Mongolian 'Game of Thrones' Revealed in Ancient Engravings

[Judi Lynn]

By Owen Jarus, Live Science Contributor | December 27, 2017 08:00am ET

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Drone footage show 14 mysterious stone pillars unearthed in the Mongolian steppe that provide clues to ancient power struggles. Segments of the inscriptions and sarcophagus excavated from the hole at the center of the ruins can be seen.
Credit: Osaka University and Institute of History and Archaeology, Mongolian Academy of Science

A 1,300-year-old structure containing 14 engraved stone pillars was recently discovered in Mongolia, hinting at a centuries-old power struggle that may have ended in assassination.

The pillars were found surrounding the remains of a now-empty sarcophagus, or stone coffin.

The inscriptions, written in a Turkic language, say that the person buried at the site (whose name is not yet clear) became the second most powerful person in an empire that controlled much of what is now Mongolia and parts of northern China. This was centuries before Genghis Khan and his Mongol hordes swept across the steppe and conquered much of the world.

The inscriptions say that the unnamed individual was given the title "Yagbu" (viceroy) during the reign of Bilge Qaghan (716-734), a ruler who was later poisoned, according to historical records.

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