Genghis Khan sculpture unveiled at Marble Arch in London

[jimmy olsen]

I look forward to the statues of Hitler and Stalin! 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-17703290

Genghis Khan sculpture unveiled at Marble Arch

A bronze sculpture of Mongolian warrior Genghis Khan has been unveiled at Marble Arch in central London.

The 16ft tall (5m) statue captures the legendary leader wearing Mongolian armour on his steed.

The sculpture by artist Dashi Namdakov will stand next to Cumberland Gate until early September.

The artist, who had an interest in the nomadic tribes of Mongolia, wanted to honour the warrior on the 850th anniversary of his birth.

He said: "If I wanted to show him as a warrior I would have shown him as a warrior, but he is a thinker in this case. He is a divine figure in my country."

Namdakov was born in a Siberian village and brought up in the Buryat Buddhist culture.

'Essence of nomadism'

His village was close to the area which was historically controlled by nomadic Mongol tribes and which led to his interest in Buryat and Mongol cultures.

Westminster Council selected the statue as part of its ongoing City of Sculpture festival, which was launched in 2010.

The festival aims to install works of art across the borough in the run-up to the Diamond Jubilee and the Olympic and Paralympic Games in the capital.

Halcyon Gallery said the sculpture was specially commissioned for Marble Arch.

The artwork captures the intricate details of the medieval Mongolian armour and dress, including the golden plaques on the livery and the plaited hair.

The decision to depict the warrior on his horse embodies "the very essence of nomadism and brings the culture of the ancient Mongols directly to the public", the gallery said.

The sculpture's unveiling comes ahead of an exhibition by the artist in the gallery in Mayfair next month.

[grumbler]

I look forward to the statues of Hitler and Stalin! 

Yes, because Hitler and Stalin are equivalents to Genghis Khan. 

[Sheilbh]

God.  We really will put up a statue to anyone

[Solmyr]

I look forward to the statues of Hitler and Stalin! 

Yes, because Hitler and Stalin are equivalents to Genghis Khan. 

Nope, they are small players compared to him. Didn't he kill more people than the two of them together?

[grumbler]

Nope, they are small players compared to him. Didn't he kill more people than the two of them together?

  No.   The histories of the times exaggerated everything.  There is no doubt that millions died, directly or indirectly, during his campaigns, but more than the fifty million who died as a result of Hitler's actions, and the twenty to thirty million more who died as a result of Stalin's acts (independent of Hitler's)?  Know whey!

[Valmy]

Well at least it is not a second George Washington statue.

[PDH]

Well at least it is not a second George Washington statue.

That man was a beast.

[Malthus]

London would make a great setting for a Vlad Tepes statue. All those spiked railings. 

[Darth Wagtaros]

As far as mass murderers go he had some style. 

[Solmyr]

London would make a great setting for a Vlad Tepes statue. All those spiked railings. 

And he actually visited London, even if it was 400 years after his death.

[grumbler]

London would make a great setting for a Vlad Tepes statue. All those spiked railings. 

Can you get to the point?

[crazy canuck]

Malthus' railing against the statue is rather pointed.

[grumbler]

Malthus' railing against the statue is rather pointed.

Disagree.  I think he is engaged in mere fenciful mewsing, without realizing that mews generally lack fences.

[Malthus]

These comments pierce me to the core. 

[jimmy olsen]

Nope, they are small players compared to him. Didn't he kill more people than the two of them together?

  No.   The histories of the times exaggerated everything.  There is no doubt that millions died, directly or indirectly, during his campaigns, but more than the fifty million who died as a result of Hitler's actions, and the twenty to thirty million more who died as a result of Stalin's acts (independent of Hitler's)?  Know whey!

Seems like he's in the middle of them
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1350272/Genghis-Khan-killed-people-forests-grew-carbon-levels-dropped.html#ixzz1sFBDyIW3

Genghis Khan has been branded the greenest invader in history - after his murderous conquests killed so many people that huge swathes of cultivated land returned to forest.

The Mongol leader, who established a vast empire between the 13th and 14th centuries, helped remove nearly 700million tons of carbon from the atmosphere, claims a new study.

The deaths of 40million people meant that large areas of cultivated land grew thick once again with trees, which absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

And, although his methods may be difficult for environmentalists to accept, ecologists believe it may be the first ever case of successful manmade global cooling.

'It's a common misconception that the human impact on climate began with the large-scale burning of coal and oil in the industrial era,' said Julia Pongratz, who headed the research by the Carnegie Institution's Department of Global Ecology.

'Actually, humans started to influence the environment thousands of years ago by changing the vegetation cover of the Earth's landscapes when we cleared forests for agriculture,' she told Mongabay.com.

The 700million tons of carbon absorbed as a result of the Mongol empire is about the same produced in a year from the global use of petrol.