were a major part of the mongol tribe he was brought up in. So, yeah, it does make sense. And when you say “sources?!” Sorry, I don’t speak the language of his tribe so I have no personal sources. I just leave it to the experts who have studied these things. Also Tibet and the Steppes are pretty similar topography wise so it would make sense they had similar traditions.

[@PalmelaHanderson]

While I think Genghis Khan died a long enough time ago that we should totally dig him up if we find him, I also think it's more important to respect the wishes of the people who live there today, and they seem pretty adamant that they don't want people digging up their shit. The history of archaeology is unfortunately littered with a lot of colonial powers just digging up sites and stealing artifacts. Archaeology has moved past that (even if the museums haven't), but I understand being wary of it.

[@dark_baphomet]

I cant believe you missed the skyrim arrow to the knee quote opportunity there

[@btetschner]

A+ video! Fascinating topic, great writing, and great analysis!

[@carlgibson285]

Some birds can do maths. I forget which bird it is, but there's one type that's been trained to catch fish for people and as a reward they get to keep every seventh fish for themselves, showing they can count up to seven. Some birds are also incredible problem solvers and can look at a puzzle requiring the use of a tool to get food, then solve that puzzle at the first attempt without any trial or error. They not be big-brained, but birds aren't stupid either.

[@browninplay]

Crows and Ravens :) Probably some others too TBH, but there are some amazing videos showing ravens grasping the concept of water displacement to get at their snacks, by dropping stones into a tube of water and watching the food float to the top - better problem solvers than most adults I know unfortunately :')

[@carlgibson285]

@@browninplay yeah, I've seen quite a few videos on members of the Crow family and their problem solving abilities. It's really impressive to watch - you can actually see them figuring the puzzle out in their heads before attempting to solve it. The birds that can count were a type of gull, I just can't remember which type, but they were covered on an episode of QI (a BBC TV show that I can't recommend highly enough if you're into learning interesting facts).

[@mooncat7009]

einstein the parrot is definitely smarter than simon.

[@Plaprad]

Birds are smart. Had a family of crows where I used to live that I spent time with. I got into the habit of going out on my patio for lunch everyday and tossing them peanuts. One day I wasn't feeling good and laid on the couch to watch TV when I started hearing this tapping. The big crow was on my patio knocking on my door until I opened it, ran and jumped on my chair and cawed. They got their peanuts. But they were very smart.

[@SoManyRandomRamblings]

Bees can also do math. Basic addition and subtraction. What blows me away is they were able to figure out what the scientists intended with their setups.

[@fandommennis1348]

I have a 2 requests for you and you and your wonderful team to cover. The first is the Chilbolton incident involving crop circles. It is intriguing but I cannot seem to find any other videos on the subject. The second is the "electric universe theory." I have seen a video debunking this, but woukd love to see you and your team disassemble this "theory" in the meticulous and vetted way that all of you do so well. The video I saw was laced with some stuff that appeared to be conjecture, and I would love to see what u can come up with

[@katsmeow6946]

I believe he’s covered crop circles, somewhere. I think I can hear him say, oh, for Fs sake we know they’re fake.

[@LaRose-Sauvage]

5:14 the bird rant from Simon is epic… yes Simon, you are brighter than birds 😂 congrats

[@ryshow9118]

That cut at like 31:00 for Simon to grab a Red Bull just made me laugh way harder than it rightfully should have 😅

[@josefstrauss9017]

Little proposition for a DTU in the Future. I know it’s kinda silly, but you could maybe decode the Rumors that Elvis faked his death and is still alive. Would be cool ✌🏼 thanks anyway for the video right now

[@Plaprad]

Jeez man, Elvis just went home. Tommy Lee Jones said so.

[@josefstrauss9017]

@@Plaprad fair enough 😅 nice MiB reference, I like it

[@Ntwolf1220]

That’s not silly at all and seems exactly the kind of thing they’d do on here. Good idea!

[@joseybryant7577]

I'm comfortable just letting this one stay a mystery

[@Abby_Liu]

Simon's parents sound like legends

[@ii2bcnii]

Pretty sure they found the Tomb of Ghengis Chan on June 30th 1908 near Tunguska. Unfortunately they tripped the cup and ball booby trap detonating the Khans ultimate weapon.

[@elizabethveldonstuff]

Steel was made in the near east from atleast the 6th century and wilde was bisexual so Khan could well have had steel weapons and Wild could well have female admirers.

[@phaedrapage4217]

Regardless of someone's sexual orientation, they can have admirers of any gender. It's not like leaving lipstick marks on a grave means you had sex with the deceased.

[@Toreno17]

Looking forward to this one! The "Curse of Timur" would be another one I think would be interesting to cover, I'm under the impression its not a real thing but it would be cool to hear the story behind it. Edit: Just seen you've covered the Curse of Timur, so thats sorted! Also perhaps Genghis Khan did take an arrow to the knee and simply retired from his adventuring days...

[@rustomkanishka]

I dunno, man. As soon as they took him out it seems the Nazis had an upper hand. Once they buried him, Soviets got the upper hand. Most importantly plenty of people died and someone or the other sacked Georgia, and Timur would have loved that.

[@Toreno17]

​@@rustomkanishka Of course in the story the Soviets dig him up and Operation Barbarossa happens and when they rebury him they win at Stalingrad, but I suspect the story of a curse written in the tomb is either made up or heavily exagerrated while the dates are again just a coincidence, after all its not like Operation Barbarrossa came about because of Timur, the invasion of the USSR was planned for at least a year, likewise the Soviet success around the time of the reburial is again just a coincidence and after all they had successes against Germany long before Stalingrad.

[@nothanks6784]

​@@rustomkanishkado you smoke crack?

[@rustomkanishka]

@@Toreno17 shhhh. Don't let facts get in the way of a good story. One could maybe argue that his efforts at genocide are the reason one has Moglai cuisine which i am a huge fan of, but that's besides the point. I hope to visit Uzbekistan some day, it seems like a fascinating country with some amazing caravan cities, and from what I hear, delicious food. Kinda working on my Farsi right now, let's hope it's decent by then.

[@elfpimp1]

Not only did he take an arrow to the knee and retire, he then moves to Whitesprings to start a Guard Company..Oh and a bakery specializing in Sweet Rolls..

[@rashkavar]

So, the history of steel is really quite complex, because the process of making iron makes steel too...kinda....accidentally. The 1850s is when we learned to make it deliberately, reliably, and not make anything else, in a single refining process from ore and coking coal to steel and slag (the stuff in the ore that wasn't iron in the first place) Going way back to the early iron age, we used a bloomery furnace, which didn't process the iron ore very well. But by as early as the 4th century BCE (same century as Alexander the Great's wars and the Warring States period of Chinese history), people in southern India were exporting wootz steel, which is one of if not the earliest form of actual steel. To process iron ore into iron, you need a lot of heat in an enclosed space to melt it. Since the easiest way to make that much heat is to burn something - often coal or charcoal - you naturally get very hot carbon mixed in with the iron as it's processed, and since steel is just iron and carbon mixed together, you naturally get some amount of steel in every batch of iron unless you're doing something to specifically keep the carbon separate or are using a modern electric furnace. (You also need a bellows to make the thing you're burning get enough oxygen in that enclosed space, but if you're that curious, the wikipedia article on "Ferrous Metallurgy" is an excellent first step for your research.) Over the years, people slowly got better and better at making the conditions just right to maximize steel production and figuring out processes to refine less useful alloys (like pig iron, which has so much carbon that it becomes brittle) into more useful alloys like cast iron and, if you had a master metallurgist who played his cards right, steel. The 1850s is the development of the Bessemer process, which allows much finer control over the smelting conditions, allowing you to just make steel from iron ore and coking coal. It's still complex, there's a LOT of work that goes into making steel work, we just have a reliable system and massive smelter complexes designed specifically to implement that system because it's really useful to have steel in general and even more so to be able to pick specific grades of steel for specific tasks. Before that, good steel was very expensive, and not something your average working class person used very much. But it was around, and, because military applications get all the money in every society, most of it was used in weapons and armour. All that said, the classic Mongol warrior wore silk armour (layers and layers of silk, which is a very strong material, made for quite decent armour - nothing like the full plate you'd see kings wear around the start of the Renaissance, but a good deal better than the wool gambeson most European footsoldiers would be wearing. (Same principle, inferior material. Heck, this is also the same core principle as kevlar body armour today, kevlar just dials the material strength of the fabric up another few notches from silk). They would also typically use a bow as their primary armament, specifically using a composite of sinew and horn, which proved a good deal better than the longbow of the day (350 yard range for the composite bow, 250 yards for the English longbow of the day.) The arrowheads were metal, but they're only steel in the figurative sense and were actually iron, it seems. Of course, not every Mongol soldier was exclusively an archer, and once they conquered other countries, they quickly started adopting technology and cultural practices from those countries, which would include adopting steel weapons and armour where it would be useful. (This cultural drift is why we tend to think of the Mongol Empire as being fairly short lived - it led to a number of realms in which the descendants of Mongol invaders ruled over the local population, but the Yuan dynasty became distinctly Chinese, whereas the Ilkhanate became distinctly Islamic, for example.

[@christiancook3118]

Youre an absolute riot on this channel. 2nd day into binging your videos, never without a laugh.

[@6600sis]

I used to be an adventurer like Genghis Khan, but then I took an arrow to the knee!

[@variaxi935]

Don't lay a hand on my sweet roll...

[@rynominnie83]

Love the story about the illiterate shopper. It's nice to see someone identify and acknowledge their privilege, yet simultaneously still remain completely oblivious to it.

[@SugarandSarcasm]

It’s possible to be able to read and write, but not be able to do it in English as well. It’s what I was thinking when he went on that tangent

[@thejudgmentalcat]

Good to see Simon hydrated and caffeinated

[@craigelliott4338]

Bro, you are frigging mental! 😂 I love it. I just gotta make sure I'm not consuming food or drink. I've nearly choked a few times 😂

[@lauren9667]

No, Simon, his treasure was found and is in the British Museum.

[@TheJackBaker]

When I was 19 I worked with a guy that could not read or write. He was a wonderful prep cook and line cook, he was very talented. He could not read or write, every new recipe, someone would read it off to him once, maybe twice, then he had it memorized. I am sure, looking back on it, that he was ADD with dyslexia and dyscalculia as well as dysgraphia. I am the same,I just had better educational tools and opportunity. No one can read my handwriting. it has nothing to to do will will power or being lazy. You can't yell at us and make us learn faster, you can't beat us, and make us write better. I carried a laptop and printer through high school , made me real popular. I am glad more people are getting a diagnosis earlier in life. If concessions would have been made for my friend, I think he probably would have achieved at least a graduate degree.

[@dreamchasergarage690]

If everyone who knew the location of the tomb was killed, how can anyone subsequently be burried with him?

[@bodan1196]

I'm not entirely sure that opium was much of a thing in the region when Narco Polo visited the Kahn.

[@crystalmethking]

narco polo?

[@SoManyRandomRamblings]

​@@crystalmethkingFreudian slip maybe. Lol.

[@supernoodles91]

On a year out in '02, three of us were hiking in the area his tomb was thought to be. My mate Bob left the tent with a shovel (we knew what he was off to do!) he stumbled across Genghiss' tomb, obviously I can't say where it is though!

[@Greg-TC]

Simon reminiscing about having met one illiterate person in his life is one of those things he thinks is normal but is definitely a major undercount because it rarely comes up with people. Living in the US, I know lots of people who can't write English, even if they can speak it well, usually because English is not their first language

[@rustomkanishka]

He should consider traveling to commonwealth nations. Many of the institutions, laws, bureaucracies etc are very similar, and he's bound to run into other English speakers, and depending on where he goes, plenty of illiterate people.

[@frankiemillcarek6976]

I'm from Florida and many kids even into junior/senior year of high school were unable to read/write even when English was their first language. Because Florida school system.

[@Kashta-qf8lk]

​@@frankiemillcarek6976that aint normal im born in raised in jacksonville so them people were retarded jits

[@jonacker6991]

You really need to not just trust siri right off the bat broski. They definitely had steel xD

[@Palemagpie]

Are you telling me, Ghengis Khan.....used to be an adventurer like me?

[@StoneInMySandal]

In the U.S. about 21% of adults are illiterate and 55% have literacy below a sixth grade level. During WWII less than 10% of the women who stepped in to work in war production had any high school education. There’s a huge uneducated population in the United States. Probably why religion and politics are so odd.

[@rynominnie83]

So that's why they managed to elect the orange bigot?

[@Light_910]

I'd like a source on that, because you're wrong.

[@myflippinggoodness8821]

​@@Light_910do YOU have a link? I mean rly, you both should, and goddammit those links better be fckn credible, you twin arses

[@chrisberry6036]

Not sure if that's where they got the information from but it's worth the read

[@thekeytoairpower]

That 21% number is extremely misleading. It only includes English literacy (so if you can only read Spanish or Cantonese, you are illiterate). If you have vision poor enough that it affects your ability to take the test you are illiterate. And finally even if you only have basic reading skills you are illiterate. That statistic is more accurately 79% of the US population reads English well, the other 21 don't.

[@MurphysEveryWhim]

I always respect your recommendations! I’ve read 5 of the 8 books you mention here, so I’ve put the other three on my TBR. ❤

[@mickeyolds7383]

Love Simon's mini rant about birds haha

[@ralyksreborn420]

We missed out on the chance for so many skyrim memes lol "I was and adventurer like you once, til I got an arrow in the knee" 😂

[@steve3291]

I tune in to watch an episode on Genghis Khan and get a 10 minute rant on customs fees - so Simon!

[@rachieru382]

"Do we have a right to be digging up dead people?" British Fact Boi Simon: "FUCK YEAH! FOR HISTORY!" Me: "Mhmh, the British museum needs new exhibits to replace the ones that were stolen." (Jokes. I'm joking. lol😂)

[@antiisocial]

Awesome. Thank y'all a bunch.

[@mecahhannah]

Awesome as always thanks

[@NewbFixer]

Killin it Bro and the names 🤣

[@durk5331]

Im pretty damn sure that if someone were to find Genghis Khan's tomb, it'd be worth WAAAAY more than 100,000 USD

[@mattgb.is1dave150]

Yes well thanks for clearing that up for us 👍 smashing 👍 keep the good work going . Really do enjoy your work.

[@AvoidTheCadaver]

Simon not getting the Skyrim reference then mixing it up with the death of Attila the Hun is just *chef's kiss*