World’s ancient unsolved mysteries

The world is a wonderful and, at times, unfamiliar place. Even today, there are artworks, temples, and cities about which we know very little. Their secrets appear to have vanished in the mists of time. Indeed, thousands of years after their creation, there are numerous ancient unsolved world mysteries. Here are a few examples.

The Denizens Of Angkor Wat

In 1860, French explorer Henri Mouhot discovered this abandoned temple complex in the Cambodian jungle (near what is now Siem Reap). It was unknown to the few locals. Historians have determined that this was once a great empire between AD 800 and 1401. Why was it abandoned and allowed to fall to ruin in the 1400s?

The temple was only a small part of a much larger city. The Khmer, the Hindu natives, lived there. The main temple was adorned with fighting scenes and legends written in ancient Sanskrit. According to satellite images, the majority of the city is now buried beneath the jungle.

Due to battles with the Thai and Vietnamese, the city fell quickly. The city had been abandoned by 1450. Did the Khmer accidentally deprive themselves of their only food source? Did their lack of unity and division result from their conversion from Hinduism to Buddhism? Nobody knows to this day.

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The Carnac Stones

According to local legend, the Carnac Stones are the completely petrified remains of a long-ago Roman legion that was turned to stone by the legendary wizard Merlin. This 40-hectare area in Brittany, northern France, close to the village of Carnac, is home to nearly 3,000 standing stones dating from 3,000 to 4,500 BC. These hand-hewn granite stones stand up to 6.5 meters tall and had to be transported up to 50 kilometers.

Scientists and historians are still astonished. According to one theory, they were ancient earthquake detectors. Others believe they are calendars or astrological instruments. Others believe the stones formed a temple to the dead.

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The Ancient Bent Pyramid

Pyramids are supposed to have a soiree base that rises to a perfect point. So, why does this pyramid slope roughly two-thirds of the way to the top? It was built during the reign of Pharaoh Snefru.

The pyramid stands 105 meters tall and has a simple square base. It has two inner compartments connected by a narrow corridor. While the lower section appears to have been built normally, for some unknown reason, the construction crew abruptly changed the specific angle of its slope.

Some believe that the sudden death of the ancient tomb’s occupant compelled a hasty completion of the construction. Perhaps a nearby pyramid collapsed, alerting the architect to a design flaw. Perhaps this was an ancient prototype that taught builders how to build the later pyramids.

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Gobekli Tepe,the Garden Of Eden?

Gobekli Tepe was built 12,000 years ago, near the end of the last Ice Age, high atop a ridge in southeastern Turkey. Because it was established so early in human history, some sources believe it is the actual location of the Garden of Eden.

It is believed that the area was once temperate and forested during the hunter-gatherer era. Despite the fact that saber-toothed tigers existed, these people were apparently building rather elaborate temples complete with striking carvings. While only a small portion of the site has been excavated, at least 43 large stone-walled temples have been discovered.

It was built prior to the use of fire, pottery, the wheel, metal tools, and domesticated animals. The Bible says nothing about buildings and that Adam and Eve were banished and not allowed to return, so they couldn’t have built anything later. Nonetheless, Gobekli Tepe is the oldest human site discovered.

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The Plain Of Jars

This is an archeological landscape in Laos’ ancient Xiangkhoang Province. Thousands of large stone jars ranging in height from one to three meters dot the plain. They could be from the Iron Age, between 500 BC and 500 AD.

Beads, bronze jewelry, ceramics, iron implements, and even human skeletal remains were discovered in the 1930s. However, the majority of the jars were empty. They could have had lids made of perishable materials.

They could have been used to store water, as funeral urns, or as memorials. Were the jars, which could be found in up to 90 different locations, carved before or after they were transported? Another unsolved mystery is how the jars, weighing up to 30 tonnes, were moved from a quarry eight kilometers away.

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The Pictish Stones

These ancient, enigmatic free-standing stones can be found in Scotland on the east coast, north of the Clyde-Forth Canal. They date between 500 and 900 AD and contain nearly 50 hand-carved symbols of animals, everyday objects, and strange symbols. The Pictish people lived in the area north of Hadrian’s Wall before the Scots arrived.

They possessed no known writing system. The stones could be enigmatic tombstones, territorial markers, or symbols representing clans or married couples. The stones could also be symbolic political protests against Christianity, which was a new religion at the time. We’ll probably never know if the symbols are the remains of a symbolic writing system.

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The City Of Teotihuacan

This ancient, deserted city is 48 kilometers from Mexico City. It covers a total area of 20 square kilometers. It contains abandoned palaces, pyramids, sophisticated irrigation systems, and roads.

The Aztecs, who called it Teotihuacan, discovered it deserted in the 1100s. (It translates as “the place where one becomes a god.”) There is no written record of its history, but it was reportedly abandoned around AD 700.

Prior to that, however, it was a thriving city of nearly 200,000 people. It included the third-largest pyramid on the planet, the Pyramid of the Moon, the Avenue of the Dead, palaces, and temples. Nobody knows why the city was abandoned.

Is it possible that the soil has become barren? Was a civil war fought? Were other tribes attacking them? All we know is that the original residents fled after an unexplained citywide fire.

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The Pyramid Of Giza

Scientists are still debating how it was built 4,500 years ago. Scientists discovered a hidden space 30 meters long in 2017. They are now debating the purpose of the space. Some speculate that it was an inner ramp used to move stone blocks. Others have speculated that it was once a hidden tomb. The truth may never be known because Egyptian authorities have refused to allow archeologists to drill into the Great Void.

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Terra-Cotta Warriors in Emperor Qin’s Tomb

This massive mausoleum was discovered by chance in 1974 by a farmer in Xi’an, Shaanxi. He discovered terracotta human figures in particular. Archeologists who remain on the site believe there are 130 chariots, 150 cavalry, 520 horses, and an army of 8,000 soldiers.

Each soldier is distinct, but they all wield swords and sophisticated crossbows. The army was built in memory of the famous Emperor Qin Shi Huang, who died in 210 BC. He was the emperor who brought the country together.

To honor him, an underground necropolis was built. The army guarded the 98-square-mile complex. While Huang’s tomb is in the center, it is still sealed due to alleged booby-trapped weapons guarding the entrance and rumors of rivers of mercury surrounding the tomb. Mercury was thought to provide eternal life by the Chinese in ancient times. The emperor drank it on a daily basis and most likely caused his own death. It would be dangerous to enter the tomb if it was contaminated. This appears to be a job for Indiana Jones!

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