As anybody can see, these tombs look nothing like the majestic stone pyramids of Africa.
But in the heydays, they must have been truly something to behold.
Genghis Khan first invaded Khwarezmia and successfully defeated it.
He then turned his attention towards Western Xia.
The Mongol army pushed through the enemys defenses systematically destroying Western Xia cites and slaughtering their population.
By the time the empires capital city Yinchuan fell, the annihilation was near total.
Every written record was destroyed, and much of the empires architecture and cultural artifacts.
So complete was the eradication that until the 20th century, nobody knew who founded Western Xia.
Still very little is known about the Tangut ethnic group who founded the empire.
The fact that these tombs survive is a miracle in itself.
Highly visible are the mounds, also known as the spiritual terrace.
Squat like Buddhist pagodas, these round or octagonal structures are about 20 meters tall.
One can only imagine how magnificent the tombs must have looked.
Photo credit:lee_uav/dronestagram
Photo credit:xiaoming wang/Flickr
Stele bases of Tomb no.
