For millennia, the allure of unexplored wealth has captivated explorers, historians, and visionaries. These riches are more than just collections of gold and gems; they are historical objects cloaked in mystery and intrigue. They may be buried in vast deserts, concealed beneath ancient ruins, or drowned in uncharted waters.
This site offers readers an exhilarating tour of some of the world's most fascinating hidden treasures. From legendary hoards that are said to be cursed to artifacts of immense historical importance that have been lost to time, these stories inspire curiosity and awe. These tales of lost riches will take you back to a time of mystery and exploration if you're a die-hard treasure hunter or an avid adventurer.
Get ready to discover the mysteries of lost treasures and delve into the past. Will you be the one to bring them back to life? Let's explore!
Stolen Aztec treasure
The Aztec Empire in Mexico was thriving in the early 16th century, but Montezuma, the monarch, lost favor when Hernán Cortes and his fellow Spanish conquistadors came in 1519. For unknown reasons, Montezuma, their puppet monarch, died in 1520. In the face of an Aztec rebellion, Cortes and his army tried to sneak a significant amount of Aztec wealth out of Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital, on June 30, 1520, under cover of darkness. However, when one of their ships sank in a now-dried-up canal that went to Lake Texcoco, many Spanish were killed and some of the gold was lost. "La Noche Triste," which translates to "Night of Sadness," is how the Spanish named that night. A few months later, the Spanish returned with only a part of the stolen treasure. Much more is still missing, but a construction worker in Mexico City recently recovered some of the stolen money when he found a centuries-old gold bar.
Constructed in the 18th century, the Amber Room is located in the Catherine Palace in Tsarskoe Selo, near St. Petersburg. The space was adorned with panels crafted from over 1,000 pounds (450 kilograms) of amber, as well as gold-coated mosaics, mirrors, and carvings. The panels and artwork in the chamber were disassembled and shipped to Germany in 1941 after Germany seized Tsarskoe Selo during World War II. They may have been destroyed, but no one has seen them since. Today, the Catherine Palace recreates the Amber Room.
The Tomb of Qin Shi Huang
The disappearance occurred around 200 BCE. What started off as a normal day in the life of a farmer turned into one of the most amazing discoveries when Yang Zhifa found a terracotta statue on a mountaintop near the Chinese city of Xi'an while looking for water. Even more unexpectedly, as researchers delved further, they found a mausoleum containing a massive army of clay warriors guarding the grave of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China.
Although it might sound like the opening of a monster movie, it is the entirety of this story. There is little risk that the archaeologists may inadvertently revive an enraged monarch if they carry on with their excavations, even though some valuables might be lost. The archaeologists have only inspected three chambers within the mausoleum thus far, and it is improbable that the pickaxes could reach the emperor's resting spot in the middle of the structure.
Out of respect, the Chinese government can forbid additional tomb excavation. Moreover, current technology is insufficiently sophisticated to safely go to such depths. In addition, poisonous mercury rivers are said to round the emperor's grave. Qin Shi Huang ordered the building of a lavish tomb compound that resembled a subterranean city. After his death, Qin Shi Huang buried his riches and body, which are now trapped in the unknown depths of the earth.
Sarcophagus of Menkaure
The Egyptian monarch Menkaure's pyramid is the smallest of the three that were constructed at Giza around 4,500 years ago. During his 1830s exploration of the Giza pyramids, English military commander Howard Vyse periodically broke through the structures using destructive techniques, such as using explosives.
An intricate sarcophagus in Menkaure's pyramid was one of the many items Vyse found at Giza. Vyse tried to take the ornate tomb to England in 1838 on the merchant ship Beatrice, but the ship sank and the sarcophagus was taken with it. The finding of the Beatrice could lead to the recovery of the ancient sarcophagus.
Ark of the Covenant
According to the Hebrew Bible, the Ark of the Covenant was a chest with tablets engraved with the Ten Commandments. The chest was housed in Jerusalem, ancient Israel, at the temple of King Solomon. This temple, sometimes referred to as the First Temple, was the holiest site on earth for the Jews. But when an army from ancient Babylon, led by King Nebuchadnezzar II, overran and pillaged Jerusalem in 587 B.C., it was destroyed. It is unclear what happened to the Ark of the Covenant, and its location has long been a source of speculation.
Honjo Masamune sword
The Honjo Masamune is a sword that was supposedly created by Gorō Nyūdō Masamune, who lived from 1264 to 1343 and is considered by many to be the greatest sword maker in Japanese history. The sword is named after one of its owners, Honjo Shigenaga, who took it as a prize after a 16th-century battle. The sword later came into the possession of Tokugawa Ieyasu, who became the first shogun of Japan after winning a series of wars in the 16th century. The Tokugawa family owned the sword until the end of World War II, when they handed it over to American authorities during their occupation of Japan out of fear that they could use it—and others like it—against them. But the sword never reappeared. U.S. soldiers may have destroyed the sword, along with other captured Japanese weapons, or they may have brought the sword to America, indicating the possibility of its recovery.
The Vinland map
The Vinland map, a controversial map, claims to depict a part of North America before Columbus' voyages. It could prove that Norse explorers came to North America before Christopher Columbus if it is genuine. But the map's authenticity is disputed by historians, who never saw it again after concealing it for security during World War II.
Lost Library of the Moscow Tsars
According to legend, the Moscow Tsars' Library held a sizable collection of ancient Greek literature in addition to works in numerous other languages. According to an article published in the Journal of Library History in 1983, David Arans, a scholar, wrote that the Grand Duchy of Moscow's rulers allegedly constructed the library by 1518. In the 16th century, Prince Andrey Kurbsky described a meeting between Maximus (1475–1556), a philosopher, and Vasili III (1479–1533), the grand prince of Moscow, during which the grand prince showed Maximus a vast collection of Greek books.
There are allegations that the manuscripts in the library were somehow concealed by Ivan IV, also known as Ivan the Terrible, who ruled from 1530 until 1584. There have been many searches over the decades to find this "hidden library," but they have been unsuccessful. In her book "Archives in Russia: A Directory and Bibliographic Guide to Holdings in Moscow and St. Petersburg" (Routledge, 1997), historian Patricia Kennedy Grimsted pointed out that a number of ancient texts written in Greek and other languages are kept in archives in Moscow and St. Petersburg, regardless of the existence of this secret library.
Crown Jewels of Ireland.
The "crown jewels of Ireland," which were removed from Dublin Castle in 1907, had nothing to do with any coronation ceremony and were not crowned. According to a 2001 article by Tomás O'Riordan, a historian and project manager at University College Cork, they instead featured five gold collars, a diamond brooch, and a jeweled star of the Order of St. Patrick, all of which were Crown property. In 1783, Tomás O'Riordan created the Order of St. Patrick to recognize high-ranking Irish officials and their Irish peers, known as Knights' companions, who were crucial to the government of the time.
When these "crown jewels" were created in 1783, Britain was in control of Ireland. King George III used 394 stones from Queen Charlotte's jewels and an insignia from the Order of the Bath to create the piece. Queen Charlotte was the spouse of King George III. O'Riordan claims that the gems also included perhaps costly stones brought by a Turkish monarch and rupees from a Mughal ruler.
According to reports, the library where the jewels were kept had insufficient security, which made the heist possible. Who stole the diamonds and what happened to them are still mysteries. Several people, including Francis Shackleton, the brother of famous explorer Ernest Shackleton, were suspected of committing the crime, however nothing was ever confirmed.
Sappho's lost poems
The Greek lyric poet Sappho, who lived in the seventh century B.C., was the Shakespeare of her day. The ancient Greeks highly regarded her as one of the finest poets. Unfortunately for us, few of her poems still survive. However, University of Oxford papyrologist Dirk Obbink revealed sections of two never-before-seen poems by Sappho in 2014. One poem talks about her brothers, while the other tells of unrequited love. Their provenance is unclear. In 2021, Brill retracted an Obbink article detailing their provenance, leaving us uncertain about their exact origins.
Dead bishop's treasure
In 1357, a ship called the São Vicente set sail from Lisbon in Portugal to Avignon in France, carrying treasures acquired by Thibaud de Castillon, the bishop of Lisbon who had recently died. The treasures included gold, silver, rings, tapestries, jewels, fine plates, and even portable altars. While sailing near the town of Cartagena, in modern-day Spain, the São Vicente was attacked by two heavily armed pirate vessels, whose crew seized the treasure. Antonio Botafoc, a man whose name means "fire blast" or "fire fart" in the languages of Iberia at the time, later captured one pirate ship after it ran aground. On the other hand, Martin Yanes's pirate ship seems to have successfully escaped. What happened to Yanes, his pirate crew, and the stolen treasure is unknown.
The Just Judges
Hubert and Jan van Eyck painted the "Just Judges" panel as part of the Ghent Altarpiece, a 15th-century work of art, in Saint Bavo's Cathedral in Ghent, Belgium. The panel shows a number of characters, whose identities are uncertain, on horseback. One of the characters is likely Philip the Good, who held the title of Duke of Burgundy during the creation of the altarpiece. The panel was stolen in 1934 and has never been found. However, despite the passage of time, new tips continue to come in, and the case file—which is now more than 2,000 pages long—is still active, The Guardian published an article by art historian Noah Charney in 2013. There had been numerous other attempts to steal the Just Judges panel and other parts of the Ghent Altarpiece prior to the 1934 theft.
Florentine diamond
The yellow 137-carat Florentine Diamond likely originated in India and may have made its way to Europe by the end of the 15th century. How and when it got to Europe is a matter of debate. According to one story, Charles the Bold, the Duke of Burgundy from 1467-1477, had the Florentine Diamond cut from a larger diamond. He was so enamored with it that he carried it into battle, allegedly leading to his death.
After World War I, the last emperor of Austria-Hungary, Charles I, fled with it to Switzerland, where he put it in a bank vault and entrusted it to an Austrian lawyer named Bruno Steiner, who was supposed to help the deposed royal family sell it and other royal jewels, wrote historian Gordon Brook-Shepherd in the book "Uncrowned Emperor: The Life and Times of Otto Von Habsburg" (Bloomsbury, 2007). It's unclear what happened next. A 1924 news report revealed Steiner's arrest, fraud charges, and subsequent acquittal. Someone may have recut the Florentine Diamond, turning it into a series of smaller diamonds.
The Imperial Seal of China
In 221 BC, the newly elevated Emperor of China carved the Imperial Seal, also known as the Heirloom Seal of the Realm, out of jade. It passed from dynasty to dynasty until the 10th century AD; after that, there is no record of its existence. Numerous theories abound regarding its fate, and in recent times, several seals have emerged as the authentic ones. So far, no one has confirmed any of those claims. You might be able to find more hidden treasures in these forbidden places no one is allowed to visit.
Lost da Vinci mural
The Italian League, led by Florence, defeated Milan in the Battle of Anghiari in 1440, according to a mural painted by Leonardo da Vinci in 1505. When painter and architect Giorgio Vasari renovated Florence's town hall, the Palazzo Vecchio, in 1563, the mural disappeared.
A team of art experts announced in 2012 that they had found evidence that Vasari had simply painted his mural over da Vinci's, rather than destroying it. Along with other results from the team's years of scientific testing on the mural, a radar study was published in the journal NDT & E International in 2005.
However, the researchers later that year placed the study on indefinite hold and never confirmed their findings. The similarly controversial claim that da Vinci never created the painting in the first place was made by a different group of academics in 2020. Ultimately, there is still controversy around the mural's fate and its existence.
Menorah from the Second Temple
Between around A.D. 66 and 74, Jewish rebels fought the Roman army in an attempt to free Israel from the control of the Roman Empire. The rebels suffered a severe defeat in A.D. 70 when Titus, a general who would later become a Roman emperor, led a Roman army that captured Jerusalem. The Roman soldiers destroyed the Second Temple, the most important Jewish house of worship at the time, and transported its valuables back to ancient Rome. The temple's menorah, a six-branched lampstand, was one of those treasures.
A tableau in Rome's Arch of Titus, close to the Colosseum, depicts the menorah being brought to Rome. The menorah is depicted as a massive item that is almost as big as the soldiers who are carrying it. What happened to the menorah after it arrived in Rome is unknown.
The Hope Diamond
The Hope Diamond is one of the most famous diamonds in the world, known for its deep blue color and supposed curse. Originally from India, it has had a tumultuous history, including theft from the French crown during the French Revolution. Jeweler Harry Winston acquired it from a series of owners before donating it to the Smithsonian Institution in 1958. Its history, however, includes many mysterious disappearances and thefts.
The Flor de la Mar lost its treasure.
The Flor de la Mar was a Spanish galleon carrying one of the largest treasures ever lost at sea. In 1511, the ship sank off the coast of Malaysia with a cargo of gold, silver, and precious gems valued at around $60 million today. Despite numerous attempts to recover it, the treasure remains elusive, with its exact location still unknown.
The Lost Treasure of the Beale Ciphers
When it went missing: Around 1900 One of the most intriguing lost treasures involves Thomas J. Beale, an American who actually left instructions for a real treasure hunt. The clues are so intricate, however, that nobody has been able to locate the site where Beale and his companion hid their loot. Beale and a few other men discovered a significant amount of gold and silver while mining in the Rocky Mountains in the 1820s, according to a pamphlet that circulated in 1885. They took the treasure to Bedford County, where they entrusted Mother Earth with the safekeeping of their newfound riches. The men wanted to ensure their families got a decent life insurance policy when they passed away, so Beale wrote three encrypted notes that gave clues to the location of the treasure, its contents, and the names of the 30 partners.
He put them in a box, which he left with a trusted friend, the local innkeeper Robert Morriss. Beale instructed Morriss to open the box if he had not returned from an excursion in 10 years. He never showed up again. 23 years later, Morriss opened the box and immediately attempted to decipher the letters—to no avail. Only the second cryptogram, which describes the content of the treasure, remains unsolved to this day.
King John’s Lost Treasure
It disappeared in 1216. King John of England had to put down a rebellion in October 1216, so his mercenary army wiped out the country. The French Prince Louis had invaded the southeast and controlled everything but the strongholds at Dover, Lincoln, and Windsor. In the north, King Alexander II of Scotland had sworn loyalty to Louis.An old and sick King John marched on Lincoln and strengthened his force to punish those who supported Prince Louis. One contemporary chronicler described the resulting carnage, torture, and mayhem as unprecedented in this part of the world. King John, however, clearly craved revenge, and on the night of October 9th, he feasted on "peaches and new cider."
Unfortunately, a severe attack of dysentery struck him nearly immediately. On October 11, he departed once more for Lincoln, this time via The Wash, an area of salt marsh, deep streams, quicksand, and unpredictable tides where roadways may appear and go beneath the water at a horrifying rate. His two-mile train of rich people's belongings did not make it across safely, but John did.
"Packhorses and members of the King's household were sucked into quicksand where the Wellstream meets the sea because they had set out in too much of a hurry and were careless of the fact that the tide had not fully receded," the monk Ralph of Coggeshall said. The King's luggage train vanished into the treacherous depths of The Wash. It was rumored to have contained gold coin to pay John's men, silver and gold plate, the crown jewels, the sword of one of the Arthurian knights, Tristram, and sacred relics.
Since John's death in Newark on October 18, a search has been done, but the lost treasure has not been located. The terrain suggests that it may be submerged under 20 feet of muck due to its silt deposits and peat swamps. Over the following 700 years, the Lincolnshire village of Sutton Bridge was drained, but no treasure has ever been found.
The Imperial Seal of China
In 221 BC, the newly elevated Emperor of China carved the Imperial Seal, also known as the Heirloom Seal of the Realm, out of jade. It passed from dynasty to dynasty until the 10th century AD; after that, there is no record of its existence. Numerous theories abound regarding its fate, and in recent times, several seals have emerged as the authentic ones. So far, no one has confirmed any of those claims. You might be able to find more hidden treasures in these forbidden places no one is allowed to visit.
Copper scroll treasures
The most unusual Dead Sea Scroll discovered in the Qumran caves in the West Bank is probably a message engraved on a copper sheet that indicates the location of numerous buried riches. This copper scroll is housed in a Jordanian museum. Whether the ancient author of the scroll was depicting a real or mythical treasure is up for debate among scholars. When the scroll was written in 70 A.D., the Roman army had already taken Jerusalem and destroyed the Second Temple, and they were putting a stop to Jewish organizations that were resisting Roman rule.Scholars speculate that the wealth mentioned in the Copper Scroll might be actual artifacts that were concealed before to the Roman soldiers' destruction of the temple. Other scholars believe that the size of the Copper Scroll's riches must make it legendary.
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum stolen art
On March 18, 1990, two robbers dressed as police officers broke into the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, Massachusetts, stealing 13 works of art valued at over $500 million. They included three paintings by Dutch painter Rembrandt and five by French artist Edgar Degas. The artwork has never been located, and the burglars' identities remain a mystery. The art thieves might have died, and the artworks might have been badly damaged or destroyed. The piece is extremely expensive, but because it is so well-known, it is difficult to sell because a buyer would quickly realize it has been stolen and face criminal charges.
Peking Man
In a cave close to the village of Zhoukoudian, close to Beijing (then known as Peking), scientists discovered the remains of a hominid known as Peking Man (a species of Homo erectus) that lived between 200,000 and 750,000 years ago in 1923. Following the Japanese invasion of China in 1941, the fossils disappeared, and their current location is unknown. The fossils may have died at sea while going to the United States to escape the invasion, according to some experts, while others suggest that they might be found beneath a Chinese parking lot.
Q source
Q Source, as modern-day scholars call it, or sometimes Q, is a hypothetical first-century A.D. text that contains a number of sayings attributed to Jesus. Scholars believe that ancient writers used Q source, if it existed, to help craft the gospels of Matthew and Luke. The existence of Q Source is based partly on the fact that several passages in Matthew and Luke are identical.
Despite being a source for Matthew and Luke, Mark does not include all of their passages. Some scholars believe that those passages are from another source, which they call the "Q Source." The term "Q" refers to the German word "quelle," which means "source". The issue lies in the lack of any known copy of the Q Source, assuming it ever existed. Some recent scholarship suggests that the Gospel of Marcion, a second-century non-canonical text, may contain parts of this Q Source.
The Hoxne hoard
The Hoxne hoard is a massive collection of Roman silver and gold discovered in England in 1992. Although we recovered much of the hoard, we believe some items are missing or still buried. Valued at millions of dollars, the hoard continues to be one of the most significant finds of Roman treasure in the UK.
The lost treasure of the Incas
The Lost Treasure of the Incas, also known as the Treasure of Atahualpa, refers to the enormous wealth accumulated by the Inca Empire before the Spanish conquest. The Spanish pursued the fleeing Incas, supposedly hiding or losing the treasure after the execution of the Inca emperor Atahualpa. Despite numerous searches, it remains one of the greatest unsolved treasure mysteries.
Nazi gold
Legend has it that near the end of World War II, SS officer Ernst Kaltenbrunner led a Nazi force that sank a vast amount of gold into Lake Toplitz in Austria to prevent the invading Allied forces from capturing it. Since that time, numerous searches have been undertaken, but, so far, no gold has been found.
However, some researchers have noted that the lake has poor visibility and a vast amount of logs and debris, making attempts to locate any gold both difficult and dangerous. Divers have lost their lives while searching for gold in the lake's waters.
Lost Raphael painting
The Italian painter Raphael Sanzio, popularly known as "Raphael," produced this striking "Portrait of a Young Man" between 1483 and 1520. The artwork's subject and Raphael's date are unknown. When the German army invaded Poland in September 1939, the picture was owned by the Czartoryski Museum in Krakow. Nazi officials had taken the artwork from the museum to be shown in the planned Führermuseum in Linz (the Linz Art Gallery), Austria, according to the Monuments Men Foundation's website.
The artwork was last viewed by Hans Frank in his cabin at Neuhaus on Lake Schliersee in Germany in January 1945. Nazi officials placed Frank in charge of occupied Poland, where he committed war crimes, including the murder of Poland's Jews. Following World War II, Raphael was prosecuted, put to death, and given a death sentence; his photograph has never been located.
Royal casket
In 1800, Poland's Princess Izabela Czartoryska created the so-called royal casket, which was a collection of artifacts from the royal families who had ruled the country. These artifacts included jewels worn by the kings of Poland, works of art, and other mementos. In 1795, the various powers in the region divided Poland, causing it to cease its existence as an independent state. Nazi Germany, which invaded Poland in September 1939, eventually seized the royal casket. The casket's contents are now lost.
Love's Labour's Won
William Shakespeare is known to have written the play "Love's Labour's Won," though no copies survive today. It may be a sequel to "Love's Labour's Lost," a comedy that Shakespeare penned in the 1590s. Documents from the 1590s and 1600s suggest that Shakespeare published "Love's Labour's Won" by 1598 and continued to sell it in 1603, despite the lack of surviving copies.
According to some scholars, the records of "Love Labour's Won" actually refer to Shakespeare's well-known and still-performed play "Much Ado About Nothing." Based on this theory, a Royal Shakespeare Company production even renamed a YouTube performance of "Much Ado about Nothing" to "Love Labour's Won".
First-century gospels
The oldest surviving copies of the canonical Christian gospels—Mark, Luke, Matthew, and John—date to the second century A.D. However, many scholars maintain that the initial writing of some of these gospels occurred in the second half of the first century A.D. This has led to several questions: Do any copies survive from the first century? If such copies exist, how can we ascertain their exact date?
In 2015, scholars reported that they had found a fragment of the Gospel of Mark within the remains of a mummy mask, which they believe dated to the first century. However, the publication of the text in a 2018 edition of the journal The Oxyrhynchus Papyri revealed its dating to the second or third century.
Michelangelo's Mask of a Faun
The marble sculpture "Mask of a Faun" was made by the Italian artist Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni, also referred to as "Michelangelo," between 1475 and 1564. The Faun is a legendary creature who is half goat and half human. In 1944, the mask was removed from Castello di Poppi, a fortification in Tuscany, and placed in the custody of the Bargello Museum in Florence, Italy.
The bandits? According to the Monuments Men Foundation's website, the robbers were part of the German army's 305th division, a division of the German 10th Army. The soldiers removed the mask and placed it on a truck sometime between August 22 and August 23, 1944. On the website of the foundation, it states that "the 10th Army truck carrying this piece of art and others continued on Aug. 31 after a brief stop in Forli, Italy." The mask's current whereabouts is unknown because this appears to have been the last time it was seen.
Caravaggio's Nativity
The Italian painter Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, who lived from 1571 to 1610, created the "Nativity with St. Francis and St. Lawrence" in 1609. It shows the birth of Christ, with the infant Jesus lying on a haystack—a scene that highlights the poverty of his birth, according to scholars. In 1969, thieves stole the painting from a chapel in Palermo, Sicily, Italy. Nobody ever found the painting, and the identity of the thief remains unclear. People have long suspected members of the Sicilian mafia carried out the heist. In 2015, a replica of the painting was unveiled in the chapel
where the original was stolen.
Missing Romanov Easter eggs
Between 1885 and 1916, the jewelry company Fabergé, run at the time by the Russian jeweler Peter Carl Fabergé, made ornately decorated "Easter eggs" for the Russian imperial family. These eggs "were the ultimate achievement of the renowned Russian jewelry house and must also be considered the last great commissions of objets d'art, Fabergé notes on its company website. Emperor Alexander III produced ten eggs from 1885 to 1893, and his dutiful son Nicholas II produced 40 more each year, one for his mother, the dowager, and the other for his wife.
The Russian Revolution in 1917 led to the execution of Nicholas II, the last czar of Russia, along with much of the Romanov family. Following their deaths, some of the eggs went missing and are still unaccounted for; rumors suggest they are in private collections worldwide. Documents have revealed that the Soviet Union shipped antiques and artifacts worth an estimated $164 million to the U.S. at the end of the Cold War, suggesting that some may now be in the U.S.
The Jules Rimet Trophy
The Jules Rimet trophy was awarded as a gift to the soccer World Cup winning squad. Sculpted by Abel Lafleur, the trophy was named for Jules Rimet, the man who founded the World Cup. According to FIFA, the international governing body of soccer, it featured "a depiction of the goddess of victory holding an octagonal vessel above her head, produced in gold with a base of semi-precious stones," according to the organization's website. In 1970, Brazil took home the trophy for the third time. FIFA regulations stated that the Jules Rimet trophy will be permanently awarded to the first side to win the World Cup three times. FIFA built a new World Cup trophy and sent the cup to Brazil as a result.
In Rio de Janeiro in 1983, the cup disappeared. The cup, which was made of gold and weighed roughly 13 pounds (6.1 kilograms), might have been melted down by the robbers. This was not the first theft of the Jules Rimet trophy. The trophy was taken from a London Methodist hall by robbers in 1966. According to FIFA's website, a week later, a dog named Pickles and its owner, David Corbett, found the trophy lying in a street in south London, wrapped in thread and newspaper. The identity of the criminal or thieves who committed this heist was never revealed.
Treasures of Nimrud
The ancient city of Nimrud is located in modern-day Iraq and was the capital of the Assyrian empire during the reign of Ashurnasirpal II, who ruled from 883 to 859 B.C. He built a new palace at Nimrud along with other amenities. Recent history has not been so kind to Nimrud. During a military offensive in June 2014, the terrorist group sometimes known as the Islamic State group (also known as IS, ISIS, ISIL, or Daesh) captured the ancient city; they didn't recapture it until November 2016.
IS had already blown up part of the city and used bulldozers to dig up others. The period following the retake of the ancient city also witnessed looting, as security measures were inadequate. While many treasures at Nimrud have been destroyed, others are damaged and can be reconstructed, and still others may be rediscovered on the black market.
George Mallory's lost camera
British explorers George Mallory and Andrew Irvine disappeared on June 8, 1924, while nearing the top of Mount Everest. A storm may have doomed their final push to climb the mountain. No one succeeded in reaching the summit until 1953 when Edmund Hillary's team became the first to climb Mount Everest. One question that remains unanswered is whether Mallory and Irvine managed to reach the top before they died.
The discovery of Mallory's body in 1999 suggests that a fall killed him. Irvine's body has never been found. Finding Irvine's body could potentially lead to the discovery of the camera Mallory and Irvine carried with them. The preservation of the film in the camera could potentially lead to its development, ultimately solving the question of whether Mallory and Irvine reached the summit of Everest before their deaths.
Michelangelo's Leda and the Swan
Michelangelo's painting "Leda and the Swan" depicts a scene from ancient mythology where the god Jupiter, taking on the appearance of a swan, seduces Leda, the queen of Sparta. According to myth, Helen of Troy was one of their offspring. Only a small number of other people's copies of Michelangelo's original painting survive.
The copies demonstrate the erotic nature of Michelangelo's painting, which depicts a fully nude Leda engaging in sexual relations with Jupiter, a swan-shaped entity. The exact cause of Michelangelo's painting's loss is unknown, but it's possible that some viewers over the past 500 years found its erotic nature excessive, leading to its destruction at some point.
The Life of General Villa
The "Life of General Villa" is a lost film that depicted the Mexican revolutionary general Francisco "Pancho" Villa (1878-1923), who fought a series of battles against Mexico's leaders. Despite its heavy fictionalization, the film showcased footage from real-life battles fought by Villa's forces. Villa himself signed a contract with the Mutual Film Corporation (the maker of the movie) that allowed filmmakers to film him and the real-life battles fought by his troops in exchange for a share of the movie's earnings. Despite its release and public screening, the film has now vanished.
Villa became an enemy of the United States not long after the film's release when his troops crossed into New Mexico and killed several Americans. Although a U.S. military expedition into Mexico in 1916 failed to track him down, some of Mexico's leaders may have ordered his assassination in 1923.
Comentarios