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00:00Five U.S. Navy bombers mysteriously disappear while flying over the Bermuda Triangle.
00:07The plan seemed pretty straightforward.
00:10A familiar route flown countless times by other squadrons, and it should have been routine.
00:16So how does an entire squadron, followed closely by its rescuers, simply disappear?
00:21The tomb of Egypt's notorious queen, Cleopatra, is lost to the sands of time.
00:27Cleopatra was Egypt's last pharaoh.
00:29Maybe the world's first celebrity, and maybe the greatest queen the world's ever known.
00:34Where is Cleopatra's last tomb?
00:38The vast treasures of the Knights Templar vanish without a trace.
00:42On the 13th of October, 1307, more than 600 Templars were swept up and interrogated under torture, which many of them didn't survive.
00:51Once the knights were all dead or gone, very little of their gold turned up, and it still hasn't.
00:57So what happened to the treasures of the Knights Templar?
01:01The chain of history has many missing links.
01:05Prominent people, priceless treasures, extraordinary artifacts.
01:11Their locations still unknown, lost to the fog of time.
01:15What happens when stories of the past become Vanished History?
01:24On December 5th, 1945, five U.S. Navy TBM Avenger torpedo bombers roared off the runway at Naval Air Station, Fort Lauderdale.
01:48Under the command of Lieutenant Charles C. Taylor, the squadron embarked on a routine training mission.
01:54But what began as a simple operation would end as one of aviation's greatest mysteries.
02:00The plan seemed pretty straightforward.
02:04Head east to a place called Hen and Chicken Shoals for bombing practice, then north over Grand Bahama Island, and finally southwest back to Florida.
02:14It was a familiar route flown countless times by other squadrons, and it should have been routine.
02:20Lieutenant Taylor had more than 2,500 flight hours and years of experience under his belt, including extensive combat experience in the Pacific Theater.
02:30He was the kind of leader you'd trust in any situation.
02:33But even the most seasoned pilots can find themselves overwhelmed by unpredictable factors, especially in the treacherous conditions of the Atlantic.
02:40As daylight faded, the radio transmissions from Flight 19 grew increasingly troubling, until their final message dissolved into a buzz of static.
02:52By nightfall, all five planes and their 14 crew members had vanished without a trace, along with the twin-engine PBM mariner rescue craft that had been sent to find them, which carried 13 more men.
03:05By nightfall, all five planes and their 14 crew members had vanished without a trace, along with the twin-engine PBM mariner rescue craft that had been sent to find them, which carried 13 more men.
03:25The disappearance of Flight 19 wasn't an isolated event.
03:29In the infamous waters of the Bermuda Triangle, unexplained phenomena and human error have long converged, sparking endless debate about the balance between mystery and misstep.
03:42Flight 19 solidified the Bermuda Triangle's reputation as a place where reality and the unexplained collide.
03:50Over the years, it's become one of the defining stories behind the speculation surrounding this area, linked to strange occurrences, navigational errors, and the disappearances of ships and planes.
04:06Pilots knew their aircraft and the region.
04:09Nearly every Avenger had a crew of three Marines or Navy personnel.
04:14Only one of them had two crew members.
04:16And even the trainees had already logged about 300 flight hours each.
04:21Their flight leader, Taylor, had 2,500.
04:25Weather conditions at the start were ideal.
04:28Clear skies and calm seas.
04:30Flight 19 took off just after 2 p.m., about 25 minutes behind schedule.
04:35But by 3 p.m., they'd completed their torpedo runs at Hen and Chicken Shoals without incident.
04:40Everything seemed to be progressing as planned, and they were on course to return to Fort Lauderdale by 5.30 p.m.
04:48As the squadron prepared to shift to their next leg, unforeseen challenges began to take hold.
04:56At around 3.45 p.m., a flight instructor picked up a transmission from Flight 19.
05:02It was clear they were lost.
05:04They believed they had veered off the Florida Keys and into the Gulf of Mexico, despite being far north, near the Bahamas.
05:14As a result of this misjudgment, Taylor ordered the squadron northeast into the open Atlantic, putting the flight up to 200 miles off course and deeper into danger.
05:27Over the next two hours, Flight 19 kept changing direction and desperately searching for hope.
05:35More than 20 ground stations scrambled to track them, but for ages, nothing showed up.
05:40Even their IFF transmitters, identification friend or foe, which should have made them visible, didn't register or weren't turned on.
05:48So the squadron was completely off-grid.
05:50By 6.00 p.m., signal antennas finally located Flight 19, approximately 75 miles northeast of Fort Lauderdale, showing just how far off course they'd flown.
06:00With barely an hour of fuel left, their chances of survival were fading fast.
06:05In Taylor's final transmission, just 30 minutes later, the garbled, fading voices painted a haunting picture of their plight.
06:12Lost, out of time, and powerless.
06:14Over the next five days, the Coast Guard and Navy combed more than 250,000 square miles of the Atlantic and Gulf, but their efforts yielded nothing.
06:26No wreckage, no life rafts, no trace at all.
06:30In the end, the search brought no answers, only more questions.
06:34In the endless expanse of sea and sky, Flight 19 vanished into a realm where certainty gave way to chaos, testing the limits of both man and machine.
06:47Lieutenant Taylor's radio transmission revealed one potential cause of this tragedy, navigational disorientation.
06:55He mistakenly believed the squadron had drifted over the Florida Keys, when in reality, they were further north near the Bahamas.
07:06His mistake pulled them off course, leading them deeper into the vast, unforgiving Atlantic.
07:12A little after 4 p.m., Taylor reported that both of his compasses were malfunctioning.
07:20So he had no reliable instruments, and tried to lead his squadron home by using visual landmarks and instinct.
07:28The Navy's protocol for disoriented pilots was clear, turn west, and fly toward the setting sun.
07:35This failsafe was ingrained in training and designed to guide aviators back to land.
07:41But Taylor, convinced they were over the Gulf of Mexico, ignored this procedure and directed the squadron northeast, straight into the open ocean.
07:51Radio transcripts show the escalating tension within the squadron, as the trainees began to question Taylor's decisions.
07:59The situation quickly deteriorated until it bordered on hysteria.
08:05One pilot was overheard saying, if we'd just fly west, we'd get home.
08:12But Taylor doubled down on his error, which is a phenomenon known as cognitive lockup.
08:19That's when stress narrows focus and leaders become fixated on wrong assumptions, despite mounting evidence to the contrary.
08:27It's hard to believe navigational error alone explains everything.
08:33Sure, Taylor's misjudgment might have started the chain of events.
08:36But the complete lack of wreckage and the silence from the distress systems?
08:40That hints at something else being part of the story.
08:44While human error offers part of the explanation, unanswered questions linger,
08:50hinting at complications of failures that may have turned confusion into catastrophe.
08:55Mechanical issues and communication failures may have played a pivotal role in the disappearance of Flight 19.
09:03Despite pre-flight inspections showing no major faults, reports of mid-flight malfunctions painted a different picture.
09:11Navigational aids went silent and crucial systems failed to transmit data.
09:16Whether the breakdown was because of mechanical issues or interference or just the chaos and stress of the moment,
09:24the result was that communication with the outside world was eventually lost,
09:29and the squadron was utterly alone.
09:33Among the most puzzling failures was the absence of a signal from the identified friend or foe transmitter.
09:40The IFF transmitter, standard in military aircraft, would have made Flight 19's location much more visible in real time to ground stations.
09:50But records show it was never engaged.
09:53These systems were highly reliable, but mechanical strain, electrical surges, or even operator error could render them useless.
09:59What's really odd is that no distress signals were ever picked up,
10:04even though all the planes had emergency transmitters meant to broadcast their location automatically.
10:11They stayed completely silent.
10:14And then there's the PBM Mariner rescue plane.
10:16It had equipment specifically designed to detect those signals, but it too vanished without a trace.
10:23While individual malfunctions are possible, the likelihood of all five planes suffering the same critical failures at once,
10:33it's hard to believe.
10:35It suggests there's more to the story and possibly a larger force at play,
10:41something that intensified their struggle to navigate and communicate.
10:47Mechanical and communication failures provide part of the picture,
10:50but the true nature of what unfolded may lie hidden in the volatile forces of the sea and sky.
10:57One theory is that a sudden storm could have sealed their fate.
11:02A white squall can strike without warning, even on clear days.
11:06And by late afternoon, the skies had darkened and conditions were deteriorating.
11:11There was torrential rain and high winds.
11:14Dense cloud cover could have been disorienting
11:16and create potentially dangerous conditions for low-flying aircraft.
11:22By 4 p.m., the storm intensified,
11:25with Miami's weather station recording winds of 40 miles per hour at 1,000 feet
11:30and hurricane-force gusts of 75 miles per hour at higher altitudes.
11:36These conditions likely engulfed the squadron,
11:39leaving them little chance of survival.
11:42Adding to the danger was the Gulf Stream.
11:45This powerful current moving at up to 5 miles per hour
11:49would have scattered any debris or survivors over vast distances.
11:55Even the strongest search efforts would have struggled against such relentless forces.
12:01But the tragedy wasn't confined to Flight 19.
12:05The rescue plane sent to find them, a PBM Mariner,
12:10met its own tragic fate, adding to the mystery.
12:13Less than 30 minutes after takeoff, the crew radioed the tower,
12:17saying they were getting close to Flight 19's last assumed position.
12:22But not long after that, all contact was lost.
12:25The plane and its 13 crew members were never heard from again.
12:30PBM Mariner's, known as flying gas tanks,
12:35were notoriously volatile and prone to catastrophic accidents and turbulent conditions.
12:40In rough weather, their flexible fuel lines tended to get loose and leak gas,
12:44which could cause mid-air explosions.
12:46The fact that witnesses described seeing a fireball in an oil slick
12:49where the rescue plane went down fuels this theory.
12:53While we may never know definitively what happened on that tragic day,
12:57there was a silver lining.
12:59The lessons of Flight 19 helped shape a safer future for aviation.
13:04There were real lessons to be learned.
13:07The tragedy highlighted problems in naval aviation,
13:10such as inconsistent training standards, excessive corner cutting.
13:13In the 1950s, a big report.
13:16The Flatley report would finally lead to a whole series of reforms
13:20that transform flight safety.
13:23The Navy's subsequent investigation into Flight 19 took several months.
13:28The final report described the disappearance
13:30as a tragic convergence of navigational errors and environmental challenges.
13:34An initial finding of mental aberration
13:37was later overturned at Lieutenant Taylor's mother's request,
13:40leaving the investigation's final ruling as inconclusive.
13:43The disappearance of Flight 19 stands as a poignant reminder
13:48of the fragile balance between humanity and nature
13:51and the unanswered questions that continue to haunt us.
14:06From the early 12th century CE,
14:09the Knights Templar were legendary, righteous, and fearsome enforcers,
14:13known throughout Europe and the Levant.
14:16Through their exploits, they reaped enough wealth to finance holy wars
14:19and bankroll kings.
14:23The Knights Templar were created to protect Christians
14:25who were making pilgrimages to Jerusalem and the Holy Land.
14:28But in the process of doing that,
14:30they acquired hundreds of castle fortresses
14:32and enormous portable wealth,
14:34a great deal of it being gold or gold coins.
14:36Almost two centuries after the Order of the Knights Templar was formed,
14:42Muslim warriors determined to drive all Christians out of the Holy Land,
14:47cornered the Templars and decimated them in a fierce battle.
14:51The Knights had always operated with the blessings of the church
14:54and the throne of France.
14:56But when the end came, both turned against them.
14:59The Knights were arrested in Europe and charged as traitors and heretics.
15:04Many were publicly executed.
15:06It was a stunning betrayal.
15:08The vast hoard of gold and other valuables the Templars had amassed
15:12was supposed to go to the King of France.
15:14But it didn't.
15:16Once the Knights were all dead or gone,
15:18very little of their gold turned up.
15:20And it still hasn't.
15:21So what happened to the treasures of the Knights Templar?
15:24The poor fellow soldiers of Christ and the Temple of Solomon
15:29were founded in Jerusalem in 1119 CE by a French knight.
15:34Eventually, their name was shortened to the Knights Templar.
15:39The Templars were supposed to live communally, like monks.
15:43They took strict vows of chastity, obedience, and poverty.
15:46They wore a distinctive white cloak,
15:48indicating purity with a bold red cross emblazoned on it.
15:51One of their emblems was two knights riding together on one horse,
15:56the very picture of poverty and humility.
15:58But the thing is, their operations required resources.
16:03The Catholic Church's doctrine allowed fighting for just pauses,
16:08like the defense of the Holy Land and the Crusades.
16:10So within a decade of the Templars' formation,
16:13they won recognition from the Pope.
16:15They took land and reaped riches from their conquests in the Holy Land.
16:19By the 1300s, they were a true international military order,
16:24with estates from England to Bohemia.
16:26Ultimately, they owned over 870 estates across Europe.
16:30They even had enough money to build their own naval fleet
16:32to ship goods that their estates produced,
16:34and for military use.
16:37They had so much money that at one point,
16:39they were able to lend France's King Philip IV 400,000 gold florins,
16:43which in hindsight may not have been a wise thing to do.
16:48In April of 1291 CE,
16:50with a company of Templar knights holed up in their headquarters in Acre, Jerusalem,
16:55the Mamluk Sultanate's relentless throngs breached the fortress walls.
17:00And with that, the image of knights Templar everywhere was fatally tarnished.
17:05For France's King Philip IV, who owed the Templars a great deal of money,
17:11this was a golden opportunity to not only have his debts erased,
17:15but to get his hands on the Templars' legendary fortunes.
17:19Philip issued a secret order for the arrest of all knights Templar throughout France,
17:24on charges of everything from denying Christ and heresy,
17:27to financial improprieties and homosexuality.
17:30And on Philip's urging,
17:31the Pope mandated the arrest of all Templars across Europe.
17:36On the 13th of October, 1307,
17:38more than 600 Templars were swept up and interrogated under torture,
17:42which many of them didn't survive.
17:44Of those who did survive and were brought to trial,
17:47dozens were convicted and burned at the stake,
17:49including the Grand Master.
17:51By 1312, the order of the Templar knights was officially dissolved.
17:55With the order no longer in existence,
17:57Philip IV was freed of his debt
17:59and free to confiscate the Templars' large treasury.
18:03Philip did get some of their riches, but very little.
18:08Somehow, the Knights Templar had managed to hide or move or escape with much of their portable wealth.
18:15Speculation as to what happened to that treasure continues to this day.
18:18The most obvious place for the Templars to have kept the bulk of their treasures
18:24would also have been the hardest place for anyone to remove it from.
18:28It would make perfect sense if the Knights Templar had secured their riches
18:33in the main tower of their fortress at Akkor,
18:36where they made their last stand against the Mamluk.
18:39The tower was built for protection.
18:41Basically, it was a heavily gated tower within walls 28 feet thick,
18:46surrounded by a fortress, inside another fortress.
18:48The only catch is that the Templars were under siege there for weeks by the Mamluks,
18:53who pounded the castle day and night.
18:55And when the Mamluks finally gained entry,
18:57there's no record of their finding a stash of treasure.
19:00So, if it had been there,
19:02how could the Templars possibly have gotten it out before they were conquered?
19:06In 1994, a resident in the town of Akra
19:09looked into a sewer drainage problem they'd been having under their home
19:12and discovered an underground passageway cut through the bedrock.
19:17This was a secret tunnel running from where the fortress had been at one end,
19:21almost 500 feet eastwards to the internal anchorage of Akra's port,
19:26large enough for men to run through with cartloads of whatever goods they wanted to carry.
19:33The Templars would have been able to smuggle every last gold coin out of the tower
19:37while the Mamluk siege raged above their heads.
19:40But if that's true,
19:42if they did get their treasure out through this tunnel,
19:45the question remains,
19:47where is it now?
19:50Trying to find the Templars' treasure today
19:53is like playing a shell game that happened nine centuries ago
19:56with many, many shells.
19:59The Templars had a very practical philosophy about money.
20:02Keep it moving.
20:04They realized that if they allowed the accumulation
20:06of any large amount of money in any one place,
20:08others had time to find out where it was
20:11and to plan and execute raids to get it.
20:13Wealth was less vulnerable to raids
20:15if it was spread out in many places and moved frequently.
20:19The Templars had developed a whole network
20:21of underground safe houses they could escape to.
20:23And between these safe houses,
20:25they could move parcels of wealth,
20:27especially if they had warning.
20:28And they did have warning.
20:31King Philip's secret order
20:32for the arrest of the Knights Templar in France
20:34was issued on September 14th, 1307,
20:38a full four weeks before it said
20:39the arrests were to be carried out.
20:41According to contemporary accounts,
20:43the Grand Master arranged for more than 2,000 Knights Templar
20:46and the Templar's treasures
20:47to be loaded onto 18 ships
20:49at the port of La Rochelle before the arrests.
20:51Two ships and about 620 Templars,
20:55including the Grand Master, stayed behind,
20:58which may have been a self-sacrifice,
21:01an intentional diversion.
21:03Thanks to that, it appears
21:05more than 2,000 of their fellow Knights
21:07were able to sail away in the other ships,
21:09possibly taking much of their treasure with them.
21:12Some believe the key to finding the treasure
21:16won't be to focus on where the Templars
21:18might have escaped to with it,
21:20but to consider instead the possibility
21:22the Templars may have failed disastrously in the end.
21:26The Knights Templar and their gold
21:28may have escaped by boat from La Rochelle or elsewhere,
21:32only if to have sunk in the bottom of the sea.
21:34Countless sailing ships have gone down over the centuries
21:37due to storms or other bad luck,
21:39let alone while making a rushed departure
21:41overloaded with men and cargo.
21:45In 2016, excavation began
21:47on the remains of a ship found in the Bay of Haifa,
21:50and it was one of those rare shipwrecks
21:53that seems to tell a whole story.
21:55In terms of wood,
21:56only bits of the hull and keel and planking survived.
22:00Radiocarbon dating indicated
22:02that the wood was grown somewhere
22:04between 1062 and 1250 CE.
22:08There were ceramics from Syria, Cyprus, and Italy,
22:11and there were also 30 gold florins,
22:14coins that were minted in the Republic of Florence
22:16in the mid-13th century.
22:18This ship may well have been piloted or commissioned
22:20by the Knights Templar,
22:22escaping the Mamluks during the siege at Akko in 1291.
22:26They might have snuck out from under their fortress
22:28via the secret tunnel to board a ship
22:30waiting in the inner harbour.
22:32The gold florins may have been part of the Templar's treasure
22:36that was being transported,
22:37and perhaps what was paid to the ship's captain
22:40as a bribe to help escape the chaos.
22:44The Haifa wreck is one ship out of many
22:47that may have successfully left Akko during the siege.
22:50And of the 18 said to have left the port of La Rochelle in 1307,
22:55none have been located.
22:56It's intriguing.
22:59If some of the Templars did make a successful escape
23:02with their treasure,
23:03where might they have ended up?
23:04Plenty of places have been suggested.
23:08Carvings in Rossland Chapel in Edinburgh
23:10suggest some Knights Templar may have escaped to Scotland.
23:13Could they have hidden some of their treasure there?
23:17Switzerland's national flag
23:18is the exact reverse of the Knights Templar motif.
23:21It's a white cross over a red background.
23:24And the beloved Swiss rescue dog
23:26now shares its name
23:27with the Templar's patron Saint Bernard de Clairvaux.
23:31It's known the Templars were active in that area
23:34around that time,
23:35so some of their gold could have ended up there.
23:38And there are plenty of places still left to look for it.
23:42The Knights Templar were a legendary force
23:44that might not always have fought
23:46with the purest of motives.
23:48The stunning wealth they amassed during their conquests
23:51may well have caused their ruin before,
23:54like the Knights themselves,
23:56vanishing into history.
24:09In the year 30 BCE,
24:12in Egypt's capital of Alexandria,
24:14Queen Cleopatra was barricaded
24:16behind heavy wooden doors,
24:18surrounded by her greatest treasures
24:19and the body of her partner,
24:22Mark Antony.
24:23She sent a letter to her conquering enemy,
24:26Octavian,
24:26with one last request,
24:28that she and Antony
24:29be allowed to rest an eternity together.
24:34Cleopatra was Egypt's last pharaoh,
24:37maybe the world's first celebrity
24:38and maybe the greatest queen
24:40the world's ever known.
24:41She was multilingual,
24:43charismatic,
24:44intelligent,
24:45educated,
24:45and a brilliant strategist.
24:47To the public,
24:48she was perceived as a goddess,
24:50the new Isis.
24:54Cleopatra had ruled Egypt
24:56with two of her brothers.
24:58She had married at least one of them
25:00and ultimately had both of them killed.
25:03And she had had children
25:05by two powerful Romans,
25:08Julius Caesar and Mark Antony.
25:12Cleopatra died just days
25:14after she sent that final letter.
25:17But the place where she was buried
25:18is a mystery.
25:20People have been searching for centuries,
25:22trying to answer
25:23one of history's greatest questions.
25:26Where is Cleopatra's lost tomb?
25:30Cleopatra VII was born in Egypt
25:32to a long line of Greek pharaohs.
25:35When she took the throne at 18
25:37in 51 BCE,
25:39the family's dynasty was fading.
25:41But she was determined
25:42to turn her fortunes around.
25:44So, four years into her reign,
25:46when Julius Caesar came to Egypt,
25:48she recognized the opportunity.
25:51Cleopatra took Caesar
25:53on a week-long sightseeing tour
25:55of the Nile
25:55and became pregnant
25:57with his child.
25:59After Caesar returned to Rome,
26:00Cleopatra gave birth
26:01to their son, Caesarian,
26:04or Little Caesar.
26:05A powerful, useful, diplomatic bond
26:08had been formed.
26:11When Caesar was assassinated
26:13in 44 BCE,
26:15all bets were off.
26:17Cleopatra needed
26:17new diplomatic security with Rome.
26:20So when Mark Antony,
26:21the controller of Rome's
26:22eastern territories,
26:24summoned Cleopatra for a talk
26:26to gauge her loyalty to Rome,
26:28that was her second opportunity.
26:32Cleopatra started having an affair
26:34with Mark Antony,
26:36which was a little bit complicated
26:38since he still went ahead
26:40and married Octavian's sister,
26:43even while having his love affair
26:45with Cleopatra.
26:46Mark Antony then went so far
26:49as to give Cleopatra
26:50back territories
26:51Rome had previously won
26:53from Egypt.
26:53It was all too much
26:55for Octavian to take.
26:56It seemed Antony
26:57wasn't thinking with his head.
26:59This was a line in the sand
27:00that could not be crossed,
27:02and Octavian declared war
27:03against Cleopatra.
27:06Cleopatra was experienced
27:08in battle.
27:08She soon realized
27:09they couldn't win
27:10against Octavian.
27:11She pulled her squadron
27:13out of the fight
27:14and withdrew to the safety
27:15of her palace
27:16in Alexandria.
27:18Mark Antony fled as well,
27:20leaving his soldiers
27:20to continue on their own.
27:23This was a major conflict,
27:26a personal grudge match
27:28with tens of thousands
27:29of soldiers on either side
27:32and hundreds of warships.
27:34Mark Antony's forces
27:35had the advantage in numbers,
27:37but it was still Octavian
27:39who ultimately won.
27:41In Alexandria,
27:43Cleopatra surrounded herself
27:45with all of her greatest treasures
27:46in a beautiful mausoleum
27:48she had built near her palace.
27:51And then she waited.
27:53Mark Antony threw himself
27:54on his sword.
27:55He was carried to Cleopatra's side
27:57and died in her arms.
27:59According to the famous legend,
28:02Cleopatra had a poisonous snake
28:04smuggled in and let it bite her
28:07so that she died from the venom.
28:09According to some ancient accounts,
28:11Octavian granted her wish
28:13and ordered that she be buried
28:15with Mark Antony
28:16in splendid and regal fashion.
28:19But those sources don't tell us where.
28:22In the 2,000 years
28:25since Cleopatra's death,
28:27nobody has been able to find
28:29Cleopatra in Mark Antony's crypt.
28:32Only in 2004
28:33did one investigator decide
28:35everyone had been ignoring
28:37the most important clues.
28:38It would make a lot of sense
28:41if Cleopatra were buried
28:42somewhere at the temple complex
28:44of Taposiris Magna,
28:4628 miles west of Alexandria.
28:50Taposiris Magna means
28:52the great tomb of Osiris,
28:54a god Mark Antony
28:56had been associated with in life.
28:58And archaeologists always knew
29:00there'd been a temple of Osiris
29:03at that site.
29:04But in 2005,
29:06a new discovery
29:07got everyone's attention.
29:10The outlines of a second temple
29:13were found inside the complex,
29:15laid out in three rooms,
29:17which is typical for temples
29:19dedicated to Isis.
29:21So now,
29:22there seemed like there might be
29:23temples at this site
29:24dedicated to each of the two gods
29:27that Cleopatra and Mark Antony
29:29identified with.
29:30Within the center room
29:33of this temple to Isis,
29:34known as the Sanctuary,
29:36about 200 gold coins were found,
29:39some bearing Cleopatra's image.
29:43Beneath the room,
29:44there was a 16-foot deep shaft
29:46with several underground chambers.
29:49The walls of these chambers
29:50still retained faint traces of paint.
29:53It's possible these cavities
29:54were used for burial
29:55or ritual purposes,
29:56and a mask was found,
29:58which some have speculated
29:59could have belonged to Mark Antony.
30:03In 2022,
30:04another tunnel was found,
30:0643 feet underground,
30:08chiseled out of solid rock,
30:10and more than three-quarters
30:12of a mile long,
30:14along with statues,
30:15coins,
30:16and other artifacts.
30:17And in 2024,
30:18the same archaeologist
30:20found a bust
30:20she believes
30:21depicts Cleopatra,
30:23as well as coins
30:24that definitely do.
30:25But through all this,
30:29no concrete evidence
30:31tied to Cleopatra's burial
30:33has been found
30:34at the site.
30:35And that magnificent,
30:37long tunnel?
30:39An identical one
30:40was found in Greece,
30:41on the island of Samos.
30:44That one was an aqueduct.
30:47And there's no proof
30:49that the one in Egypt
30:50ever carried anything
30:51but water either.
30:52A hunch had led archaeologists
30:55to search for Cleopatra
30:57at Taposiris Magna.
31:00Following the historical record
31:01and geological history,
31:03instead,
31:03led to a more obvious location
31:05with a twist.
31:08Cleopatra's palace
31:09was in her beloved Alexandria.
31:12She had built her mausoleum there,
31:14she had died there,
31:15so it made sense
31:17she would be buried there.
31:18With its library
31:20and its famous lighthouse,
31:22Alexandria was the largest,
31:24most sophisticated city
31:26in the world.
31:28Today,
31:29much of ancient Alexandria
31:31is actually 20 feet
31:32beneath the surface
31:34of the Mediterranean.
31:36So,
31:36if Cleopatra is buried there,
31:38she wouldn't be underground,
31:40she'd be underwater.
31:41In 365 CE,
31:44four centuries
31:45after Cleopatra's death,
31:47a massive tsunami,
31:4850 to 100 feet high,
31:50blasted through ancient Alexandria
31:52and its palaces.
31:53It killed about 50,000 people
31:55and buried Alexandria
31:56under 80 feet of sediment.
31:59Since the early 90s,
32:01underwater archaeological mapping
32:03has uncovered sections
32:05of Alexandria,
32:07piers,
32:07and the remains
32:09of palace walls,
32:10granite columns,
32:12even a massive stone sphinx.
32:15However,
32:16there's been no sign
32:17of Cleopatra's crypt
32:18there so far.
32:21Some who've sought
32:22Cleopatra's tomb
32:23believe that even
32:24with the use
32:25of the most advanced
32:26modern technologies,
32:27her tomb may continue
32:28to elude discovery
32:30and possibly
32:31with good reason.
32:33Cleopatra's tomb
32:34may simply no longer exist.
32:36It may have been found
32:37long ago in antiquity
32:38then looted and destroyed
32:40or it may have been
32:42purposefully dismantled
32:43by the Romans
32:44soon after she died.
32:45We know Octavian
32:47wanted to obtain
32:48Cleopatra's riches
32:49and he wouldn't have
32:50wanted to risk
32:51the public maintaining
32:52too strong a connection
32:53with their dead queen.
32:55The truth is,
32:57right now,
32:57we don't know
32:58either way.
33:00And just because
33:00Cleopatra's tomb
33:01hasn't been found yet
33:03doesn't mean
33:04it won't be.
33:05it could absolutely
33:07still be out there
33:08somewhere
33:09waiting to be discovered.
33:12It may still lie
33:14at Taposiris Magna
33:15or under the Mediterranean
33:17among the ruins
33:18of ancient Alexandria.
33:21There are also
33:21untested theories
33:23it may be at the
33:24Temple of Isis
33:25in Philae
33:25or in the Valley of Kings
33:28where Tutankhamen
33:29was interred.
33:30Or it could be
33:32some other place
33:33that nobody's
33:34thought of yet.
33:36If there is
33:37a silver lining
33:38to the fruitless
33:39search for the tomb
33:40it's that Taposiris
33:42was a neglected site
33:43that everyone knew
33:44about but few cared about.
33:46It has now become
33:47one of Egypt's
33:48most active
33:48archaeological sites
33:49with hundreds
33:50of significant discoveries
33:51already made.
33:53And the same
33:53is happening
33:54under the Mediterranean
33:55at ancient Alexandria.
33:57So Cleopatra's
33:58influence continues
33:59to live on.
34:00Queen Cleopatra VII
34:03the new Isis
34:04who ended her life
34:06more than
34:06two millennia ago
34:07continues to impress
34:09and inspire.
34:11And it's possible
34:11that with the discovery
34:13of her tomb
34:14she'll return one day
34:15and tell her own story.
34:18South Africa
34:30at the dawn
34:31of the 20th century
34:32was a land
34:33teetering
34:34on the edge
34:34of monumental change.
34:36The discovery
34:37of gold
34:37transformed
34:38the once quiet
34:39Transvaal Republic
34:40into a battleground
34:41of wealth
34:42and power
34:43igniting British
34:44imperial ambitions.
34:46At the heart
34:46of this upheaval
34:47was Paul Kruger
34:48a leader
34:49whose vision
34:50for his people
34:51collided
34:52with the relentless
34:53tide
34:53of colonial expansion.
34:56Paul Kruger
34:57wasn't just
34:57the president
34:58of the South African
34:59Republic
34:59he was the embodiment
35:00of Boer independence
35:02and resilience.
35:03The Boers
35:04Dutch speaking
35:05settlers
35:05from the Cape Colony
35:06had formed
35:07their own
35:07self-governing
35:08republics
35:09to protect
35:09their way of life.
35:11His greatest
35:11challenge
35:12began in 1886
35:13with the discovery
35:14of gold
35:15in the Witwatersrand
35:16area.
35:17Suddenly
35:17this area
35:18wasn't just
35:19a remote
35:19Boer territory
35:20it was a treasure
35:21trove
35:22of unimaginable
35:23value
35:23drawing a flood
35:24of British
35:25and foreign
35:26settlers
35:26or outlanders
35:27as Kruger
35:28disdainfully
35:29called them.
35:30To Kruger
35:31these newcomers
35:32weren't just
35:32immigrants
35:32they were a direct
35:34threat to the Boer
35:34way of life
35:35and identity.
35:36He steadfastly
35:37refused to grant
35:37them voting
35:38and political
35:38rights.
35:39This exclusion
35:40angered the mining
35:41elite
35:41who saw Kruger's
35:42policies as obstacles
35:43to their economic
35:44ambitions
35:44setting the stage
35:46for an inevitable
35:47clash.
35:49War
35:49broke out
35:50in 1899.
35:52It was known
35:52as the Great Boer
35:53War back then
35:54but today
35:55historians call it
35:56the South African
35:56War
35:57because many
35:58black Africans
35:58were caught up
35:59in it too.
36:00It was a brutal
36:01colonial conflict
36:02that saw the Boers
36:03embrace guerrilla
36:05warfare
36:05attacking British
36:07outposts
36:07sabotaging rail lines
36:09stretching the British
36:10troops thin
36:11across the vast
36:13terrain
36:13while the British
36:15targeted civilians
36:16with scorched earth
36:17campaigns
36:18and concentration
36:19camps.
36:22Amid this chaos
36:23Kruger faced
36:24a pivotal decision
36:25how to safeguard
36:26the republic's wealth
36:27so he and his
36:29advisors devised
36:30a plan.
36:31Kruger fled
36:31South Africa
36:32with over 2 million
36:33pounds in gold
36:34worth over 500
36:35million dollars
36:36today.
36:37But somewhere
36:38along the line
36:39the gold vanished
36:40creating one of
36:41history's most
36:41enduring enigmas.
36:43So what happened
36:44to the Kruger
36:45millions?
36:46On June 4th
36:481900
36:48Kruger orchestrated
36:50a daring plan.
36:52Gold coins
36:53bullion
36:53and unprocessed
36:54gold were removed
36:55from the South
36:56African mint
36:57and the National
36:57Bank
36:58then packed
36:59into wooden
36:59crates
37:00and transported
37:01on wagons
37:02towards the
37:02Delagoa
37:03Bay Railway.
37:04By noon
37:05the precious
37:06cargo reached
37:07Pretoria Station
37:08where a
37:08special train
37:09awaited
37:10shrouded in
37:11secrecy
37:11and protected
37:12by armed
37:13guards.
37:15Kruger's
37:15plan was
37:16audacious
37:16to transport
37:17the republic's
37:18wealth to
37:18Mozambique
37:19possibly to
37:20finance the
37:21war effort
37:21from abroad
37:21or to
37:22solidify the
37:23nation's
37:23future after
37:24the conflict.
37:25For Kruger
37:26this wasn't
37:26simply wealth
37:27it was the
37:28republic's
37:28lifeline in
37:29wartime.
37:31Somewhere
37:31along the
37:32way some
37:33of the Kruger
37:33millions seem
37:35to have
37:35disappeared.
37:36When British
37:37forces took
37:38Pretoria
37:38they found
37:39the vaults
37:40empty and
37:41Kruger
37:41gone.
37:42The difference
37:43between those
37:44two numbers
37:44has sparked
37:45speculation,
37:47myths and
37:48legends that
37:49have fascinated
37:49people for
37:50more than a
37:51century now.
37:54Amidst these
37:55tales one
37:56possibility echoes
37:57more persistently
37:58than the rest.
37:59The belief that
38:00the Kruger
38:00millions never
38:01left the land
38:02where they
38:02were forged
38:03and may
38:04lie hidden
38:05within South
38:05Africa's
38:06vast and
38:07rugged landscape.
38:08The idea
38:09that Kruger
38:10hid the gold
38:11within South
38:11Africa is
38:12plausible.
38:14Anticipating
38:14that the
38:15British might
38:15intercept the
38:16treasure before
38:16it reached
38:17Mozambique,
38:18Kruger could
38:19have had it
38:19ordered to be
38:20concealed along
38:20the escape
38:21route.
38:22The train
38:22passed through
38:23secluded areas
38:24like Makadadorp,
38:26the Blyde River
38:26Canyon, the
38:27Sudwala Caves,
38:28and Waterval
38:29Under, ideal
38:31locations for
38:31hiding a
38:32fortune.
38:34Waterval
38:35Under wasn't
38:36just an ideal
38:36hiding place,
38:37it became the
38:38nerve center for
38:39Kruger's
38:39government in
38:40exile.
38:42Daily trains
38:43connected the
38:43site with
38:44the Makadadorp,
38:44the last town
38:45in Boer
38:46territory,
38:47allowing crucial
38:48war strategy
38:49meetings as
38:50the British
38:50closed in.
38:52With tunnels
38:52and rail links
38:53running towards
38:54Mozambique,
38:55it was a location
38:56well suited for
38:57concealing a
38:58fortune.
39:00Plus, the
39:00security of the
39:01area,
39:01meant his
39:02most trusted
39:03advisors had
39:04easy access.
39:05You have to
39:06wonder if
39:06Kruger's men
39:06may have hidden
39:07the treasure
39:07there, or if
39:09this is just
39:09another layer
39:10of misdirection.
39:12In 1900, a
39:14Boer officer
39:14named Fritz
39:15Duquesne,
39:16known for his
39:17cunning and
39:17deep-seated
39:18hatred for the
39:18British, is
39:19said to have
39:20been entrusted
39:20with the gold.
39:22There's lots
39:23of reason not
39:25to believe
39:25Duquesne.
39:26He was a
39:26known con
39:27artist, later
39:28became a Nazi
39:29spy, and
39:30often rewrote
39:31his own
39:31history.
39:32But some
39:33stories claim
39:34he led a
39:34convoy of
39:35wagons filled
39:36with gold,
39:37and that along
39:38the way, his
39:38men tried to
39:39kill him and
39:40steal the
39:41treasure.
39:43Duquesne caught
39:44on to their
39:44plan and managed
39:45to foil the
39:45assassination
39:46attempt.
39:47It's alleged
39:48that he later
39:48ordered his
39:49loyal servants to
39:50bury the gold in
39:51a secret location,
39:52possibly near the
39:53town of
39:54Ermelo.
39:54He was
39:55captured by the
39:56British shortly
39:57after, and
39:58exiled, and
39:59the treasure's
39:59location remained
40:00a mystery.
40:01If the story's
40:02true, Duquesne
40:03took the details
40:04to his grave.
40:06Decades
40:07later, in
40:082001, South
40:09Africa found
40:10itself gripped by
40:11gold fever once
40:12again, when
40:13Athol Stark, a
40:14successful businessman
40:15from Ermelo,
40:17became entangled
40:17in the legend.
40:20The Zulu family
40:21approached Stark with
40:22a proposition.
40:22They had found
40:244,000 Kruger
40:25ponds, which are
40:26gold coins bearing
40:27Paul Kruger's
40:28likeness, and
40:29needed his help
40:30to sell them.
40:31After verifying
40:32their authenticity,
40:33Stark became
40:34convinced that the
40:35Kruger millions
40:36were real and
40:37possibly hidden
40:38near his
40:39hometown.
40:40As word spread,
40:42treasure hunters
40:42flocked to
40:43Ermelo, believing
40:44that the coins
40:44could be part of
40:45Duquesne's hidden
40:46treasure.
40:47The discovery of
40:47a buried statue and
40:49multiple caches of
40:49coins in the area
40:50added fuel to the
40:51fire.
40:51And for a
40:52moment, it seemed
40:54like the mystery
40:54might finally be
40:55solved.
40:57But despite
40:58extensive searches,
41:00no evidence of
41:00the full Kruger
41:01millions was found.
41:02The coins that
41:03were discovered were
41:04isolated stashes,
41:06perhaps buried by
41:07Boa farmers during
41:08the war to protect
41:09their savings.
41:11Without evidence of
41:13a vast singular
41:14hoard, perhaps the
41:15Kruger millions
41:16weren't hidden at
41:17all.
41:17And the true fate of
41:18the gold could
41:19reveal a different
41:20story about the
41:22Boers' struggle.
41:23It's possible Kruger
41:24intended to use the
41:25gold in a desperate
41:26bid to sustain the
41:28Republic's fight
41:28against the British.
41:30As conventional
41:31warfare became
41:32untenable, the Boers
41:33needed resources to
41:35continue their guerrilla
41:36tactics.
41:37The gold could have
41:38been crucial in
41:39paying soldiers,
41:40securing ammunition,
41:41and buying essential
41:42supplies.
41:42Evidence suggests that
41:45significant amounts
41:46of gold were
41:47transported to
41:48Lorenzo Marx in
41:49Mozambique.
41:50There, it was
41:51exchanged for
41:51provisions, everything
41:53from ammunition to
41:5444,000 bags of
41:56flour.
41:56While this certainly
41:57supports the idea
41:58that some of the
41:59money was sent in
42:00efforts to fund the
42:01war, we still don't
42:02have records that
42:03account for all the
42:04missing gold.
42:05So if the treasure
42:06wasn't entirely
42:07consumed by the war
42:08effort or lost amid
42:09the chaos, could its
42:11fate lie in Kruger's
42:12most daring maneuver
42:14of all.
42:16Faced with dwindling
42:17options, Kruger may
42:18have devised a bold
42:19and final strategy
42:21for the Republic's
42:22wealth, an audacious
42:23move that would
42:24carry the Kruger
42:25Millions far beyond
42:27South African shores.
42:29It's possible the
42:30Kruger Millions were
42:31smuggled out of Africa
42:32and taken to Europe
42:33by Kruger himself,
42:34then hidden within
42:35international banking
42:36systems.
42:37After the fall of
42:38Pretoria, Kruger
42:39fled to Mozambique and
42:40secured passage aboard
42:41the Dutch warship,
42:42HNLMS Gelderland.
42:44Perhaps Kruger took a
42:45substantial portion of
42:46the treasure with him,
42:47intending to use it to
42:48rally international
42:48support for the Boer
42:49cause.
42:51Kruger spent his final
42:53years in the
42:54Netherlands, and his
42:55relationships there
42:56could have helped him
42:57get the gold into
42:58Europe.
42:59There even seemed to be
43:00records of deposits in
43:01Dutch and Swiss banks.
43:04The recent discovery of
43:06over 900 Kruger coins
43:08found in a Swiss
43:09vault adds credence to
43:10this theory, suggesting
43:12that some of the
43:13treasure was smuggled
43:14abroad.
43:16These coins, minted
43:17during Kruger's
43:18presidency and preserved
43:19for over a century,
43:21offer a tantalizing
43:22piece of the puzzle.
43:24While it indicates that
43:25at least a fraction of
43:26the Kruger Millions made
43:27it to Europe, the
43:29quantity found is small
43:30compared to the
43:31supposed total value of
43:32the treasure.
43:33Kruger's lifestyle in
43:35exile was modest, and
43:36upon his death in 1904,
43:38there were no signs of
43:39vast wealth.
43:40The gaps in documentation
43:41and the secretive nature
43:43of international banking
43:44at the time make it
43:45difficult to verify this
43:47theory.
43:49For all we know, Kruger's
43:50millions might still be
43:52stashed away in Swiss
43:53vaults, waiting to fund
43:55another Boer resistance
43:56that never happened.
43:58Over a century has passed,
44:01yet the enigma of the
44:02Kruger Millions continues
44:03to captivate historians and
44:05treasure hunters worldwide.
44:08The legend isn't just a
44:09tale of lost gold.
44:10It's a story that captures
44:12a nation's struggle, the
44:13tangled legacy of
44:14colonialism, and the
44:16irresistible pull of a
44:17mystery that refuses to be
44:18solved.
44:20Whether the tale of lost
44:22gold is true or not, the
44:25story is a valuable
44:26reminder of a pivotal
44:28moment in South African
44:29history.
44:30A brutal war that left
44:32tens of thousands dead and
44:35set the scene for apartheid.
44:37The mystery of Kruger's
44:39millions endures, a timeless
44:41relic of colonial ambition
44:42and resistance, caught
44:44between history and legend,
44:46a haunting symbol of a
44:48people's struggle.
44:49It's a reminder that
44:50history is full of secrets
44:52waiting to be revealed.
44:54words and people's struggle
44:55sent to the point of
45:09probability of death
45:09when he pent ...
45:10whatever.
45:11...
45:11...
45:12...
45:12...
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