The stone erected at the place where the mutilated remains of the imperial family were found bears an Old Testament quotation from the Book of Amos: "I will not spare him, because he burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime"

​​The stone erected at the place where the mutilated remains of the imperial family were found bears an Old Testament quotation from the Book of Amos: "I will not spare him, because he burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime". The reference is to an accusation levelled against the Moabites, who were charged with desecrating the body of one of the kings of Edom. They dug the king's corpse out of its grave and burned it until the bones turned white. A decent burial of the dead, who were meant to lie in peace in the family tomb, together with the disturbance of the deceased's repose, the robbery and the destruction of a grave, was regarded in many ancient cultures as a terrible crime. In the biblical text, the desecration of royal remains is judged to be rebellion against the foundations laid down by God, an insult to the image of the Lord in man, that is, inhuman conduct. For this Moab is to be consigned to the fire and perish. Unfortunately, it is impossible to link the accusation to any particular historical event. The crime committed against the bodies of the imperial family, however, who were mutilated, defiled, doused with acid and thrown down a mineshaft, is established beyond doubt. A tragic path of the tsars