The Tomb of Timur (Tamerlane) in the Gur-Emir Mausoleum in Samarkand is shrouded in legends that have been unsettling imaginations for over eighty years. The main one is the curse of Timur, linking the opening of his tomb by Soviet scientists in June 1941 with the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War. Where is the tomb and what does it represent Timur died in 1405 during a campaign to China and was buried in the Gur-Emir Mausoleum in Samarkand, which was originally built for his favorite grandson Muhammad Sultan. Inside the mausoleum, in the underground crypt, there is a tombstone made of white marble, above which is the famous jade tombstone installed by Timur's grandson, the astronomer Ulugbek. The jade is carved with a long genealogy of Timur, tracing back to Genghis Khan. The legend of the curse: three sages and an inscription The most popular version of the legend says that before the tomb was opened, three sages approached the scientists and showed an ancient book with a warning: if Timur's ashes are disturbed, a terrible war will begin. Later, a version appeared that inside the sarcophagus there was an inscription: \"Whosoever disturbs my peace will release a conqueror more terrible than I.\". However, researchers are skeptical about this. Firstly, the ancient book of the sages, according to the participants of the expedition, was not a chronicle, but a collection of local legends from the 19th century, and belonged to folklore, not a real prophecy. Secondly, the story of the inscription inside the grave is most likely a later invention: people close to the anthropologist Gerasimov called it a myth. The real reason for the exhumation: not mysticism, but a pipe Contrary to popular belief, the 1941 expedition was not an act of vandalism or a search for mystical artifacts. The reason was purely practical. A hotel was being built next to the mausoleum, and due to an error in the drainage system, ground water began to flood the fo ... Read more