Exhibit at Irving museum traces the path of Khan

By Gaile Robinson

grobinson@star-telegram.com

Murder, mayhem and golden objects can provide a summer distraction from video games. The Irving Arts Center is betting on it. The new art museum is hosting the traveling show "Genghis Khan: The Exhibition" through the summer. More than 200 objects, many of them from 13th-century Mongolia, are on display, but what will surely beguile the pre-tweeners are the show's interactive components.

Upon entry, everyone is given an identity -- princess, Mongol, warrior, nomad or even a horse (horses were the prized possession of these nomadic warrior tribes), and as you travel through the exhibit, interactive screens will describe how your avatar lived. One of the first displays is a ger, or yurt -- the felt-covered round tent structure that was home to the Mongols. In adjacent galleries, swords, knives, saddles, lanterns, musical instruments, boots, hats, guns, everything a warrior might need is on display. Interwoven among the displays is the story of Genghis Khan, an illiterate orphan who became the ruler of the world's largest contiguous landmass empire. He conquered lands that spread from the Sea of Japan to the Danube River; his empire covered 22 percent of the Earth's land and had a population of 100 million.

Khan (1162-1227) was an extremely violent man -- merciless to his enemies -- but also a visionary, instituting numerous civic codes and programs that became the model for the empire builders who came after him.

While the kids play with the replica catapult, parents can read about Khan's siege warfare tactics -- such as cutting off the enemies' supply lines until they were weakened by starvation. Then, when they were on their knees, Khan would fill their moats and wells with the diseased and dead bodies of people and animals from previous campaigns. Once the city had been conquered, he would ruthlessly kill most of the population, but allow a few to escape so they could spread tales of the horrors.

Although his warfare tactics were quite brutal, his civic codes were enlightened. He insisted on clean-water practices, not allowing his armies to befoul waterways upriver from any settlement. He granted diplomatic immunity to emissaries from other nations and began a civil-service test so that jobs were obtained strictly on merit. He began a national postal service, much like the Pony Express, using horses and riders who went short distances at high speeds across his vast empire. He set up toll booths on trade routes and utilized printing presses for paper money and the dissemination of information. His legacy includes literacy for his people, religious freedom, international passports and rule by a council of leaders.

The Mongols used charcoal for fires, forks as eating utensils, and pants were worn by the men, as they provided more protection in the saddle. As trade routes opened across the Mongol territories, these practices spread to other parts of the world.

Because the Mongols were nomadic warriors, much of what is left from that time are their armaments and equestrian tack. The horses were so valued that they were kitted out as elaborately as their riders -- in full body armor that protected them from ears to tail. On display are remarkably well-preserved items made of metal -- chain-mail shirts, firearms, bridles, bits and wheel axles -- as well as a few wood saddles

Kahn died in 1227, historians suspect, from a fall from his horse and then subsequent infections. He was buried somewhere near his birthplace, but his tomb has never been found. He left his empire, divided into four realms, to four of his sons. His grandson Kublai Khan was the last to rule over the great Mongol territories, but he could not quell the fractious Chinese or the warring Mongol tribes, and eventually the empire was split apart by these divisive factions.

Recently a tomb was found in the Gobi desert of a princess from the Khan era. The mummified remains of an extremely tall woman and her burial trove of treasures are traveling with this exhibit. Although no one knows who she was, obviously she was considered quite important by the richness of her clothing. She wore two silk dresses and a full-length leather coat, and these are on display. The silk has become almost lacelike in its antiquity, but the leather coat is still whole.

There is, of course, a traveling gift shop with the exhibition, with a number of Mongol-made objects, including many felt items such as hats, purses, dolls and a contemporary collection of jewelry made by Mongolian women.

The Irving Arts Center will have a family festival 1-5 p.m. Sunday. There will be Khan period crafts and games; a petting zoo of Mongol animals with camels, sheep, goats and ponies; and food from the Genghis Grill. The festival is free, but the exhibition is not.

Gaile Robinson is the Star-Telegram art and design critic, 817-390-7113

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