Lost treasures have been stirring people's minds for centuries. Gold, priceless works of art, ancient artifacts - in search of lost treasures, it is possible that mythical, whole fortunes were thrown away. In our roundup of 10 of the world's greatest lost treasures that people keep hoping to find.
1. Copper scroll
The Copper Scroll is one of 981 texts found at Khirbet Qumran between 1946 and 1956 and collectively known as the Dead Sea Scrolls. Some historians speculate that it may have a treasure map. It is the only document written on very thin sheets of copper, while the rest of the Dead Sea Scrolls are written on parchment or papyrus.
Copper scroll on display at the museum. Amman, Jordan.
In addition, the type of Hebrew in which the scroll is written differs from the language of other scrolls. This kind of language began to be used much more widely hundreds of years later. The Copper Scroll mentions over 60 different places where gold and silver deposits are hidden. Apart from this scroll, no evidence of the existence of the treasure was found, but this did not stop people from undertaking a series of expeditions to find the treasure.
2. Cardenio's story
Promotional video:
While most people are familiar with the lost piece by William Shakespeare, Love's Victorious Efforts, few are aware of the piece, The Cardeno Story. This play was co-written by Shakespeare with John Fletcher (with whom Shakespeare also collaborated on Henry VIII and Two Noble Kinsmen). The main character of the play is a character from the epic novel by Miguel de Cervantes "Don Quixote". Evidence that the play existed is found in several places, including on a list of plays to be performed by Shakespeare's troupe in May 1613. However, the manuscript of the play was lost and was never seen again.
Cardenio's story is a lost piece.
3. About making spheres
Archimedes, often referred to as the Leonardo da Vinci of ancient Greece, was a genius inventor. He is credited with the exclamation "Eureka!" As a result of his work, a device known as the "planetarium" appeared. It was a sphere that showed the movement of the sun, moon, and planets as viewed from Earth. No such sphere has survived to this day, although a device known as the "Antikythera mechanism" is believed to be of direct relevance to the planetarium.
Archimedes. Painting by Domenico Fetti.
Until our time, no drawings or other documents have survived on how to build many of Archimedes' inventions, he did not bother himself with notes. But for their planetarium, probably believing that it will help people understand divine purpose. The subtleties of this design, as well as descriptions of mechanical transmissions that modern watch movements can envy, were detailed in the work of Archimedes "On the making of spheres". Unfortunately, all people know about this book is its description in the works of other authors, such as the Greek mathematician Papp.
4. Treasures of Lima
A $ 300 million treasure is rumored to be hidden on the uninhabited island of Cocos off the coast of Costa Rica. According to the inventory of the Catholic Church, the treasure exported from South America consisted of “113 golden religious statues, a life-size statue of the Virgin Mary, 200 chests with jewels, 273 swords with precious hilts, 1000 diamonds, gold crowns, 150 bowls and hundreds of gold and silver bars."
According to legend, the wealth was originally given to a British merchant named William Thompson for preservation. Church officials wanted him to keep them on the ship for several months until the riot in the Spanish colony died down. But Thompson and his team succumbed to the temptation, killed the guard and went to Cocos Island. The team allegedly buried the entire treasure, intending to return for it later. But their ship was intercepted by Spanish officials, and the entire crew, with the exception of Thompson and his first mate, were hanged for piracy. In exchange for a pardon, Thompson agreed to lead the officials to the treasure, but on the way fled into the jungle, after which neither Thompson nor the treasure was ever seen again.
5. Fossil Archeopteryx
Archeopteryx, which is one of the earliest examples of a transitional fossil animal (in this case, between a dinosaur and a bird), has always been considered a very important find, both in the field of paleontology and ornithology. Only 11 relatively complete fossils have been found, making each one of them extremely valuable.
An instance of Maxberg was discovered in 1956 by two men working in a quarry in Germany that belonged to a man named Eduard Opisch. At that time, it was only the third specimen of Archeopteryx discovered. He loaned the fossil bones to the Maxberg Museum for study. Although Opische originally intended to sell Archeopteryx, he gave up on the idea that he would have to pay tax. Therefore, the man took the sample home from the museum, where he kept it until his death. However, after Opische's death, Maxberg's sample was never found.
6. Treasure "Night of Sorrow"
On June 30, 1520, Hernan Cortez and his troops were trapped in the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan, surrounded by angry natives. The indignation of local residents was caused by the fact that the Spaniards killed their leader. In the dead of night, Cortez and his people tried to flee the city, taking a huge amount of treasure from the capital of the Aztecs, but were noticed by the guards, who raised the alarm. A fierce battle began. As a result, almost half of the Spanish troops were killed. On the night that went down in history as the "Night of Sorrow", Cortez lost not only people and ammunition, but also most of the looted treasures. It is believed that these treasures were buried by the Aztecs in the surrounding hills. About half of the largest treasure that was exported from North and South America has not yet been found.
7. Duchamp fountain
French-American Marcel Duchamp is considered one of the most controversial artists of the 20th century. He is best known for his work, Fountain, created in 1917. Duchamp challenged conventional art by creating “readymades,” works of art that were, in fact, just discarded objects. The "Fountain" was an ordinary urinal, turned on its side, which was signed by the pseudonym R. Matt. Despite the fact that numerous photographs and descriptions of Duchamp's work have survived, the original Fontana has been lost.
8. Remains of Sinanthropus (Peking Man)
One of the most important paleontological finds in human history is the skulls discovered in China in the 1920s. Scientists believe the skulls belonged to hominids who lived more than 500,000 years ago. This species was named homo erectus pekinensis, otherwise known as Sinanthropus or Peking Man. Most likely, these ancestors of humans were killed by ancient hyenas, who reached the size of a lion, since their bones were found in an animal den. After the discovery, the skulls were sent to Beijing for study, but they were lost during the Second World War. In September 1941, Hu Chengzhi, a leading explorer of skulls, wanted to transport them to the United States by ship, but the ship was sunk by the Japanese along the way.
9. Kusanagi Sword
The full name of this sword is "Kusanagi no tsurugi", which translates as "the sword with which the grass is mowed." The sword is one of three artifacts known as the Imperial Regalia of Japan. It is used during the semi-religious ascension ritual during the coronation of each new emperor. The sword is perceived as a symbol of the ruler's legitimacy and has been given to each new emperor for over a thousand years. According to the Japanese, the original sword is kept at the Atsuta Shrine in Nagoya, and a replica of the sword is used. But the original was lost during a battle in the 12th century. The sword is iconic in Japanese mythology. According to legend, he was found in the body of an eight-headed serpent, killed during a storm by the god Susanoo.
10. Battle of Anghiari
Fresco "Battle of Anghiari", known as "The Lost Leonardo". It depicted four horsemen during the Battle of Anghiari in 1440. The fresco was supposed to decorate the "Hall of Five Hundred". Leonardo da Vinci began painting the picture in 1505, and it was to become his largest work. Unfortunately, da Vinci subsequently abandoned this project, leaving it unfinished. In the following years, another artist named Giorgio Vasari was commissioned to paint a new mural (Battle of Marciano) in the same spot in the Hall of Five Hundred, and the Battle of Anghiari was lost forever. However, scientists recently found convincing evidence that allowed them suggest that Leonardo's painting still remains intact under Vasari's fresco.