1) Attila the Hun
There is a tradition within the lands of the Mongols when it comes to their leaders deaths, and it says that the burial place should remain forgotten and undisturbed. When it comes to leaders as powerful and feared as Attila the Hun, this involves having your most loyal troops kill all of the people who made the burial site or witnessed the ceremony.
Attila the Hun was known across Europe as the Scourge of God, quite a nickname for someone who died in such an un-leader-like manner. Apparently Attila passed out drunk on his wedding night and choked to death in his sleep from a nosebleed.
He was said to be buried in a solid gold coffin, which was placed inside a solid silver coffin, which in turn was placed inside an iron one. The grave is thought to be somewhere in Austria, but there’s also the claim that someone looted the grave soon after it was made.
2) Genghis Khan
Before he died in 1227, Genghis Khan left orders for his burial, which was along the same lines as Attila the Hun’s, only more brutal. He was said to be buried with his most precious items and to ensure his grave wasn’t disturbed, he had his troops kill all the guests at the ceremony, who were in turn killed by his personal bodyguards, who were then supposed to commit suicide.
This is probably just a story as the grave was said to have 10,000 horses trample over it to hide the fact something was buried there, But whether or not the riders knew what they were trampling over is another mystery. The burial site is thought to be somewhere in Mongolia’s Khentii Province, though so far no one has found any trace of it.
3) Cleopatra
The grave of the most famous ruler of Egypt is yet to be found. Her death was a sudden event as Roman forces were about to overthrow her rule, and instead of being captured she chose to kill herself, with the most widely believed method being from a snake bite.
The ancient chronicler Plutarch writes that she was buried along with her lover, Mark Anthony in a grave in Alexandria, and goes on to write about the splendour of the ceremony.
As for the location of the grave there’s a wide range of suggestions which range from it being near Taposiris Magna, an Egyptian city that has been the site of dozens of burials, to the grave being at the bottom of the sea when the land it was on was destroyed by earthquakes in the earlier centuries.
4) Alexander the Great
After having led a campaign that saw him conquer Greece and India, Alexander the Great finally died in the year 323 BC. His burial was something spectacular, with people coming from far and wide to pay their respects and leave burial gifts in his tomb.
His body was moved to a mausoleum several years later and was visited by peasants and nobles alike, with Julius Caesar and Augustus both making appearances at his resting place.
He was on display in a solid gold coffin until the year 199 when Emperor Septimus Severus closed the tomb off from the public for good. What happened to the body from that point on is a mystery as there are no mentions of its location. Its believed the coffin was moved from the mausoleum and buried somewhere else, but that location doesn’t seem to have a single clue to it.
5) Wolfgang Mozart
One of the most famous composers of all time actually had a known burial site which was later lost. He died in 1791 after a strange and sudden illness and was buried in an unmarked grave in Vienna’s St. Marx Cemetery.
During this time in Europe it was common to dig graves up after a certain amount of time and move the remains else were so more people could be buried in cemeteries. Since his grave was unmarked and the people doing the body moving weren’t made aware, his grave was dug up and his remains placed in the back of a waggon for transport.
Even though his grave doesn’t contain any treasure it seems ashame that the resting place of a man who’s music has inspired so many people, doesn’t even have a place where people can go and pay respects.
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