Famed for her great beauty, as represented in the painted limestone bust now held by the Egyptian Museum in Berlin, Queen Nefertiti was the Great Royal Wife of the Pharaoh Akehenaten and stepmother to the Pharaoh Tutankhamun. She died in approximately 1330BC, about seven years before the premature death of Tutankhamun at the age of 19. Her tomb has yet to be found. Most tombs of the pharaohs were looted by grave robbers many hundreds of years ago, but until Nefertiti’s can be identified, its fate remains a mystery,
Nothing good can be said about Bad King John. One of England’s most unpopular monarchs, he was forced by the barons to sign Magna Carta, lost a French war, and, legend has it, was defied by Robin Hood. Historians now believe a freak tide, with water moving as fast as a horse can run, overwhelmed the king’s baggage train, sweeping away everything, including England’s crown jewels. They have never been found. What this treasure might include is disputed, but as well as regalia, there was probably gold and silver taken from wealthy monasteries, now buried under the East Anglian mud.
The Amber Room in Catherine Palace in St Petersburg is a recreation of the original chamber lost when Nazi troops dismantled and carted it off in the Second World War. Reuters A chamber made of amber panels and gems, and backed with gold leaf, the Amber Room of the Catherine Palace near St Petersburg was considered an eighth wonder of the world. First constructed in 18th-century Prussia, it was looted by Nazi troops in 1941 and taken to Konigsberg Castle, then part of Germany, for display as a spoil of war.
Among the treasures said to have been looted by the Roman legions that day was a huge menorah, a seven-branched candlestick of solid gold that has become a symbol of Judaism. The menorah, and other treasures, were taken in triumph to Rome, the event depicted on the city’s first-century Arch of Titus. A detailed carving of soldiers carrying away the menorah can be seen to this day. What happened to the menorah next is a mystery. For at least another three centuries, it was displayed alongside other treasures at the Imperial Palace in Rome or the Temple of Peace.
Fewer than 20 paintings by the great Renaissance painter Leonardo da Vinci are known to have survived. Perhaps the greatest of the lost works is his Battle of Anghiari. Lost, but not unknown — the painting is on the wall of the Hall of the 500 in Florence’s Palazzo Vecchio. Or at least some think it is. Leonardo was commissioned to make the work in 1505, with his great rival, Michelangelo, painting the opposite wall.
Even rare versions of the Kodak Pocket Vest, a popular camera made by Eastman Kodak between 1912 and 1935, can be picked up today for a few hundred dirhams. But one in particular would be a priceless find in that it has the potential to rewrite the history of who first climbed Everest, the world’s tallest mountain. Everest was officially conquered on May 29, 1953, by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay,No trace of Irvine has yet been found, nor of the Kodak Pocket Vest camera he was carrying. Experts believe that if it has survived, the film it contains could still be processed — potentially resolving the claim of who first climbed Everest.
Many have searched for the Treasure of Lima, including the gangster Bugsy Siegel, but all have failed. The Costa Rican government has now banned all treasure hunting over concerns that it threatens the island’s wildlife. It believes the treasure was buried elsewhere, with some suspecting the pirates named Cocos to throw the Spanish off track.
An army commanded by King Alaric rampaged through the city for three days, stealing everything they could find and taking many Romans as slaves.Alaric’s tomb has never been found. There is speculation that it lies at the confluence of the Busento and the Crati, but there is no firm evidence.
Dhammazedi was a Buddhist king of Hanthawaddy in what became lower Burma, modern-day Myanmar. In 1484 he ordered the casting of a giant temple bell, said to be the biggest ever made, but against the advice of his astrologers, who said it would not produce any sound.