When we think about tombs many of us think about Ancient Egypt, King Tut and the curses made to keep people away. We picture mummies wrapped in crumbling pieces of cloth coming to life, or treasures beyond anyone’s imagination. A tomb is a final resting place for dead people. But it is so much more than that. Ancient tombs have taught us about the people who lived in a time long ago, what their lives were like, and the civilizations they lived in. Archaeologists have deciphered hieroglyphs, cave paintings and the Maya script left behind to tell us about the people and religions they followed. An ancient tomb is a keeper of time that scientists, as well as tomb raiders, search for hoping to be the first to open them. Hoping to find the magical secrets held inside. 

Many tombs have been found accidentally. Others have been found using clues written in ancient scripts. When an archaeologist finds a tomb, his job is to preserve the contents and decipher the history held inside. Tomb raiders want to get to the precious treasures of gold and other metals they can sell. They do not care about the history or preserving it for future generations to learn from. Tomb raiding is illegal but it still happens and these criminals are taking a piece of history with each item stolen.

Did you know that some of the most visited and photographed tourist attractions in the world are tombs? The Taj Mahal was built by Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his wife.  It took 16 years to build and was finished in 1648. Many people visit Agra, India, just to see this beautiful building. The great pyramids in Egypt are visited by almost 14 million people each year. The pyramids were built as tombs for pharaohs.  Beneath the European cities of Rome and Paris are burial tombs called The Catacombs. Millions of people visit the catacombs every year. Miles of dark underground passages are the home to the skeletons of dead Christians from over 2,000 years ago. 

Many tombs, especially the pyramids, have burial chambers filled with treasures. The items in the tombs are things that were believed the deceased would need in the afterlife. The first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huangdi, decided he needed his army to go with him after he died. He hired hundreds of people to make life-sized statues of soldiers to surround him. These statues are called the Terra Cotta Army and there are more than 8,000 soldiers that have been found.

One mystery is where is the tomb of Genghis Khan. Treasure hunters, archaeologists and explorers have been searching for his burial place for hundreds of years. He wanted his burial site to be kept secret from everyone. Stories say that the people who knew where he was buried, were all killed after he was put in his tomb.