8.
The Monuments of Petra
When explorers first stumbled across a large monument carved directly into towering rock
cliffs in Jordan, they were stunned at their incredible discovery.
At first, experts thought they might have found a hidden cemetery where the ancient
people of Petra had buried their dead for centuries.
But as they inspected the well-developed structures, they realized they had found something even
more remarkable.
We can find hints of Near Eastern and Hellenistic architectural influences in the dramatic appearance
of the towering Corinthian columns and the obelisks that seem to stretch up to the sky.
Even though the tombs are stunning to look at, that didn’t make it any easier for experts
to figure out when they carved them.
Of the 3000 monuments, there are no inscriptions, and they have found no ceramics that would
have helped archaeologists pinpoint their date of origin.
Not all the structures were tombs, though.
They used some of the smaller monuments for living quarters or dining rooms.
There was even a monastery and large theater, all carved into the stone cliffs.
Even though archaeologists have been working at the site since Petra was first discovered
in 1812 by a Swiss explorer, there are still secrets waiting to be unearthed.
In 2016, they found a new monumental structure after experts used satellite imagery to scan
the ancient city.
They first spotted a staircase and a massive 184 by 161 feet (49 by 56m) platform lined
with columns.
This time, they also found pottery nearby that suggested the structure could be over
2000 years old, which also dates to around the same time when Petra originated.
With so many other shrines and platforms in the surrounding valleys and canyons, this
might not seem like such a unique discovery.
But after comparing it to the monuments already there, experts realized there were no others
on the same scale as this new one.
They hope to find more hidden structures using modern technology to survey the landscape
in the coming years to uncover other lost monuments.
7.
Lost Egyptian City in California
The last place you might expect to see an Egyptian sphinx is in California.
So when archaeologists unearthed a 300 pound (136kg) sphinx at the Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes,
they inadvertently uncovered a piece of Hollywood history.
The first clue that this wasn’t any ordinary sphinx came the moment they unearthed it and
proved to be made from plaster and not bedrock, like the Great Sphinx of Giza.
The statue’s location was another hint of its origins.
They found it in the same desert where they filmed Hollywood director Cecil B. DeMille’s
The Ten Commandments.
DeMille commissioned a designer to construct an ancient Egyptian palace for his film, including
over 20 sphinxes.
After filming wrapped, he thought it was too expensive to dismantle the set.
Not wanting other rival film studios to take the expensive props and use them for themselves,
DeMille ordered workers to bury the set at a secret location.
The set would stay there, covered until director Peter Brosnan set out to find the lost city.
It would take over 5 years and a $10,000 grant to fund his adventure, but the director eventually
found the first sphinx in Guadalupe, California, in 1990.
For the next 30 years, Brosnan fought to unearth the city, where he eventually found many artifacts
from DeMille’s movie.
Brosnan also made a documentary about his journey locating DeMille’s sphinxes.
The Ten Commandments was the largest set in movie history, and the objects remained intact
after all that time, making them treasures that they would have lost if not for the dedication
of one director and his quest to save the iconic city.
6.
Cerro Ballena
Just north of the town of Caldera in Chile, researchers made the stunning discovery of
10 different marine animals in 2010.
The strange thing?
They were in the middle of the Atacama Desert, surrounded by sand as far as the eye can see.
This rare find made the site an important one because it’s one of the first examples
of so many marine animals being stranded in fossil records.
Known as Cerro Ballena, or Whale Hill, the site has one of the most concentrated deposits
of fossilized whales and other extinct marine animals in the world.
Some of the important species found there are aquatic sloths, four species of extinct
whales, and the skeletons of over 40 large baleen whales.
As experts excavated to find the answer, they studied algae in the water that underwent
a massive blossom, which means they grew out of control and produced enough toxins that
they killed off animals.
For those who think something as small as algae in the water couldn’t take down a
massive animal like a mammoth, think again!
The discovery of animal bones in four different layers of the earth showed that the toxic
algae problem happened repeatedly, taking some of the earth’s rarest animals with
it.
Experts think the tragedy first started 5 to 11 million years ago in the late Miocene
period, millions of years before humans arrived in South America when the ill-fated animals
either ate contaminated prey or inhaled harmful poisons.
They would have died relatively quickly before their bodies were washed into a tidal flat
where the sand buried them for about 10,000 to 16,00 years.
Don’t let the ancient tragedy fool you, though.
Even modern-day whales still fall victim to toxic algae, with many being stranded every
year.
They moved some fossils that were uncovered to museums, but as experts continue their
studies, they hope to continue to excavate around Cerro Ballen, where they estimate hundreds
of fossil marine mammal skeletons still sit hidden under centuries of sand.
What do you think caused so many animals to die at Whale Hill?
Let us know in the comments and if you’re liking this video, be sure to hit the thumbs
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5.
Valley of the Whales
Mummies and ancient artifacts aren’t the only things found in Egypt.
In 1989, they discovered 40-million-year-old fossilized whale skeletons perfectly preserved
in the Libyan desert.
They have unearthed 41 fossils since then in the Valley of the Whales, including one
known as the Basilosaurus that stretched over 60 feet (18m) long and weighed 60 tons (54.4
tonne).
The area is littered with bones, from vertebrae to skulls and leg bones of these ancient animals.
The Basilosaurus is one of the more extraordinary finds at the site.
It was an aquatic creature at first, but it had to develop into an amphibious being, growing
legs to survive the surrounding changes.
At the time the Basilosaurus roamed, the Tethys Sea covered the entire region.
As time went on, the sea receded and trapped a lot of the animals, including turtles, whales,
and sharks, on land.
Even though that meant many of these animals didn’t survive, they left behind a wealth
of bones that archaeologists can study to figure out how the earth changed, how animals
adapted, and how the unlucky ones weren’t able to survive the harsh conditions.
The site is such an important one that UNESCO, the United Nations Educational Scientific
and Cultural Organization, classified it as a world nature reserve to protect what they
consider the oldest animal kingdom on earth.
With the number of fossils still hiding below the sand estimated at over 1000, researchers
still hope for discoveries that are even more remarkable.
4.
Uluru
The giant stone monolith of Uluru is as iconic as the koala bear in Australia, but this towering
rock is more than just a tourist attraction.
It has spiritual significance to Australia’s indigenous people, with a past steeped in
mystery and intrigue.
Even though it became known as Ayers Rock after being given the title to honor Henry
Ayers, who was once the Chief Secretary of South Australia, Uluru has been around for
hundreds of thousands of years.
It began its life in the ocean over 600 million years ago and gradually hardened.
It’s impossible not to stand in awe of the massive rock, which stands 1141 feet (348m)
above sea level at its highest point.
But there’s more than meets the eye.
The mast majority, almost 1.5 miles (2.5 km) is underground.
With a monolith that is taller than the Eiffel Tower.
They consider the area a sacred site to native Aborigines, including the Anangu tribe, who
are the traditional landowners.
As one of the oldest living cultures in the world, the Anangu have been in the area for
over 30,00 years and they continue to preserve their traditions and celebrate local animals
like the hare wallaby and python as important ancestral beings.
They also perform rituals and ceremonies and continue to share etchings on the red rocks
in the region created centuries ago by their ancestors.
Before Europeans came to settle Australia, there were over 700 Indigenous languages.
Sadly, even though most of those are now extinct, the Anangu continue to keep some of those
lost dialects alive.
Bringing tourists to the remote region, it’s a way to share this important history and
show people the lives of Australia’s first people.
3.
Mysterious Tunisian Lake It’s not every day that a lake appears out
of thin air.
But that’s exactly what happened in the middle of the Tunisian desert in 2014, and
if you can believe it, there’s more to this story than meets the eye.
A local man was traveling through the region when he saw something strange in the distance.
Instead of endless miles of stark desert, he saw an almost 2.5 acre (1 hectare) turquoise
blue lake 15.5 miles (25km) from the city of Gafsa.
The man had been driving for hours, and at first, he thought he was hallucinating.
When he got a closer look, he realized the lake was real, and the water was crystal clear.
After local shepherds confirmed the existence of the 60 feet (18m) deep lake, geologists
went on a whirlwind journey as they tried to figure out how such a thing could happen
in the middle of the desert.
Near Gafsa, the lake became a hotbed of activity, with locals and tourists alike wanting to
see this modern marvel.
But before the area became overrun, experts looked to the local mining industry as a source
of the lake.
Some thought it was rainwater that had collected in a canyon.
Others think there was a rupture in the water table that allowed water to flow to the surface.
With large deposits of phosphate from mining that leave behind radioactive residue and
contaminate the water, visitors couldn’t resist, forcing experts to warn them that
swimming in the lake wasn’t the best idea.
Luckily, it didn’t take long for the clear water to change to a murky green because of
algae, eventually chasing away visitors and giving experts time to figure out that the
origin of Lac de Gafsa wasn’t so strange after all.
Their theory is that a minor earthquake deep underground ruptured the rocks and forced
water to the surface.
Even with the scientific explanation, the appearance of a lake in the middle of the
desert is still a startling sight.
2.
Millions of Mummified Dogs Archaeologists have been digging for decades
south of Cairo to unearth the hidden treasures left behind by ancient Egyptians.
But at a newly discovered burial site, they unearthed a shocking cache that was filled
with nearly 8 million animals, mostly mummified dogs.
They found them in the catacombs at a site called Saqqara, which was dedicated to the
god Anubis, portrayed with the head of a jackal and celebrated as the god of the dead.
In the same way that Egyptians mummified and buried their dead so they could live in the
afterlife, they also preserved their dogs so they could live, provide food and represent
offerings to various Egyptian gods.
These offerings were a way for religious Egyptians to ask Anubis for help.
By giving their dog as an offering, they were showing their devotion to the god.
The location of the mass grave wasn’t necessarily a surprise, though.
Archeologists have talked about maps of dog catacombs since the late 1800s.
But that doesn’t mean experts weren’t stunned and excited by their discovery.
Even though it might seem like a strange and gruesome practice, they considered it a deeply
important religious act where the person burying their dog believed it would go on to a higher
plane where Anubis would wait to welcome them into his eternal pack.
They wrapped most of the dog mummies found in bandages and some had resin applied to
preserve them.
Sadly, though, with so many mummies stacked in one place, a lot of them were in terrible
shape when they found them.
Experts could date the cave where they found them to be between roughly 750 to 30 BC, and
with more research, they will learn more about this ritual and how the ancient Egyptians
interacted with and honored the animals they lived with.
1.
Mount Nemrut, Turkey One look at the eerie ruins at Mount Nemrut
in Turkey and you might get an unsettling feeling.
But could that be from the opposing 164 feet (50m) high burial mound and its giant stone
statues or the tomb that lies beneath them?
One of Turkey’s most fascinating archaeological sites, Mount Nemrut, has become well known
for the terraces that rim the massive funeral mound there.
They are a haunting tribute to King Antiochus I, who ruled the Kingdom of Commagene in Syria
from about 70 to 38 BC.
Like other ancient sculptures around the world, those at Mount Nemrut have fallen into the
sand below, making them that much more breathtaking when you see them in real life.
Once lined up to celebrate the glory of their King and the gods the nation worshiped, the
gigantic statues now lay scattered around the foot of the mountain.
Antiochus I took control of the kingdom after his father died in 64 BC.
But his reign was a tumultuous one, with the Romans launching military campaigns against
the kingdom until they eventually absorbed it into their territory in 70 AD.
So did the Romans destroy the statues to exert their power?
Or were the monoliths toppled by weather and time?
No one knows for sure how the damage occurred, but even in pieces, the statues are still
stunning to see.
Most of those found on the summit’s East Terrace have lost their heads, which now sit
nearby on the ground beside the bodies.
Along with eagles and lions, there are also statues representing various gods, including
Zeus, Heracles, and Apollo.
Other statues show Antiochus I, with various reliefs showing both his Persian and Greek
ancestors, including one where he is being deified and transforming into a star.
Despite the damage at Mount Nemrut, Antiochus I held a position of importance and his spirit
lives on today at this impressive site.
Thanks for watching!
Which one of these discoveries fascinated you the most?
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See you next time, bye! :)