attila the hun was one of the most ruthless and successful rulers in all of history
his vast empire stretched from the caspian sea in the east to modern day france in the west
his fearless armies even brought the mighty roman empire to its knees not much is known
about these fierce warriors perhaps the greatest mystery of all is the location of attila's tomb
lost the history for more than 1500 years but have we figured out its whereabouts
the mystery of the hun no one seems to know where the hun came from some scholars say they were
descendants of the nomadic xianu people a warrior society that terrorized china from the 3rd century
bc to the 1st century a.d others believe they came from modern-day kazakhstan or somewhere nearby on
the central asian step by 370 a.d they had arrived in southwestern europe in the next 80 years they
would raise hell across the continent sacking city after city swift and efficient these warriors on
horseback used surprise fein disorganization and excellent marksmanship to conquer most of europe
north of the waning roman empire the hun were nomadic pastoralists who may or may not have
practiced agriculture most of their diet came from their herds ancient accounts described them as
glue to their horses some say the hun were on their horses so often that they walked clumsily
because they moved around so much there is very little material evidence of their culture some
bronze cauldrons and gold jewelry have been found in the few burial sites attributed to the hunt
but not much else they may have started building housing structures towards the end of their empire
but mostly they lived in tents that could be carried from place to place
we knew they practiced artificial cranial deformation which involved lengthening the
skulls of babies by binding them resulting in a weird alien-like skull shape experts think
they probably did this to distinguish the nobility from the general population we know almost nothing
about their religion roman accounts call them pagans and they may have had shamans who gave
prophecies and practiced divination some say they may also have worshipped an ancient
sword called the sword of mars a weapon that could lying in the lost tomb of attila the hun
attila the hun ruler of the world attila achieved a nearly godlike status in hanukk culture he
reigned for less than 20 years from 434 to 453 a.d but managed to change the face of europe forever
his exploits on the battlefield were legendary he rampaged through much of the balkans and
even captured the roman city of carthage attila wreaked so much havoc across the outskirts of the
roman empire that he earned the nickname scourge of god and the romans ended up paying the hun's
annual tributes of thousands of pounds of gold so attila would leave much of their territory alone
he did have some setbacks including an unsuccessful siege of constantinople
and a failed attempt to conquer persia but the huns regrouped resolute and ready for more
by 453 attila and the huns seemed poised to exert their influence across
evermore territory throughout the european continent but one fateful night would prove
to be the downfall of the entire empire and lead to a mystery that still persists to this day
a bloody marriage in 454 attila married his second wife ildiko a beautiful german princess the
wedding night was extravagant full of feasting and drinking at the end of it the newlyweds went to
bed in the morning attila was found dead soaked in blood with a dilco cowering in the corner of the
room like most of what we know about the huns and attila the story is clouded with uncertainty and
speculation some say attila died of a nosebleed in asleep others suggest he was murdered by his
new bride but whether by accident or on purpose attila was no more without the leadership of their
prolific king the huns fell into disarray and the vast empire disintegrated almost overnight
a mysterious tomb it is said that attila was encased in a magnificent triple coffin
the first was made of gold a symbol of the vast wealth he had accumulated through conquest
the second was made of silver to signify his kinship to the moon and river the third was made
of iron a nod to his strength and power legend says his body was accompanied by an untold fortune
of gems and gold along with the mythical sword of mars his battle weapon that supposedly gave
him the power to rule the world and then in the dark of night his triple coffin was carried to an
unknown location and buried the secrecy of his burial was so important that the pallbearers who
carried attila to his final resting place and the gravediggers who buried him were all killed
a savage final act of a king known for his ruthlessness and razor sharp tactical mind
the lost capital of the hun there are two theories about where attila may be buried
the first claims that attila was interred in the royal city of sicumbria no evidence of sicumbria
the supposed capital of the hun has ever been found this is probably because the hun moved
around so often and even if they did set up a permanent city it was most likely made of wood
with the swift demise of the hun the city was lost forever we only know of cicumbria's
existence through a few first-hand accounts the most famous comes from the writings of
priscus a roman civil servant and chronicler who served the holy roman empire under theodosius ii
in 449 a.d priskus traveled to meet the great han ruler in his writings he says
his party first traveled from constantinople to sertica which is now modern-day sofia bulgaria
they then traveled across the danube river into the heart of hun territory once in the land of
the hun priskus writes that they crossed three more rivers the dracun the tigus and the tiffas
none of these names still exist today but some think that the tigas might be what
is now the chisha river in eastern hungary the country's second largest river after the danube
priscus then came upon the capital a collection of small wooden houses and one stone structure in the
center all surrounded by a great wooden wall but through all of this the closest guess we can make
about the location of attila's tomb is that it is somewhere in eastern hungary between the danube
and the tisha rivers at the bottom of a river the second theory centers on the tisa river itself
according to legend before his death attila had instructed hun
engineers to damn netija long enough for his sarcophagus to be buried in the riverbed
the dam was then destroyed sending the waters of the tija flowing over the site the tomb of
the great hun warrior king was thus lost to history shrouded in speculation and mystery
archaeologists have tried for years to find attila's tomb scanning the riverbed of the
tija with teams of divers and sonar scanning but nothing has ever turned up the search continues
if archaeologists or determined treasure hunters do ever find attila's tomb
it would be one of the greatest discoveries in history it could perhaps answer questions about
how he died his genetic lineage and even turn up the mythical sword of mars for now though the
speculation will have to continue the mysteries of the hun and their great leader persist a nomadic
tribe that somehow nearly conquered a continent and then as quickly as they came vanished