20 historical mysteries that may never be solved (21 photos)

Some historical events, artifacts or persons cause a lot of controversy among experts and history buffs. Some of them may never be solved: for example, from the real date of Jesus' birth to the location of Cleopatra's tomb. We learn about historical mysteries that cause a lot of controversy.





1. Conquest of Everest in 1924



Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay are believed to have been the first to climb Everest on May 29, 1953. But they may not have been the first people to reach the top. In 1924, British climbers Andrew Irwin and George Mallory died on Everest. There is ongoing debate that they could have reached the top before their death. In 1999, Mallory's body was found at an altitude of almost 8,229 m (the height of the mountain is 8,849 m). Irwin's body was never found.

2. The Mary Celeste





On December 5, 1872, the British ship Dei Gratia discovered the abandoned ship Mary Celeste in the ocean: it was located 644 km east of the Azores. There was no damage to the ship and there was no lifeboat. The 10 passengers and crew members on board disappeared, and what really happened there still remains a mystery.

3. The meaning of the Voynich manuscript



The 600-year-old Voynich manuscript is a mysterious codex containing a series of illustrations and inscriptions. It is written by an unknown author in an unknown language using an unknown alphabet. Attempts to decipher the code were unsuccessful.

4. Where are the bones of Sinanthropus?



The bones of Sinanthropus (a subspecies of the genus Humans, close to Pithecanthropus) were found in 1923 in a cave near the village of Zhoukoudian, near Beijing. After conquering China in 1937, Japan tried to smuggle the bones to the United States before the attack on Pearl Harbor. The attempt failed and the location of the fossils remains unknown to this day. According to one version, they sank on board the ship, according to another, they were buried somewhere in China.

5. Where is Alexander the Great buried?



The resting place of the legendary commander Alexander the Great remains a mystery. He died in Babylon in 323 BC. BC, and his body was taken by one of his generals, Ptolemy, taking him to Memphis, Egypt. Later, a special tomb was built in Alexandria, where Alexander’s body was then transported. According to historical records, at the end of the third century BC, another tomb was built in Alexandria for Alexander, where he was again moved. It is unclear where exactly this final tomb is located: it may have sunk underwater, or been destroyed by the elements or human activity.

6. King Arthur



The story of King Arthur has been told and retold many times for over 1,000 years. However, experts and history buffs continue to debate whether King Arthur really existed. The earliest accounts of him date back to the 9th century and tell of a chieftain (perhaps not even a king) who fought several battles against the Saxons. However, the accuracy of these stories is controversial. Many believe that he was fictitious.

7. What happened to the Roanoke Colony in America?



On July 22, 1587, English navigator John White arrived on Roanoke Island in the United States with 120 colonists. A few months later he sailed back to England, but when he returned three years later, all the colonists had disappeared from the island. But the word “CRO” (the initial letters of Croatoan, the name of a local Indian tribe) was scrawled on the pole. Some documents say that the tribal leader killed some of the colonists, but there is no evidence of this. According to other versions, the inhabitants were attacked by the Spaniards or they died of natural causes.

8. Where is William Kidd's treasure?



Scottish sailor William Kidd sailed the seas in the late 1600s. He was assigned to arrest pirates, but in the end he himselfwas hanged for pirate attacks in 1701. Previously, Kidd had captured and plundered many ships containing enormous amounts of treasure, including goods belonging to the nobility of the Mughal Empire in South Asia. He hid his treasures in a variety of places - and none of them were ever found.

9. Who was Jack the Ripper?



In the second half of 1888, a London killer under the pseudonym Jack the Ripper killed at least five women, mutilating their bodies. The pseudonym was taken from a letter that was once sent to the Central News Agency: the author allegedly took responsibility for the murders. But whether the letter was actually written by the Ripper is controversial among scholars. He was never found.

10. Where is Jimmy Hoffa?



American labor leader Jimmy Hoffa suddenly disappeared in 1975 under unclear circumstances. He was declared legally dead in 1982, but the identity of his possible killer(s) and the location of his body remain a mystery. One popular theory was that Hoffa's body was buried under Giants Stadium in New Jersey. However, this theory was disproved.

11. Where is Cleopatra's tomb?



Egyptian ruler Cleopatra died in 30 BC, but the location of her tomb remains a mystery. It is only known that she was buried with her lover Mark Antony. In 2010, Zahi Hawass, the former Minister of Antiquities of Egypt, conducted excavations near Alexandria at the site of Taposiris Magna in search of a tomb. There are a number of tombs from the reign of the queen. Although scientists made many interesting archaeological discoveries there, Cleopatra's tomb was not among them.

12. Who killed Kennedy?



On November 22, 1963, American President John Kennedy was shot and killed. The killer is believed to be Lee Harvey Oswald, but some historians believe there were multiple shooters. On November 24, 1963, before Oswald was to stand trial, he was shot and killed by Dallas nightclub owner Jack Ruby. He allegedly wanted to spare First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy “the inconvenience of the trial,” so he decided to kill Oswald. However, there is still debate about this version.

13. Was Caesarion really the son of Caesar?



In 47 BC. e. Cleopatra VII gave birth to a son named Caesarion, who is historically considered the son of Julius Caesar. But some historians debate whether he was really his son. Firstly, Caesar never recognized the child as his own. Also, one of Caesar’s friends, Gaius Oppius, in one of his texts denied that Caesarion was Caesar’s son.

14. Copper scrolls



In 1952, in the third cave of Qumran near the Dead Sea, archaeologists discovered two copper scrolls that were more than 1,900 years old. One of them mentioned a huge number of hidden gold and silver treasures that no one had yet found. At the time the scroll appeared, there were several uprisings against Roman rule at Qumran - so scholars assumed that the treasure was hidden to prevent Roman troops from finding it.

15. Ark of the Covenant



In 587 BC. e. The Babylonian army captured Jerusalem and plundered and destroyed the local First Temple. There was the Ark of the Covenant, in which the stone tablets of the Covenant with the Ten Commandments were kept. The fate of this ark is unclear. According to various versions, the ark was either moved to Babylon, or hidden before the capture of the city, or destroyed during the sack of the city.

16. When Jesus was born



Ancient records show that early Christians were never able to agree on the date of Jesus' birth. Even the exact year is not determined, although scientists agree that it happened around 4 BC.

17. Did the Hanging Gardens of Babylon really exist?



Hanging Gardens of Babylon - a huge structure in Babylon with multi-level gardens and rafamous species of trees, shrubs and vines. Although they are considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, archaeologists excavating in Babylon were unable to find the remains of a similar garden. In 2013, Stephanie Dalley, a researcher at the University of Oxford, suggested that the gardens were actually located in the Assyrian city of Nineveh. At one time, both Babylon and Nineveh suffered from wars and looting - so even if the gardens existed, they may have been destroyed.

18. Atlantis



In the 4th century BC, the Greek philosopher Plato told the story of Atlantis, a mythical island-state and fabulously rich and advanced civilization that was once swallowed up by the ocean. Most scholars do not believe the story is true, but some suggest that the legend may have been inspired by real events from Greek history, such as the Minoan civilization. It flourished on the island of Crete until about 1400 BC. Minoan settlements were severely damaged during the eruption of the Thera volcano in Greece, and were literally wiped off the face of the Earth. Some experts believe that these stories may have served as inspiration for stories about Atlantis.

19. What Jesus looked like



The appearance of Jesus also still causes a lot of controversy. The earliest surviving Gospels date from the 2nd century, almost 100 years after Jesus. No first-century texts have been found, leaving biblical scholars with a number of questions, including what Jesus really looked like. In 2018, a scientist published an illustration of Jesus based on archaeological evidence and ancient texts. The researcher relied on images on ancient coins and drawings, and came to the conclusion that Jesus had brown eyes, black hair and olive skin. His height could be 1.65 m.

20. Where is the Holy Grail?



The Holy Grail is the cup from which Jesus drank at the Last Supper and into which the blood was collected from the wounds of the Savior crucified on the cross. Interest in the cup arose only in the Middle Ages, when the texts wrote that King Arthur was searching for the Grail. There have been no serious scientific attempts to find the Holy Grail, although it is often mentioned in fiction and films.