The Guardians of Marco Polo

Marco Polo was twenty when he reached China in 1274. He spent another seventeen years living and working directly for Kublai Khan, Genghis Khan’s grandson and the first emperor of the Yuan dynasty. It was customary for senior imperial officials to live in households with several wives. Was Marco Polo any different? Or was he living in celibacy while in China? After the battle of Hattin, where Salahadin, the sultan of Syria, defeated the Christian army, he conquered Jerusalem. Many treasures from Jerusalem were sent to the ruler of Islam, caliph of Baghdad, where they were placed in the famous treasure tower. There is no surprise that Kublai Khan enjoyed the company of Christians. His mother Sorkaktani was a Christian. She had a profound influence on her four sons’ career within Mongol elites, especially on Kublai and Hulagu. Kublai conquered and united China and was elected the Great Khan of the Mongol empire, while Hulagu conquered Persia, and the Islamic caliphate with its capital Baghdad. What happened to the treasures of Baghdad after the city was conquered by the Mongols? This is the quest that Alex and Nicole Philipson embark on when they come to the possession of an old Chinese parchment written in . . . Latin. They think the riddles in the parchment will lead them to Genghis Khan’s tomb. In fact, it will lead them to unexpected and astonishing discoveries.