Glossary · Term
Tower of skulls
A tower of skulls was a structure built from the heads of the slain, raised as a deliberate display of terror after the capture of a city. Timur was notorious for constructing such towers during his campaigns. Accounts of the Timurid Empire describe them as a calculated psychological weapon that convinced many cities to surrender without resistance, reducing military costs while maximising terror.
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Cite this entry
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Tower of skulls. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/tower-of-skulls
- MLA
- “Tower of skulls.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/tower-of-skulls. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Tower of skulls.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/tower-of-skulls.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Tower of skulls’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/tower-of-skulls (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻