9.
The Epic of Gilgamesh
While working at the British Museum in 1872, expert in ancient Assyria, George Smith rediscovered
a lost ancient Mesopotamian saga written on some cuneiform tablets from the ruins of Nineveh
in what is now modern-day Iraq.
These tablets were known as the Epic of Gilgamesh.
Smith was looking for evidence of biblical events when he came across the tale written
in the ancient language made up of triangular symbols.
It bears striking similarities to the story of Noah’s Ark in the Book of Genesis and
describes a devastating flood, a ship stuck on a mountain, and a character quite like
the Bible’s Noah.
Like Noah, a man named Utnapishtim loaded his family and all species of animals onto
a boat to survive a global flood caused by the evils of humankind.
Utnapishtim received orders to build the boat in a dream, and released birds as a test to
find land before ultimately landing his ark on a mountain.
This is one of several ancient flood stories from different cultures, including Sumerian,
Babylonian, and Assyrian versions, that are similar to each other and to the story of
Noah’s ark.
The oldest known fragments of these tales date back to 2000 B.C., and experts believe
that the story originated much earlier, back to when humans were just starting out.
The Epic of Gilgamesh speaks of several gods, while Noah's Ark is centered around Yahweh,
the god of ancient Israel.
In this story, Utnapishtim’s flood lasted six days and nights, while Noah endured the
catastrophe much longer, at least 40 days and nights.
Despite these differences, experts generally agree that there’s a relationship between
these ancient stories.
They just don’t know what it is.
Some scholars believe that the ancient Hebrews who wrote Noah’s Ark had also gotten this
story passed down and may have been “borrowed” or descended from the Babylonians.
Others think that the flood stories all have a single source that pre-dates the Sumerians.
It's unknown whether these stories describe events that actually happened, but it’s
clear that the stories describe events so similarly that there must be some kind of
connection.
8.
Crystal Skulls
Legend holds that between 15,000 and 10,000 years ago, an ancient Mesoamerican civilization
created 13 crystal skulls that had supernatural powers.
They’re rumored to be scattered throughout different collections today.
The skulls allegedly vary in size and shade.
Some are clear, while others are smoky-hued or brightly colored.
They also range in size, with some skulls being human-sized while others are smaller
and less detailed.
Many believe that the skulls have healing properties and enhance the psychic abilities
of the people around them, and some even think that they were made with the help of ancient
aliens or by residents of the so-called “lost” island of Atlantis.
Pseudoscience author Joshua Shapiro believes that the skulls are ancient computers that
detect and record nearby energy and vibrations.
He co-authored a book on the topic, in which he claims that the skulls contain a history
of the world, and that they “pictorially replay” all the images of people and things
they’ve come into contact with.
Most mainstream experts reject Shapiro’s fantastical claims.
In an effort to put the debate to rest, scientists from the British Museum analyzed some of the
skulls using electron microscopes.
They found markings that were made with modern tools and determined that the skulls were
probably made in Germany sometime during the mid-to-late 19th century.
So it’s unlikely that any of the far-flung stories about the skulls are true, and they’re
probably far more ordinary than many people would like to think.
7.
Rama’s Bridge
Also known as Rama Setu or Adam’s Bridge, Rama’s Bridge is a chain of limestone shoals
situated between India’s southeastern coast and Sri Lanka’s northwestern coast.
Today, the two landmasses are separated by about 18 miles (29 km) of water.
But they may have been connected by the bridge in the past, when sea levels were much lower
than they are now.
Some “alternative historians” argue that Rama’s Bridge is manmade, and that its ruins
became submerged at some point.
But there’s no solid evidence of this being the case.
Plus, experts insist that organized societies did not arise until around 5,000 years ago,
and Rama’s Bridge is much older than that.
They point toward its age as evidence that it’s not man-made, but a natural formation.However,
a conflicting school of thought sees the bridge as evidence that civilizations arose much
earlier than we originally thought.
According to the Hindu epic Ramayana, the structure was built by the god Rama.
The Ramayana also speaks of giants and monsters roaming the Earth, gods flying through the
air on ships, and other things that seem more fantastical than fact-based, so most historians
regard it as a fictional story.
People who believe that Rama’s Bridge has supernatural or manmade origins have no plans
to stop pleading their case.
The matter has even gone to court in India, where the country’s Archaeological Survey
argued that it found no evidence that Rama’s Bridge is anything other than a natural formation.
6.
Cleopatra’s Tomb
Cleopatra and her lover, Mark Antony, committed suicide in 30 B.C., marking the end of Egypt’s
Ptolemaic dynasty.
They were buried together in a magnificent tomb filled with treasures made from gold,
silver, emeralds, pearls, and ivory.
According to the first-century writer Plutarch, their shared tomb is located near a temple
dedicated to the Egyptian goddess Isis.
Its exact location remains a mystery to this day.
Archaeologists have excavated numerous sites in an attempt to find the burial, but to no
avail.
One woman, named Kathleen Martinez, has dedicated her career to searching for Cleopatra’s
final resting place.
Her team spent 14 years digging near Alexandria at a site called Taposiris Magna, but they
have yet to find any evidence that the famous ruler was buried there.
Cleopatra was determined not to let the conquering Roman empire find her and Antony’s tomb,
according to Martinez.
She escaped Roman custody after being taken as a prisoner and ended her life in a place
where she knew her people would find her body before her captors could.
Most researchers believe that the chances of finding Cleopatra’s tomb are slim.
Speaking with Live Science last year, experts said that they were less than confident that
her burial will ever be uncovered.
They pointed out that the tomb could be in a part of Alexandria that is now underwater,
or that it’s been looted or plundered beyond recognition.
Big shout out to Veronica & JD and Marjorie Johnston!!
So glad you found us!!
Be sure to subscribe if you haven’t already because we have lot’s more mysteries and
discoveries coming up!!
5.
Plain of Jars
The Xiangkhoang Plateau of modern-day Laos is scattered with thousands of ancient jars
arranged in clusters numbering anywhere from one to several hundred.
Their age, their purpose, and the reason for the arrangements are a mystery.
The jars were originally dated to sometime between 1240 and 660 B.C., but scientists
can’t seem to agree on how old they are.
Some experts believe that the jars were used for prehistoric burials, while local legend
holds that the jars stored food, alcohol, rainwater, and other things.
It’s difficult to study the vessels because they sit among millions of unexploded bombs
leftover from the Vietnam War.
In fact, less than 10 percent of the jars have been thoroughly investigated.
This is slowly changing as researchers work to identify sites that are safe to visit.
Recent research using advanced technology traced some of the jars to the 2nd millennium
B.C.
Human bones and skeletons found at some sites were around the same age, while others were
from much later, between the 9th and 13th centuries A.D.
This indicates that the jars were reused over a vast timespan.
Scholars are still trying to determine whether the jars maintained a certain ritual significance
throughout this period, or if they had different meanings and uses.
Another mystery experts are trying to solve is how ancient people moved the jars, which
weigh as much as 33 tons (30 metric tons) each and were sourced from a quarry five miles
(8 km) away.
4.
The Lone Cavewoman
Sometime during the 4th millennium B.C., a young woman died in a cave in northern Italy.
Over 5,000 years later in 2015, archaeologists found her skull inside a vertical shaft in
the cave.
They had to use special climbing equipment to reach it, and no other human remains were
found nearby.
Experts spent several decades trying to figure out how the skull ended up in such a difficult
place to access.
They concluded that natural forces like mudslides, sinkholes, and floods must have moved it throughout
the cave system over time.
The woman was somewhere between 24 and 35 years old when she died during Italy’s Copper
Age.
She suffered from an endocrine disorder and malnutrition, and she may have had tumors.
Her tooth enamel was underdeveloped, showing that her health problems started during childhood.
At the time, the regional population was increasing as hunter-gatherers shifted to farming and
started settling permanently in one place.
This change exposed people to more pathogens and parasites, making them more vulnerable
to illness, and they began eating a diet that was much higher in carbohydrates.
These factors help to explain the woman’s poor teeth and other ailments, but her identity
and other details of her life remain a mystery.
3.
Schist Disc
During the 1930s, British Egyptologist Walter Emery unearthed a strange-looking disc near
Djoser’s Pyramid at Saqqara.
He found the artifact, known as the Schist Disc or the Egyptian Tri-Lobed Disc, inside
the Tomb of Prince Sabu, which dates back to sometime between 3100 and 3000 B.C.
The object measures roughly two feet (61 cm) in diameter, and nobody knows what it is.
Some speculate that it’s a wheel, which makes sense, because it certainly looks like
one.
But as far as experts know, the wheel didn’t appear in Egypt until around 1500 B.C.
This means that if the Schist Disc is a wheel, it could rewrite history in some pretty major
ways.
Others believe that the 5,000-year-old artifact is part of an advanced ancient device that
has not been discovered yet.
Meanwhile, some think that it was decoration, or that it had ritual or religious significance.
In addition to not knowing what the disc is, archaeologists are unsure how it was made.
Schist is a delicate material that is difficult and time-consuming for even today’s best
craftsmen to work with.
Both the disc and the skills required to produce it seem to indicate that the Ancient Egyptians
were more technologically advanced than we give them credit for.
But as long as the questions revolving around the artifact remain unanswered, nobody can
say for sure that this is the case.
2.
The Heretical Monk
Giordano Bruno was a 16th-century Italian monk and philosopher from Naples, Italy.
He landed himself in some hot water when he suggested that suns are stars that the planets
revolve around and that the universe has no center, putting him way ahead of even the
time period’s most modern thinkers.
These views challenged the widely held belief at the time that our solar system was the
center of the universe and went against big-name thinkers like Copernicus and Kepler.
Bruno fled Naples in 1576 to avoid the Roman Inquisition, which sought to stop the spread
of Protestantism by persecuting people who disagreed with the Catholic Church.
He spent several years in France, where he gained the favor of some influential people
and eventually moved to London, where he lived at the French Ambassador’s home.
Bruno had some powerful supporters, but he had just as many powerful enemies and a constant
target on his back.
He returned to France and wore out his welcome there before moving to Germany.
From there, he was invited to live in Venice.
But when he arrived, the Inquisition arrested him and threw him in jail, where he languished
for the next eight years.
Bruno was repeatedly questioned throughout his imprisonment and refused to recant his
beliefs, which might have saved his life.
He was burned at the stake in 1600 after being found guilty of heresy.
Experts only know vague details about his final days and execution.
Records of the event are missing, so the specific reasons for putting Bruno to death are unknown.
Historians are unsure whether his cosmological beliefs were the main reason he was put to
death, or if he committed other religious offenses.
1.
The Nine Unknown Men
According to legend, a group of men came together around 226 B.C. and formed a secret society
that possessed vast collections of advanced knowledge that was inaccessible to the average
person.
Known as the Nine Unknown Men, the organization allegedly used what it knew to gain political
power and manipulate society for its own benefit.
The group was originally started by Emperor Ashoka.
He was the grandson of Chandragupta, the emperor who unified the Indian subcontinent.
After engaging in a brutal war against a neighboring region, Ashoka swore off violence and vowed
to only use intellect for good.
His goal involved collecting and documenting as much knowledge as possible.
But one man could never do all this on his own, especially an emperor who had other duties
to tend to.
Ashoka commissioned nine of India’s best thinkers to help him carry out his vision.
For security reasons, their identities were kept secret.
They gathered all the information they possibly could about science, technology, and other
important topics.
Each member was tasked with updating a certain book.
When his service ended, he passed his book onto a new member.
Some people believe that the Nine Unknown Men still exist.
If this is true, it would make the organization over 2,000 years old.
Yet no one knows who they are, and the content of their books remains a mystery.
In 1923, English writer Talbot Mundy published a book called The Nine Unknown Men, which
lists the books’ titles as Propaganda, Physiology, Microbiology, Alchemy, Communication, Gravity,
Cosmogony, Light, and Sociology.
Since the group was such a secret, there is no way to know the Nine Unknown Men ever existed
in the first place.
Some argue that even if the group was real, chances are it’s no longer around today.
Thanks for watching!
If you enjoyed today’s video, let us know by hitting the thumbs-up button, and be sure
to subscribe if you haven’t yet.
I’ll see you next time!