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00:00A treasure so magnificent it's been called the eighth wonder of the world, the Amber
00:05Room, stolen by the Nazis, and then it vanishes.
00:11Was it destroyed in the chaos of war, or is it still out there?
00:17Then, almost a billion dollars in Bitcoin lost on a missing hard drive.
00:24Can this massive digital fortune be recovered from a landfill?
00:31And finally, King Solomon's Mines, long dismissed as myth until now.
00:36Shocking new discoveries reveal the truth behind what could be the greatest treasure
00:42hoard in history.
00:46In the corridors of time are mysteries that defy explanation.
00:54Now I'm traveling through history itself on a search for the truth, new evidence, shocking
01:08answers.
01:11I'm Josh Gates, and these are my Expedition Files.
01:23When we talk about treasured objects, sometimes we use a healthy dose of poetic license.
01:29Were my Garbage Pail Kids trading cards really treasure back in the 1980s?
01:33Yeah, mom.
01:34Yeah, they were.
01:36Some objects really are bona fide solid gold treasures, often because they're made of,
01:41well, solid gold.
01:42And tonight we examine the mysteries of three of history's most fascinating missing treasures,
01:48lost for years, decades, even millennia, and now, perhaps, found.
01:54And we begin here, in the gilded halls of Catherine Palace in St. Petersburg.
02:01This is the residence of the Russian Tsars, but since this is June of 1941, it's currently
02:07overrun by Nazis.
02:09The palace is filled with countless treasures, but the Germans are hunting for the greatest
02:14of them all, a masterpiece so valuable it's been called the eighth wonder of the world.
02:20But the Soviets have made it disappear, or at least they've tried to.
02:25It's here, I found it, it's here.
02:38Obscured behind wallpaper, the Nazis have discovered their gilded prize.
02:43The treasure isn't something hidden in the room, it is the room, a dazzling chamber made
02:48of six tons of hand-carved amber, gold leaf, and gemstones, worth hundreds of millions of
02:55dollars.
02:56They will now painstakingly dismantle the world-famous Amber Room, pack it all into crates, and remove
03:02it from the palace.
03:03But then it will vanish.
03:05Some will claim it's destroyed, or perhaps hidden by the Nazis.
03:10But three-quarters of a century later, a new search will give hope that this colossal
03:15lost masterpiece might finally be recovered.
03:28Its disappearance is mysterious, but its origins are well known.
03:34In 1701, the first king of Prussia, Frederick I, sets out to create a room that
03:40will dazzle his guests and cement Prussia's place among Europe's great powers.
03:46He chooses a highly prized material, amber, fossilized tree resin millions of years old,
03:53that can be worked into a glittering orange gemstone.
03:56At the time, high-quality amber was more valuable than gold.
04:01In the hands of Prussia's finest artisans, it is transformed into a masterpiece of craftsmanship
04:06and imperial power.
04:13In 1716, the room's 129 panels are gifted to Russia's Tsar, Peter the Great, solidifying
04:21a diplomatic alliance with Prussia.
04:25The panels arrive in St. Petersburg and are ultimately installed in the Catherine Palace.
04:31The final result is stunning – amber carvings gilded in gold, accented with mirrors, and
04:37inset with precious gems and beautiful Florentine mosaics.
04:42By day, the walls shift in hue from deep honey to fiery gold, and at night, the flicker of
04:49550 candles makes the room glow from within, radiant and alive.
04:56Some believe the room is just as beautiful as Versailles' legendary Hall of Mirrors.
05:02The goal's much the same – to proclaim prestige and sophistication through a theatrical aura
05:08of divine power.
05:11But to the Nazis 200 years later, the Amber Room is something else entirely.
05:16They arrogantly believe it's their birthright.
05:21Prussia would go on to become a part of Germany.
05:23And since the Amber Room was created by Prussian craftsmen, the Nazis believe they have a claim
05:28to the prized artifact.
05:31And now, they're stealing it.
05:35Within 36 hours of its discovery, the Nazis pack the room's contents into 27 crates and ship
05:42them by rail to Germany.
05:51The Amber Room is then reconstructed at Königsberg Castle in Nazi-occupied territory.
05:57We know it arrives there because the castle's museum lists it in their records as item 200.
06:03It's even put on display for Nazi officials.
06:08By August of 1944, the Nazis are on the defensive.
06:12British bombers hammer Königsberg, reducing much of the city, including the castle, to rubble.
06:21Then in April 1945, Soviet troops surround the city.
06:26They fight block by block until Germany surrenders.
06:30But in the aftermath, no trace of the treasure-filled crates are discovered.
06:35Just a month later, a secret Soviet investigation is launched to locate the Amber Room.
06:42According to declassified documents from the Russian National Archives, this report concludes
06:47that the treasure has most likely been destroyed, consumed by fire during the bombing of Königsberg
06:53Castle.
06:54So, that's the end of the story, right?
06:56Not quite.
06:57No evidence of its destruction is found.
06:59But one man doesn't want to give up easily, Anatoly Kuchimov, a young Russian museum curator
07:05desperate to make amends.
07:10It was Kuchimov who made the fateful decision to conceal the Amber Room behind wallpaper in
07:15the Catherine Palace, instead of sending it to safety.
07:18Now, with colleagues already sent to the Gulag for failing to protect Soviet treasures, Kuchimov
07:24is determined to find the remains of the amber panels and save his own skin.
07:31Kuchimov's team heads straight to the charred ruins of Königsberg Castle.
07:36Sifting through the rubble, they make a startling discovery.
07:40The damaged remains of three Florentine mosaics that once adorned the Amber Room's glowing walls.
07:47They were added to the room by Empress Elizabeth of Russia in the 1750s to replace oil paintings
07:53that originally hung there.
07:56These colorful mosaics were made from natural minerals and semi-precious stones, carefully
08:01arranged to resemble detailed paintings.
08:05The frames are fashioned from carved and sliced pieces of amber of various shades.
08:11Though there were originally four mosaics, the remnants of only three are found among the
08:15ruins.
08:17But where is the rest of the Amber Room?
08:23During his investigation, Kuchimov also discovers a cache of partially burned German letters.
08:29They reveal a Nazi plan to evacuate the amber panels after the Allied bombings in 1944.
08:36One dated January 12, 1945, just before the Soviets captured the city, states the Amber Room was
08:43being packed to be moved far from the front.
08:47This finding gives Kuchimov hope.
08:49There was no trace of the amber wall panels uncovered in the ashes, only the stone mosaics.
08:55And since the mosaics were designed as four removable artworks, they were likely packaged separately.
09:01If so, there's a chance the amber walls themselves were taken out before the flames engulfed the
09:07castle.
09:38The Soviet government makes a desperate plea for new leads, and the international appeal launches a tidal
09:44wave of tips, theories, and wild speculation, each one pointing to a different fate for the Amber Room.
09:51In 2015, I joined the hunt myself, heading to the former site of Königsberg Castle, where I followed a hot lead, a recently unearthed letter from a Nazi soldier dated 1945.
10:07It describes a secret shipment.
10:10Four trucks sent from Königsberg to a remote factory in a small town in Germany called Deutschnedorf.
10:18Hello, Peter.
10:19Nice to meet you.
10:20Nice to meet you, too.
10:21What's going on up here?
10:22It seems like you guys have a full-scale operation going here.
10:26Right under our feet, there's a huge network of mines, and we think it's in one of these mines
10:45underneath the ground.
10:47Beneath the factory is an old silver mine.
10:50Here we go.
10:52There were miles of twisting tunnels where the Nazis could have easily stashed the Amber Room crates.
10:58Look at this.
11:00Look at this place.
11:02Are you kidding me?
11:04This is unbelievable.
11:05I mean, this is like Lord of the Rings down here.
11:10Oh, let's go.
11:11Let's go.
11:12Let's go.
11:13Something's letting loose down there.
11:14Here.
11:15Come on.
11:16Definitely not safe.
11:22Despite an exhaustive search of the old mine, the Amber Room's prized panels were nowhere
11:27to be found.
11:28But was this because I, like so many others, had been looking in the wrong place?
11:33Now, a stunning new theory suggests that instead of hunting on land, we should have been searching
11:39at sea.
11:40On the hunt for what happened to a priceless treasure, we find ourselves in April of 1945.
11:56With Soviet forces closing in, the Nazis, on the verge of defeat, initiate Operation Hannibal,
12:04one of the largest maritime retreats in history.
12:07They frantically evacuate people and possessions on every ship they can find.
12:12The SS Karlsruhe is departing Königsberg, packed with thousands fleeing in panic.
12:18But could it also be carrying the legendary Amber Room?
12:21If so, this treasure is headed straight for disaster.
12:28The following morning, Soviet planes strike.
12:32In just three minutes, the Karlsruhe vanishes beneath the waves off the coast of Poland,
12:37taking a thousand lives and all of its secrets with it.
12:43Could the wreck of the SS Karlsruhe have secretly carried the long-lost Amber Room?
12:49In 2020, the wreck was located in the Baltic Sea.
12:52And in the years since, divers have been searching the sunken vessel for any trace of the treasure.
12:58Historian Martin Morgan has been following their efforts.
13:02The Amber Room is a great piece of World War II mystery and mythology.
13:08Its complete loss is something that the world is still lamenting, because we're still looking for it.
13:16Divers are sent down to the wreck.
13:19In the debris field, they find an intact military vehicle.
13:23They find porcelain ware.
13:25And then also, they find in a cargo hold, a very large number of wooden crates.
13:31Those wooden crates stand out as suspicious, because the question immediately arises, what are the crates carrying?
13:38But fully exploring a shipwreck at a depth of 290 feet isn't easy.
13:43Searching most of the ship takes over a hundred dives, with technical divers and the latest remote submersible technology.
13:50Then eventually, they discover a crate that appears much better built than all of the others.
13:58One that is a bit more ornate in its construction.
14:02And that immediately attracts attention, because this could be it.
14:06This could be the moment of discovery of the Amber Room.
14:09When they open the crate, they're hoping to be greeted by something that glows with this amber hue, this warmth.
14:17Because after all, even underwater, it will not be dulled by the passage of time.
14:22But they crack it open, expecting to be greeted by this amazing reveal, only to find that inside the crate is a coiled U-boat cable.
14:31This is a valuable artifact, and it's very interesting in and of itself, but it's no Amber Room.
14:36The team's search has been extensive, but is not complete.
14:40There are still parts of the ship to be explored.
14:43But for now, all diving on the wreck is tightly controlled by the Polish government.
14:48Exploration of this wreck site comes to an official stop when it is declared a war grave.
14:54With that declaration, no further dives can be conducted, because the lives of almost a thousand people ended when that ship was sunk.
15:05So far, no evidence has been found that Amber Room was packed aboard Karlsruhe.
15:10But not every last corner and every last cargo hold of the ship has yet been explored.
15:17If the Amber Room survived World War II, it might be aboard the ship after all.
15:22I certainly hope it's still out there, and I hope that we find it, because I'd love to live long enough to see it installed at the Catherine Palace again.
15:31Although the wreck has yet to produce the Amber Room, another small part of the treasure has been found.
15:37In 1997, the last of its four mosaics was discovered in Bremen, Germany, in the home of a Nazi soldier's son.
15:45As for the rest of the original, was it destroyed in the fires of war?
15:50Is it sealed inside a sunken ship? Or is it still hidden somewhere else in Europe?
15:56The hunt continues. In the last year alone, dozens of new leads have been reported,
16:01from a cave system in Dresden, Germany, to a former SS training ground in Poland.
16:06So, stay tuned. One day, we might just be reunited with the eighth wonder of the world.
16:19We turn our attention now to a very different kind of treasure.
16:22A digital fortune that could be right under my feet.
16:25The year is 2017, and you'll have to excuse the smell.
16:29I'm just outside the city of Newport, Wales, and this is one of the largest waste sites in the country.
16:35The Doxway Landfill.
16:37The guy rummaging through the trash there? That's computer engineer James Howells.
16:41He's desperately hunting for one of his old hard drives.
16:44Why? Well, because it's worth a billion dollars.
16:48But James faces two big problems. Five million square feet of garbage,
16:52and the fact that the city refuses to let him properly search it.
16:56So, how does an old hard drive become worth so much?
16:59And why won't the authorities let him find it?
17:02In this maddening case of the lost Bitcoin billion,
17:05one man's trash really is that same man's treasure.
17:09To understand James' story, first we have to understand Bitcoin.
17:20And nobody really understands Bitcoin.
17:22But the basic idea is that Bitcoin is an electronic currency
17:26invented by a mysterious character with the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto.
17:30Instead of cold hard cash, Bitcoin is a digital asset.
17:34Basically a really, really long string of numbers traded over the internet.
17:38But here's where it gets really interesting.
17:42Unlike dollars, Bitcoin isn't printed. It's mined.
17:46Think of it like digital gold. Instead of picks and shovels,
17:49miners use high-powered computers to solve complex math puzzles
17:53that approve all Bitcoin transactions.
17:57To incentivize doing this, miners are rewarded in brand new Bitcoins.
18:03And since there'll only ever be 21 million of them, they're scarce.
18:07Just like real gold, only online.
18:11Once Bitcoin is mined, it automatically gets put in that person's digital wallet.
18:16This wallet lives online and they can access it from anywhere,
18:19or trade it to other buyers.
18:21But to keep the wallet secure, it's protected by an extremely complicated password.
18:25So people usually save this key digitally, like on a hard drive.
18:30The only problem is, if you lose the hard drive or, say, throw it in the garbage,
18:34you lose access to your Bitcoin forever.
18:37Which is exactly what happens to James Howells.
18:39Born and raised in Newport, Wales, James has been tinkering with computers his whole life.
18:49In 2009, he's working as a successful IT professional and living with his girlfriend, Havina Eddie Evans.
18:57One morning, he reads an online forum about a new thing called Bitcoin.
19:04At the time, it's a novelty currency, perhaps fewer than 100 people even knew of it.
19:09James finds it intriguing and decides to give mining a shot.
19:13Over the next few nights, his computer produces roughly 8,000 Bitcoin.
19:18He adds them to a digital wallet and stores the password on his laptop's hard drive.
19:25The following year, in 2010, James spills lemonade on the laptop.
19:29Whoops.
19:31So he takes the hard drive out to preserve it and throws it in a drawer of broken tech.
19:36It's a seemingly inconsequential moment.
19:39After all, at this time, Bitcoin is nearly worthless.
19:42So the drive is hardly a precious object.
19:45But it's this choice that will forever alter James' destiny.
19:52Fast forward three years later to January 2013.
19:57Bitcoin, once the plaything of coders and crypto nerds, starts climbing in value.
20:02By the end of January, it's worth about 13 bucks a coin.
20:06But it keeps going.
20:07And by April, a single Bitcoin is worth $200.
20:11Why is the value rising?
20:13Because Bitcoin is traded like stocks.
20:16And by 2013, people are buying it, including big players like hedge funds and financial institutions.
20:22In short, the world has officially taken notice.
20:26James has, too.
20:28He remembers the hard drive from years earlier that holds the password to his forgotten stash of 8,000 Bitcoin.
20:35A drive that he realizes is now worth over $1.5 million.
20:41That is, if he can find it.
20:44He frantically searches his home office, looking high and low.
20:47And then, a sickening reality sinks in.
20:50Remember that drive pulled from his laptop that got thrown into a drawer of junk?
20:54Well, at some point, James' girlfriend was cleaning up the house, gathered a big pile of what she thought was junk, including the drive, and threw it in the trash.
21:05The trash then made its way to the local landfill, mixed in with thousands of tons of household waste.
21:12The simple act of taking out the trash has become a million-dollar mistake.
21:17James will embark on a relentless quest in a desperate attempt to reclaim his thrown-away fortune.
21:24But can the missing Bitcoin be found?
21:31Computer engineer James Howells loses a hard drive loaded with a fortune in Bitcoin.
21:37And it ends up buried deep in a mountain of waste.
21:40This bizarre twist of digital fortune quickly becomes a media sensation around the world.
21:47James, I'm sure there's an awful lot of people feeling for you right now.
21:50How do you feel stood here?
21:52Well, absolutely devastated, as you can imagine.
21:55When I went up to the landfill site yesterday, there's a potential to find the drive.
21:59Is it still working?
22:01Can the data be recovered?
22:03I have no idea.
22:04I just wish I could go back in time and not throw that drive away.
22:08For years, author and crypto expert Tony Edward has followed the saga.
22:13When I first heard about James' story, I was blown away.
22:17Because the amount of Bitcoin that he had mined, even certain institutions don't have that amount of Bitcoin.
22:24But one individual had that, and it's life-changing money.
22:28I really feel for James.
22:31This whole situation could have been avoided if James wrote down his private keys on a piece of paper and put it in a safe or a safety deposit box.
22:42But he put it on a hard drive, and that hard drive is unfortunately lost.
22:46In November of 2013, he approaches the Newport City Council with a plan to excavate the landfill.
22:55By this point, his Bitcoin value has jumped to $6 million.
23:00But the council rejects his plan, even when he offers to cover the cost himself.
23:05Because excavating a landfill is a serious environmental risk.
23:09Hazardous waste, methane gas, possible contamination, you name it.
23:14And you can imagine the people in the community are probably not fans of this either.
23:19Because they could be affected by any type of environmental risk.
23:24And while I appreciate what James is trying to do, because if I were in his shoes, I would be doing the same thing.
23:30But it's not just about James.
23:32It's about the community and the folks on the council at the landfill are definitely thinking about that.
23:38But James isn't ready to throw in the towel.
23:41He is dead set on convincing the council to grant him access to the site.
23:46He rallies support from hedge fund backers, offering them a percentage of the fortune if he ever recovers the lost Bitcoin.
23:54Now, armed with ever more high-tech proposals, he returns to the council with a new search approach featuring drone mapping,
24:02AI-powered waste analysis, methane containment systems, and even robotic dogs.
24:09All in the name of digital treasure.
24:12Then, he sweetens the deal, offering the council and the town a generous cut of the profits potentially worth millions.
24:20The council deliberates.
24:22But again, their answer is no.
24:24By 2023, the value of James' lost Bitcoin has skyrocketed to over half a billion dollars.
24:32With polite proposals getting him nowhere, he changes tactics, going full throttle and filing a lawsuit against the city to the tune of $647 million in U.S. currency.
24:45The gloves are off.
24:47Over the next two years, the courtroom drama drags on like a download over a dial-up connection.
24:53All the while, the value of James' Bitcoin goes higher and higher, from hundreds of millions to approaching a billion dollars.
25:01But in January of 2025, a judge pulls the plug, ruling that James has no realistic prospect of succeeding.
25:10James appeals to the highest court in the U.K., but in March of 2025, they also say no.
25:16Game over.
25:17Or is it?
25:20So James, over the years, has been very persistent.
25:23He's trying everything and anything to gain access to this landfill.
25:27But up till now, the council has denied all of his proposals.
25:31He's lost in the courts.
25:33It's an arduous process.
25:35And so his last-ditch effort is to try to buy the landfill.
25:41And that way, he can dig it all up without any red tape or roadblocks from the local government.
25:48The city ignores James' attempts to buy the landfill, and after his legal actions failed, now insists James owes $150,000 in legal fees.
26:00The big question remains, even if James were to get permission, could he actually find the drive in all that trash?
26:07On its face, this is a crazy idea.
26:11To try to go unearth tons of garbage and to go through that and all types of nasty stuff.
26:19This is the biggest needle in the haystack problem.
26:23One UK waste management company says the odds of finding this hard drive is one in 902 million.
26:31But with the slim chance of finding that hard drive and getting access to what could be billions of dollars as Bitcoin continues to grow in value, it's worth it.
26:44But by August of 2025, with the city council continuing to ignore his proposal, James finally gives up on his bid to buy the landfill.
26:53But he isn't done with his quest to make a fortune.
26:56His new plan? Forget diving through millions of pounds of garbage.
27:00Instead, he's going to create a cryptocurrency of his own.
27:04Best of luck, James.
27:05Oh, and if your new currency does take off, one word of advice.
27:09Hold on to your hard drive.
27:14It's 940 BC, and as far as traveling through time and space goes, I've hit the jackpot.
27:24I'm currently standing inside what is perhaps the richest treasure vault in human history.
27:29And it all belongs to this guy, the biblical King Solomon.
27:33We're standing in his palace, but you might be more familiar with where all this bling came from.
27:39King Solomon's mines, which overflow with gold and diamonds.
27:44But what's the reality behind his immense wealth?
27:47Well, for millennia, no one has found solid evidence of the legendary mines.
27:52That is, until now.
27:54According to the Old Testament, Solomon, the son of King David, ascends to the throne of Israel in the 10th century BC.
28:11The Bible tells us that God appears to him in a dream and offers him anything he desires.
28:24Solomon asks for wisdom to govern justly.
28:28Pleased with this humble request, God grants him exceptional wisdom, along with great wealth and honor.
28:38And in 1 Kings chapter 3, we find the most famous demonstration of that wisdom.
28:44Two women come before him, each claiming to be the mother of the same child.
28:51To reveal the truth, Solomon proposes an unthinkable solution.
28:56Cutting the baby in two and giving each woman half.
29:00The real mother immediately offers to surrender the child rather than see him harmed, revealing her as the true parent.
29:12But according to the Bible, King Solomon's greatest legacy isn't just his legendary wisdom, but the vast wealth he amasses.
29:22Which he uses to construct the first temple in Jerusalem.
29:27An architectural and spiritual marvel, the Bible offers detailed descriptions of the lavish materials used in its construction.
29:35Monumental bronze columns flank the entrance.
29:39A massive ceremonial basin known as the Sea of Cast Metal adorns the courtyard.
29:45And inside, a sanctuary with gold-lined walls is said to have held the Ark of the Covenant, the sacred chest containing the Ten Commandments.
29:56And the temple isn't his only grand construction.
29:59Solomon reigns from his royal palace in Jerusalem.
30:03A treasure-filled sanctum with cedar pillars, which takes 13 years to build.
30:09And this brings us back to the incredible source of his wealth, King Solomon's mines.
30:14There's just one hiccup.
30:16The Bible makes no mention of them.
30:19It does make reference to copper quarrying in the Holy Land and describes a mysterious kingdom called Ophir as a source of Solomon's wealth.
30:28But the text gives no hint of Ophir's location or the legendary gold and diamond mines we associate with Solomon today.
30:36In fact, the first time we hear about actual mines is almost 3,000 years later in the 1885 novel King Solomon's Mines by H. Rider Haggard.
30:47The story follows the fictional exploits of Alan Quartermain, a hunter hired to lead a search for Solomon's legendary source of wealth in Africa.
30:57So, is it all just a literary invention?
31:00Well, not so fast.
31:02In the 19th century, European explorers venture deep into southern Africa in search of the site of the mines and stumble upon something extraordinary.
31:13The massive stone ruins of Great Zimbabwe, a mysterious ancient city surrounded by abandoned gold mines.
31:22One structure, the Great Enclosure, they say, bears similarities to biblical descriptions of Solomon's temple in Jerusalem.
31:30Suddenly, the world is buzzing with a thrilling possibility.
31:35Had they found the lost kingdom of Ophir, the source of King Solomon's legendary wealth?
31:43A stunning archaeological find in Africa, ornate stone ruins unlike anything seen before, leads many to believe they've uncovered the lost city of Ophir, the legendary source of King Solomon's mines.
32:06But in time, the site known as Great Zimbabwe is revealed to not be a relic of Solomon's empire at all, but the legacy of the Shona people, an advanced African civilization that flourished around the 11th century, nearly 2,000 years after Solomon's reign.
32:25Even so, the myth refused to fade.
32:30The dream of discovering the source of Solomon's hidden riches continued to fuel imaginations around the world.
32:37Which brings us back to H. Rider Haggard's 1885 novel, King Solomon's Mines.
32:44The book is an international mega-hit, eventually spawning more than a dozen novels and at least seven films, not to mention serving as a template for Indiana Jones.
32:56It also inspires a generation of explorers, many of whom continue to search for Solomon's treasure.
33:02Enter Timna Valley, a rugged, sun-scorched stretch of desert in southern Israel, just 200 miles from Jerusalem, the seat of Solomon's biblical kingdom.
33:15On the surface, it looks like little more than rock and sand, but beneath it, a very different story.
33:22In the 1930s, archaeologist Nelson Gluck discovers massive ancient copper quarries in the valley.
33:32While the Bible doesn't name Timna, it does mention Solomon's extensive use of copper, which was alloyed with tin to produce the bronze used in his temple and palace.
33:43Copper might not sound glamorous today, but in the ancient world, it's a big deal.
33:48Copper is essential to making tools and weapons. It is a cornerstone of trade and the backbone of empires.
33:55Suddenly, Timna isn't just a pit in the sand, it's a possible engine of Solomon's immense wealth.
34:04Nelson Gluck boldly dubs the site the real King Solomon's Mines,
34:09but many dismiss his claims since he can't produce definitive evidence to tie the site to the famed biblical king.
34:16But here's where things get interesting.
34:19For years, most scholars believed the copper mines at Timna were controlled by the Egyptians.
34:24After all, they found Egyptian-style shrines, hieroglyphs, even a temple to the goddess Hathor.
34:31But new radiocarbon dating flipped that idea on its head.
34:35Turns out the real copper boom at Timna happened after the Egyptians left, right around the 10th century BC.
34:43The exact window when Solomon is said to have ruled.
34:48And the head of the new Timna excavation effort declares,
34:52If King Solomon had mines, they were of copper and they were here.
34:56The fact that over 10,000 ancient mine shafts have been currently identified makes this a compelling theory.
35:03But can it be proven that they were Solomon's?
35:07Now, a recent discovery may settle the question once and for all.
35:12When it comes to vanished treasures, the 12 panel masterpiece known as the Ghent Altarpiece holds the honor of being the most stolen artwork in history.
35:25Completed in 1432 for St. Bavo's Cathedral in Belgium, it was first snatched by Napoleon in 1794.
35:37By 1815, six panels were secretly sold and smuggled into Berlin.
35:42Yet in both cases, the artwork was recovered.
35:45Then in 1934, thieves stole a single panel, which vanished without a trace.
35:54In World War II, Hitler's forces hid the remaining panels in a salt mine.
36:00But the allied art saviors, known as the Monuments Men, rescued it from destruction.
36:07Today, the 11 recovered sections once again grace the cathedral in Ghent.
36:12As for the 12th, it's still out there, just waiting to be found.
36:20A new archaeological discovery in Israel's copper-rich Timna Valley may finally confirm King Solomon's true source of wealth.
36:29And they're not the mythical African diamond mines from the popular novel.
36:34Archaeologist and professor Kent Bramlett has been tracking the latest finds from the dig site.
36:40Finding proof of King Solomon's mines would be dramatic.
36:43It would be sensational. It would be fantastic.
36:46I think any archaeologist working in the field would be delighted with confirming,
36:51finding things associated with a famous king like Solomon.
36:55In 2021, the team excavating at Timna surprised the world.
37:00Archaeologists found artifacts like tools and architectural remains and foodstuffs as well.
37:07And this is due to the extremely dry climate there that preserves organic remains that you wouldn't expect to find in many other locations.
37:14Among the articles they recover are charcoal and clay pieces of ancient smelting furnaces, proving a massive industrial operation was underway here.
37:25The archaeologists also find ancient food waste, olives, dates, and fish bones.
37:33As anyone who's ever cleaned out their fridge can relate to, discovering old food is not normally a jackpot moment.
37:41But in archaeology, it can be as good as gold.
37:43Because olives grow and are eaten within a single season, their tiny pits can be radiocarbon dated with incredible precision.
37:53The pits that were found were dated with carbon-14 sampling.
37:58And the dates that resulted fell squarely in the early part of the 10th century,
38:03the time that according to biblical chronology, King Solomon reigned in Jerusalem.
38:06Confirming that the mines were active during King Solomon's reign is an intriguing discovery.
38:13But then comes a find that ups the ante even more.
38:17Near the lower levels of the excavation, a number of textiles, I believe hundreds of fragments of textiles were found.
38:26And this is very rare. Textiles usually don't survive.
38:29Among all of the fragments of textiles found in Timna, there was a real surprise.
38:33A few had evidence of royal purple dye.
38:40This was extremely exciting and unexpected.
38:46In the ancient world, purple is the color of kings, emperors, and high priests.
38:52So rare it becomes a symbol of power and divinity.
38:56Before modern dyeing techniques, it is made from Mediterranean sea snails,
39:00and it takes thousands of them and a painstaking process to produce even a gram of this precious color.
39:07By weight, it was once worth more than gold.
39:12Finding purple cloth at Timna certainly indicates that this isn't an isolated and primitive mining operation.
39:20It's connected with kingship, with royalty, most probably.
39:24Royal purple would not be something that was worn by local administrators.
39:29So what was it doing there?
39:31Was it the evidence of a royal visitation?
39:34Was it evidence that we are connected with kingship somewhere that is organizing this mining operation?
39:40Possibly so. Probably so.
39:41And the scrap of this fabric found in Timna?
39:45It's the oldest purple wool discovered in the region.
39:48Dating all the way back to the 10th century BC.
39:52King Solomon's time.
39:56Some say it's even possible that this could have been worn by Solomon himself.
40:00King Solomon would undoubtedly have worn garments dyed in purple.
40:06And Solomon was possibly involved with the mining at the location of Timna.
40:11But one of the challenges in archaeology is linking specific remains or finds with specific people, like King Solomon.
40:22If you wanted to connect with a figure, you need DNA from that person to start with.
40:25But King Solomon, unfortunately, we don't have even his tomb.
40:30But the evidence is circumstantial.
40:34So it remains a challenge to connect King Solomon with an artifact.
40:40Considering that at Timna we've already found surprising artifacts, like purple cloth,
40:45we can only guess what will be found in the future.
40:48We hope that as excavation and research continues, that more exciting finds will be found at Timna.
40:56King Solomon's mines may be more than just a fable ginned up by a Victorian-era novelist.
41:02Many experts now believe the Timna copper mines may well have belonged to Solomon.
41:08And perhaps he even rocked his royal purple during a visit.
41:11So it turns out the old adage, all that glitters isn't gold, is true.
41:16Especially when it comes to King Solomon's mines of copper.
41:20I'm Josh Gates, and I'll see you on the next Expedition.
41:22For the next expedition.
41:24Jon made it to you until next week.
41:25For the next expedition.
41:26For the next expedition.
41:27For the next expedition.
41:30For the next expedition.
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