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00:00A legendary Japanese samurai sword disappears amidst the chaos of World War II.
00:06The Honjo Masamune embodied Japan's feudal past and the enduring legacy of the samurai.
00:12Police handed the Honjo Masamune to a soldier from the Foreign Liquidations Commission in 1946.
00:20Could this soldier have unknowingly taken one of Japan's greatest treasures?
00:25The sarcophagus of an Egyptian pharaoh goes missing en route to London.
00:30The 18th and 19th centuries saw a surge in plunders.
00:34Countless artifacts were shipped to Europe on vulnerable vessels.
00:37So what happened to the Bancora sarcophagus?
00:41The exquisite collection of infamous Fabergé eggs mysteriously disappear.
00:46These eggs reflected the vast wealth, power, and ultimately the corruption and excess
00:52that fueled the discontent leading to the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution.
00:56So what happened to those lost Fabergé eggs?
01:01The chain of history has many missing links.
01:05Prominent people, priceless treasures, extraordinary artifacts.
01:11Their locations still unknown.
01:14Lost to the fog of time.
01:16What happens when stories of the past become vanished history?
01:22In 1837, the quiet sands of Giza, Egypt, witnessed an excavation that would leave a mark on the annals of archaeology.
01:46Colonel Richard Howard Weiss, a British army officer turned explorer, embarked on an expedition across the Giza Plateau,
01:55aiming to unlock the secrets of the pyramids, including the smallest of them all, the Pyramid of Minkora.
02:02In the 19th century, a wave of archaeological obsession drew wealthy explorers to Egypt's ancient monuments.
02:12Weiss, in particular, was convinced that the pyramids held far more hidden chambers than anyone had yet discovered,
02:18especially within the enigmatic pyramid of Minkora.
02:21Minkora, the grandson of Khufu and son of Khafre, had built the third pyramid to complete his family's legacy.
02:30Though smaller than his ancestors' monumental structures, it did stand apart.
02:34Its base was encased in dark, rich granite, and was a stark contrast to the gleaming white limestone of his forefather's tombs.
02:41Weiss noticed a big channel carved into the pyramid, deep, but not deep enough to get inside.
02:49So, to reach what he called the Sepulchral Chamber, his team made the wildly contentious decision
02:56to use gunpowder and dynamite to blow their way in.
03:02Even back then, some of his colleagues were absolutely outraged.
03:06After months of blasting and digging, Weiss reached the burial chamber,
03:13and what he found there would become one of archaeology's greatest mysteries.
03:19A large basalt sarcophagus that would eventually disappear when the ship it was supposedly on,
03:27named the Beatrice, vanished into the depths of the Mediterranean Sea.
03:32So, what happened to the Beatrice and the Mancora sarcophagus?
03:38Colonel Weiss later described the sarcophagus in meticulous detail.
03:43It was about eight feet long, made of polished basalt,
03:46and covered in intricate carvings and the classic palace façade motif of Old Kingdom architecture.
03:53But despite its grandeur, when Weiss found it, the sarcophagus was completely empty.
03:58The lid was shattered, with pieces scattered all over the chamber floor.
04:03Arabic graffiti covered the walls, suggesting others had entered long before.
04:10The discovery was groundbreaking nonetheless.
04:13Weiss noted the sarcophagus seemed to be sawn with some sharp substance,
04:17possibly emery powder, a technique he thought the Romans discovered much later.
04:21And although it wasn't inscribed with hieroglyphs,
04:26Weiss did feel hopeful that the sarcophagus belonged to the pharaoh Mancora himself.
04:32Weiss made the controversial decision to remove the sarcophagus
04:36and send it to the British Museum in London,
04:39claiming it would have been destroyed had it remained in the pyramid.
04:42The export of Egyptian antiquities to Western institutions,
04:48like the British Museum,
04:50had surged since the French surrender at Alexandria back in 1802.
04:55And Weiss was very much part of that colonial approach,
04:59focused on taking precious artifacts out of the country
05:02instead of preserving them in the place where all that history happened.
05:06And that seems to have led to complex negotiations
05:09with the museum's keeper of antiquities,
05:12who was eager to keep adding to their collection.
05:16Following weeks of grueling effort using a combination of levers,
05:21wheel trucks, and sheer muscle power,
05:24the sarcophagus was finally brought into daylight
05:27for the first time in over 4,300 years.
05:31It was then transported over 140 miles across the desert
05:37to the port of Alexandria
05:39and loaded onto the Beatrice,
05:42which set sail in the autumn of 1838,
05:46bound for Liverpool.
05:48According to Lloyd's List,
05:50one of the oldest and most detailed sources
05:52on British merchant vessels from the 19th century,
05:55the Beatrice left Alexandria on September 20th
05:58with around 200 boxes of other precious Egyptian artifacts,
06:03including pink granite sphinxes and gold pieces.
06:07Her captain, Richard Mayle-Wichello,
06:09had exclusively sailed the Beatrice for years.
06:12By her final voyage,
06:13she was rated second description of the first class,
06:16well-equipped and reinforced with copper sheathing
06:18and iron supports to strengthen her deck,
06:20which makes her disappearance all the more confounding.
06:23The Beatrice was last recorded in Malta
06:27on October 13 or 14
06:29before disappearing off the coast of southern Spain.
06:33What happened next remains a mystery,
06:36raising questions about her cargo
06:38and the dangers it might have posed.
06:41The evidence suggests that Beatrice was seaworthy,
06:45but it might not have been designed
06:46to carry such a heavy, irregular load.
06:50If it wasn't located properly,
06:51some think the sarcophagus
06:53could have seriously compromised the ship's stability.
06:56And if it shifted during the voyage,
06:58maybe that would have spelled disaster.
07:01The last official record of the ship is from Malta.
07:06But according to Vice's accounts,
07:08the Beatrice was last heard from
07:10in Laverno, northern Italy.
07:13And if that's true,
07:15then historical shipping patterns would indicate
07:17that the Beatrice would have followed
07:20a southwesterly route
07:22from Laverno toward Gibraltar.
07:26If the Beatrice encountered a storm near the coast,
07:29the captain may have ordered a sharp turn south
07:32to steer clear of danger,
07:34a maneuver that might have worked
07:36under normal conditions.
07:37But the abrupt shift of the heavy sarcophagus
07:40could have easily caused the ship to capsize.
07:43While capsizing is certainly a possibility,
07:47a closer look at the bureaucratic maneuvers of the time
07:50reveals a more mundane theory.
07:54It's possible that the sarcophagus
07:56was never on the Beatrice to begin with,
07:58or that it was simply lost.
07:59Research shows inconsistencies in the records,
08:02suggesting a bureaucratic blunder may have occurred.
08:04Shottily kept manifests could mean
08:06it was listed as cargo,
08:07but never actually loaded onto the ship.
08:09Taking a sarcophagus out of Egypt
08:15could be a very complicated process,
08:17with officials from the British Museum
08:19and Egypt's consular network getting involved.
08:23And the collectors,
08:24who were rushing to get their hands on the treasure,
08:27didn't always worry about leaving behind
08:29a proper paper trip.
08:31So it's not too hard to believe
08:32the sarcophagus could have been misplaced somewhere,
08:35or even left behind in a web of red tape.
08:38With such a complicated chain of custody,
08:43errors and miscommunications were common,
08:46which may have led to the sarcophagus
08:48disappearing into the fog of history.
08:51If that's the case,
08:53it could still be hidden away
08:54in a forgotten storage room,
08:56or even resting in an undocumented private collection.
09:00But some historians suggest
09:04the disorganization may have concealed a darker motive.
09:08The mysterious circumstances of the shipwreck
09:11that supposedly claimed Minkuri's sarcophagus
09:15have fueled speculation
09:16that it may have been a cover for an illegal sale.
09:20It's possible that the disappearance
09:22might have been orchestrated
09:24to mask a secret transaction,
09:26given the demand for rare and valuable artifacts at the time.
09:30The 18th and 19th centuries
09:33marked an era of relentless smuggling
09:35and saw a surge in plunder
09:36as countless artifacts were shipped to Europe
09:38on vulnerable vessels.
09:41One such ship, the HMS Colossus,
09:43wrecked in 1798,
09:45carrying Sir William Hamilton's priceless Greek vases.
09:47They now sit shattered in the British Museum.
09:52Records show the Beatrice stayed in port
09:54much longer than usual,
09:56which could be a hint.
09:57There's a possibility of some backroom deals,
10:00and Captain Wichlow didn't sail with the ship
10:02on its final voyage.
10:04Instead, his son John took command,
10:07while Wichlow stayed behind in Alexandria
10:09for some unknown reason,
10:11which has also raised a few eyebrows.
10:14Most archaeologists believe
10:16the wreck of the Beatrice can be found,
10:18but a coordinated search
10:20remains mired in bureaucracy,
10:22requiring cooperation and approval
10:24from the Spanish government.
10:26If the sarcophagus is indeed
10:28at the bottom of the sea,
10:30it could still be remarkably well-preserved,
10:33since basalt is far less vulnerable
10:36to seawater than other materials
10:38like limestone.
10:41Luckily, the Beatrice
10:43wasn't the only ship carrying artifacts.
10:45The lid from the sarcophagus
10:47and other items were sent
10:48on a separate ship
10:50that safely arrived at its destination.
10:53If we could find Mancora's sarcophagus,
10:55it would be like opening a time capsule
10:57from the Old Kingdom,
10:58offering invaluable insights
11:00into ancient Egyptian craftsmanship
11:01and burial practices.
11:04Farrow Mancora's sarcophagus
11:05endured millennia in the desert,
11:07the threats of tomb robbers,
11:09and the dynamite blasts
11:10of 19th century explorers,
11:13only to disappear without a trace.
11:16Yet, the search continues,
11:18driven by the hope
11:19that this ancient treasure
11:20may still be found.
11:22emerging in the 10th century
11:34as regional soldiers
11:35who served local chieftains,
11:37Japan's samurai
11:38evolved into a class of nobility
11:40that shaped the country's history
11:42for hundreds of years.
11:44Synonymous with these storied warriors
11:45was the weapon of choice,
11:48the samurai sword.
11:49The Honjo Masamune,
11:53the most legendary samurai sword
11:55in Japanese history,
11:57was far more than just a weapon.
11:59It was the ultimate symbol
12:00of power and authority.
12:03Created by the masterful
12:05Guru Nudo Masamune
12:06in the 13th century,
12:08this iconic weapon came to represent
12:10the unstoppable might
12:11of the Tokugawa shogunate.
12:16The blade had 30,000 legs
12:19of steel balanced between strength
12:21and razor-sharp precision.
12:24The spine was durable,
12:25while the edge was so thin,
12:27it's said to have been atoms thick.
12:29This masterpiece remains unmatched
12:32in craftsmanship and power.
12:36For over 700 years,
12:37the Honjo Masamune
12:38was passed down
12:39through Japan's elite,
12:41becoming a symbol
12:41of dominance and might.
12:43It was wielded by high-ranking nobles
12:45as a mark of prestige,
12:46and ultimately found its way
12:48to the legendary warlord,
12:49Kokugawa Iyasu,
12:50who would go on to shape
12:52the course of Japan's history
12:53as the founder
12:53of the last shogunate.
12:56The Honjo Masamune
12:57wasn't merely a weapon.
12:59It embodied Japan's
13:00feudal past
13:02and the enduring legacy
13:03of the samurai.
13:04By 1939,
13:05it was designated
13:06a national treasure
13:07and revered
13:08as an emblem
13:09of honor,
13:10loyalty,
13:10and strength.
13:12By the end
13:13of the Second World War,
13:14nearly two million
13:16Japanese soldiers
13:17carried swords
13:18as a powerful symbol
13:20of a warrior tradition
13:21that spanned centuries.
13:24But with Japan's surrender
13:25and the Allied occupation,
13:27Supreme Allied Commander
13:28General MacArthur
13:29ordered every single sword,
13:32from mass-produced blades
13:34to priceless heirlooms,
13:35to be handed over.
13:36In the process,
13:38the Honjo Masamune
13:39disappeared.
13:40And ever since,
13:41people have been trying
13:42to figure out
13:43what happened to it.
13:46Japan's defeat
13:47was followed by
13:48a cultural
13:48and military disarmament.
13:50The Allied occupation
13:51under MacArthur
13:52aimed to reshape Japan,
13:55dismantling symbols
13:56of its feudal warrior culture.
13:59By confiscating swords,
14:01they weren't just
14:01removing weapons.
14:03They were stripping away
14:04centuries of samurai tradition,
14:05symbolically reinforcing
14:07Japan's shift
14:07from a militaristic empire
14:09to a peaceful,
14:10democratic society.
14:11It was a powerful statement,
14:13signaling the end of an era.
14:16Over three million swords
14:18were confiscated
14:18in the process,
14:20many destined
14:20to be buried
14:21or melted down.
14:23Japanese families
14:24tried to protect
14:25their swords,
14:25but thousands
14:26of priceless treasures
14:27were lost.
14:28For many people
14:30in Japan,
14:31the sword hunt
14:32wasn't just about
14:32a loss of weapons,
14:33but the erasure
14:34of a centuries-old tradition.
14:37It was a devastating loss
14:38for the Japanese people
14:39whose swords
14:40weren't just weapons,
14:42but treasured
14:42family heirlooms
14:44passed down
14:44through generations
14:45and deeply rooted
14:47in history
14:48and tradition.
14:49In December 1945,
14:52the Honjo Masamune's
14:53last known owner,
14:54Takugawa Aimasa,
14:55a descendant
14:56of the shoguns,
14:57obeyed the law
14:58and handed over
14:59the family's
14:59treasured swords
15:00to the Majiro police station.
15:03And then,
15:04without a trace,
15:05the Honjo Masamune
15:06disappeared.
15:07In the turmoil
15:10of post-war Japan,
15:12countless swords
15:13met violent ends,
15:15stoking the belief
15:15that the Honjo Masamune
15:17may have been
15:18one of them.
15:20The Allies'
15:21post-war demilitarization
15:23of Japan
15:24was swift,
15:25decisive
15:25and indiscriminate.
15:28Across the Pacific,
15:29surrender ceremonies
15:30were organized,
15:31where Japanese soldiers
15:32handed over their swords
15:34to the Foreign
15:34Liquidation Commission.
15:36It's entirely possible
15:37that the Honjo Masamune
15:39was tragically destroyed
15:41during this process.
15:43Swords were seized
15:44and piled high
15:45in warehouses,
15:46many destined
15:46to be buried,
15:47dumped at sea
15:48or melted down
15:48for scrap.
15:49Thousands of them
15:50ended up at the U.S.
15:518th Army Weapons Depot
15:52in Akabane, Tokyo.
15:55As word of the destruction
15:56spread,
15:57influential collectors,
15:59museum curators
15:59and cultural figures
16:01urgently raised concerns
16:02to MacArthur,
16:03explaining that this was
16:04more than just disarmament.
16:06It was an assault
16:06on Japan's cultural identity.
16:09There was a meeting
16:10between Dr. Junji Honma,
16:12an expert in swords,
16:13and Colonel Victor Cadwell
16:16of the U.S. 8th Army,
16:17the person in charge
16:18of weapons collection.
16:20Dr. Honma explained
16:21that many of these swords,
16:23like the Honjo Masamune,
16:25weren't just weapons,
16:26but ancient works of art,
16:29that they were cultural treasures,
16:31significant to Japan
16:32in many of the same ways
16:34cathedrals are significant
16:35to the West.
16:37Cadwell was ultimately convinced
16:39that they should be preserved,
16:41and he began efforts
16:42to save Japan's cultural swords
16:43by differentiating them
16:45from wartime weapons.
16:47Although MacArthur
16:48eventually rescinded the edict,
16:50the damage was done.
16:52Countless swords
16:52had been lost or destroyed,
16:54and five irreplaceable blades
16:56officially registered
16:58as national treasures
16:59had already vanished.
17:02The Honjo Masamune's absence
17:04from the records
17:04raises the grim possibility
17:06that this priceless treasure
17:07was lost or destroyed
17:09before its significance
17:10was fully understood.
17:12But given the dedicated efforts
17:14to preserve Japan's
17:15national treasures,
17:16it's hard to believe
17:17such an iconic sword
17:18could have been overlooked.
17:20Despite the widespread destruction,
17:24no evidence has confirmed
17:25that the Honjo Masamune
17:26was destroyed
17:27or that it ever reached
17:29Akabane,
17:30leaving open the possibility
17:31that it slipped
17:32through the cracks
17:33or into more mysterious hands.
17:37In 1966,
17:39a mysterious figure surfaced,
17:41Sergeant C.I. Bymore.
17:44According to an article
17:45in Saga,
17:46a British mystery magazine,
17:48Majiro Police
17:49handed the Honjo Masamune
17:50to a soldier named
17:52Koldy Bymore
17:53from the Foreign Liquidations Commission
17:55in 1946.
17:57Could this soldier
17:58have unknowingly taken
18:00one of Japan's greatest treasures?
18:03Some elements of the saga story
18:04align with what we know.
18:06The 7th U.S. Cavalry
18:07was stationed in Tokyo
18:08at that time,
18:09conducting patrols
18:10to inventory
18:11and dispose of weapons,
18:12including swords.
18:13But if Bymore acquired
18:14the Honjo Masamune,
18:16why has no trace of it
18:17been found since?
18:19It's possible Bymore
18:21took the Honjo Masamune
18:22without realizing
18:23its significance.
18:25But the real mystery
18:26lies in the fact
18:26that there is
18:27no official record
18:28of a C.I. Bymore
18:29in U.S. military archives.
18:33Frustratingly,
18:33it seems the American
18:34military records
18:35that would have listed him
18:37weren't retained,
18:38so it's hard
18:39to trace the story.
18:40Japanese records
18:41do suggest
18:42that a Koldy Bymore
18:44did collect the sword,
18:45but all police documentation
18:47from that period
18:48was lost
18:49and the name itself
18:50is likely
18:51a mistranslation,
18:53or theoretically
18:54could even be an alias.
18:56So,
18:56the trail
18:57of C.I. Bymore
18:59quickly goes cold
19:00entirely,
19:02leaving us with
19:02nothing more
19:03than hopeful speculation.
19:05Although it may
19:07just be wishful thinking,
19:09the belief
19:09that the Honjo Masamune
19:10still exists
19:11endures,
19:13along with
19:13the tantalizing possibility
19:15that this legendary sword
19:16is still out there,
19:18its true worth,
19:19yet to be realized
19:20by its current owner.
19:23After the war,
19:24countless priceless artifacts,
19:26including swords,
19:27were taken home
19:27by U.S. soldiers
19:28as souvenirs.
19:29Those assigned
19:30to weapons depots
19:32like Akabane
19:32likely recognize
19:34the quality
19:34of certain swords,
19:35if not the significance.
19:37So,
19:37it's possible
19:38that the Honjo Masamune
19:40ended up tucked away
19:41in an attic
19:41or garage
19:42somewhere in the U.S.,
19:44a priceless treasure
19:45left to collect dust.
19:48The Allied occupation
19:50of Japan
19:51lasted until 1952.
19:54Millions
19:55of Japanese swords
19:56were confiscated
19:57during that time.
19:58More than seven tons
20:00of them
20:00taken to the United States,
20:02many as trophies of war
20:04to be kept
20:04in private collections.
20:06The influx of swords
20:08into America
20:09was like a tidal wave.
20:10For the few
20:11who truly understood
20:12the craftsmanship
20:13behind these blades,
20:15it was a golden opportunity.
20:17Dealers uncovered
20:18historical significant swords
20:20hidden among
20:21the confiscated weapons
20:22now scattered
20:23across the U.S.,
20:25and it's possible
20:26the Honjo Masamune
20:27was one of them.
20:30Some historically
20:31significant swords
20:32have resurfaced
20:34in unlikely places.
20:36An American collector
20:38stumbled across
20:39another one
20:40of the national
20:41treasure swords
20:42that disappeared
20:43at the end of the war.
20:44This one was by
20:45another famous
20:46swordsmith,
20:46Kunemune,
20:47that had been bought
20:48at a military junk sale
20:50for $10.
20:52And after he realized
20:53what he was,
20:54he returned it
20:55to Japan
20:55in 1963.
20:57So,
20:58if it could go
20:59unnoticed
21:00for so long,
21:01it's possible
21:02that someone
21:02in the U.S.
21:03has the Honjo Masamune
21:05and just doesn't realize it.
21:08Since World War II,
21:10thousands of Japanese
21:11swords have been returned,
21:13including the
21:14Shimazu Masamune,
21:15a treasure missing
21:16for over 150 years
21:18that was rediscovered
21:20in 2014.
21:20Although no credible
21:23trace of the Honjo
21:24Masamune has surfaced,
21:25the return of
21:26other artifacts
21:27keeps hope alive
21:29that this legendary
21:30sword may one day
21:31reappear.
21:33Most Japanese
21:34swordsmiths
21:35etched their signatures
21:36into the hilt
21:37of their blades,
21:38making them
21:39easier to identify.
21:40But Masamune
21:41rarely signs his work,
21:44which makes
21:44authenticating his swords
21:46incredibly difficult,
21:47but not impossible.
21:48The Honjo Masamune
21:52is unlike
21:52any other sword.
21:54It has distinct,
21:55irrefutable features,
21:56like its signature
21:57wave-like hamon.
21:58If it ever surfaces,
22:00we can verify it
22:00almost immediately,
22:02using detailed drawings
22:03created when it was
22:03declared a national treasure
22:04in 1939.
22:07The Honjo Masamune
22:09isn't just
22:09a missing artifact.
22:11It's a piece
22:11of Japan's identity.
22:13Finding it
22:14would mean
22:14reclaiming
22:15a lost piece
22:16of history
22:16and restoring
22:17a symbol
22:18of the nation's
22:19heritage.
22:21Whether lost
22:22to the vagaries
22:23of time,
22:24hidden in a private
22:25collection,
22:26or destroyed
22:27in the chaos
22:28of war,
22:29the Honjo Masamune
22:30remains one of
22:31Japanese history's
22:32greatest puzzles.
22:34Its fate is unknown,
22:35but its legend
22:36endures.
22:37For over three
22:51centuries,
22:52the Romanovs
22:52ruled Russia
22:53with an iron grip,
22:55a dynasty steeped
22:56in grandeur,
22:57opulence,
22:58and deadly secrets.
22:59At the heart
23:00of their vast wealth
23:01were the legendary
23:02Fabergé Imperial
23:04Easter eggs,
23:05commissioned
23:05from the world-renowned
23:07jeweler,
23:07Peter Carl Fabergé.
23:10The Romanovs'
23:11tradition of gifting
23:12imperial Easter eggs
23:13began with
23:14Tsar Alexander III
23:15in 1885,
23:16just four years
23:17into his reign.
23:19Seeking an extraordinary
23:19gift for his wife,
23:21Maria Fedorovna,
23:22he turned to
23:22Master Goldsmith
23:23Peter Carl Fabergé.
23:25What he received
23:26was far beyond
23:27an ordinary jewel.
23:29It was the now-famous
23:30hen egg,
23:31a deceptively simple
23:32white egg that opened
23:33to reveal a golden yoke,
23:34a miniature hen,
23:36and hidden treasures
23:37within.
23:38What began
23:39as a carefully planned
23:40gift from Alexander III
23:41soon became
23:42an annual showcase
23:44of Fabergé's
23:45imagination and artistry.
23:47While the first eggs
23:48followed the Tsar's
23:49specifications,
23:50Fabergé was eventually
23:51given free reign
23:52to create masterpieces.
23:55Each egg became
23:55more than a gift.
23:56It was a hidden
23:57world of wonders,
23:58reflecting the
23:59extravagant tastes
24:00and personal lives
24:01of Russia's royal family.
24:02Over time,
24:04these eggs became
24:05more than symbols
24:06of personal devotion.
24:08They reflected
24:08the vast wealth,
24:10power,
24:10and ultimately
24:11the corruption
24:12and excess
24:13that fueled
24:13the discontent
24:14leading to the
24:151917 Bolshevik revolution.
24:18And one year later,
24:19the assassination
24:20of the Romanov family.
24:23Fifty eggs
24:24were crafted
24:24for the imperial family
24:26between 1885
24:27and 1917,
24:29each more extravagant
24:31than the last.
24:32Seven of the masterpieces
24:33vanished after the chaos
24:35of the revolution,
24:36and their whereabouts
24:37are still unknown.
24:39So, what happened
24:40to those lost Fabergé eggs?
24:44The story of Fabergé
24:46and his exquisite
24:47bejeweled eggs
24:48is one of beauty
24:49caught in the path
24:50of revolution.
24:52As Russia transformed
24:53in 1917,
24:55toppling the monarchy
24:56and descending it
24:57to turmoil,
24:58Carl Fabergé's creations
25:00were scattered
25:01across the world.
25:02In a nation
25:03on the brink
25:03of irrevocable change,
25:05even its greatest artistry
25:07was overshadowed
25:08by chaos.
25:10By 1917,
25:12a revolution
25:12was nearly unavoidable.
25:14The Romanov's
25:15weakening grip,
25:16the endless bloodshed
25:17on the front lines,
25:18and Nicholas II's
25:19refusal to embrace
25:20liberal reforms
25:21created a perfect storm.
25:23Even before
25:25the Bolsheviks
25:26seized full power,
25:27Fabergé himself
25:28had come under
25:29close surveillance.
25:30His international clients
25:31and high-profile connections
25:33marked him
25:34as a potential threat
25:35to the new regime.
25:37In February 1917,
25:39revolution erupted
25:40in Petrograd,
25:41as St. Petersburg
25:42was named back then,
25:43where Fabergé's
25:44jewel house
25:45was headquartered.
25:46Military regiments
25:47mutinied,
25:48policemen were shot,
25:49and prisons
25:50were overrun.
25:51As a fragile,
25:54provisional government
25:54emerged,
25:55the old Russian empire,
25:57along with Fabergé's world,
25:58was slipping away.
26:01During the brief period
26:02of provisional rule,
26:03Fabergé's business
26:04managed to survive,
26:05adapting to make munitions
26:07instead of luxuries.
26:08And wealthy Russians
26:09continued to cling
26:10to his pieces
26:11as portable wealth
26:12since they were easy
26:13to smuggle or hide.
26:15The rise of Lenin
26:17marked a dangerous
26:18turning point.
26:20When Lenin and the Bolsheviks
26:21seized control,
26:22Fabergé was placed
26:23under close watch.
26:24His family harassed,
26:26his sons arrested.
26:28In 1918,
26:30the company was nationalized,
26:32and within months,
26:33closed forever.
26:34Fabergé was forced
26:35to flee for his life,
26:37escaping Russia
26:38in disguise,
26:39eventually ending up
26:40in Switzerland,
26:41where he died
26:42not long after,
26:43in 1920.
26:44In the 1920s and 30s,
26:49economic survival
26:50outweighed cultural preservation.
26:53The Soviet regime
26:54began liquidating
26:55Romanov treasures,
26:56selling them off
26:57to foreign collectors
26:58with little regard
26:59for their historical value,
27:01desperate for foreign currency
27:03to stabilize
27:04the struggling state.
27:06Some of the missing eggs
27:08might have quietly
27:09changed hands
27:10during this tumultuous period.
27:12Lenin initially tried
27:14to preserve
27:14that cultural heritage,
27:16but Stalin's rise to power
27:18marked a shift.
27:20Between 1930 and 33,
27:23the Soviets sold
27:2414 Fabergé imperial eggs
27:27to Western collectors,
27:29and the eggs
27:30that left Russia
27:31included the legendary
27:33nécessaire egg,
27:34which had been crafted
27:35in 1889.
27:36In 1949,
27:41the nécessaire egg
27:42appeared anonymously
27:43at an exhibition,
27:45only to vanish again
27:46three years later
27:47when it was sold
27:48for just $1,600
27:49to a buyer
27:50known only
27:51as a stranger.
27:53At the time,
27:54the Cold War's
27:55iron curtain
27:56meant that little was known
27:57about these treasures,
27:58and it wasn't until
27:59decades later,
28:00with the openness
28:01of Glasnost,
28:02that it became clear
28:03that the nécessaire egg
28:05had been lost.
28:06For decades,
28:09the nécessaire egg
28:09remained missing,
28:10until 2017,
28:12when a long-lost photograph
28:13surfaced,
28:14showing the egg
28:14alongside another
28:15Russian treasure,
28:16the Golden Chalice,
28:18commissioned by
28:18Catherine the Great.
28:20Until recently,
28:21we only had
28:22a basic description
28:23and a grainy image
28:24of the nécessaire egg.
28:25And while the new photograph
28:26has sparked excitement,
28:28there's been no trace
28:29of it since.
28:31During Stalin's sell-off
28:32in the early 1930s,
28:34many of the buyers
28:35were from Britain.
28:36And that's where
28:36the nécessaire egg
28:37was last spotted.
28:39So it's entirely possible
28:40that it's still
28:41out there somewhere,
28:43sitting in some
28:44unsuspecting person's home.
28:47The nécessaire egg
28:48may still be hidden
28:49in a forgotten collection,
28:51waiting to be rediscovered.
28:53But in the tumult of revolution,
28:55other Fabergé treasures
28:56weren't so lucky,
28:58and some may have never
29:00made it out of Russia.
29:02Amid the Romanov's
29:03desperate flight,
29:04their most treasured possessions
29:05were moved from place to place
29:07in a frantic attempt
29:08to protect them.
29:09So it's possible
29:10that some of the Fabergé eggs
29:11were lost or hidden
29:12during this time.
29:13In April 1919,
29:16the British Navy
29:17orchestrated a dramatic
29:18evacuation
29:19of Dowager Empress
29:20Maria Fedorovna
29:21from Crimea to England.
29:24She fled with
29:25all her personal belongings,
29:27including jewels,
29:28and possibly
29:28the Royal Danish Egg,
29:30a deeply personal
29:31Fabergé creation
29:32from 1903.
29:32The Royal Danish Egg
29:36was a tribute
29:37to the Empress's
29:38Danish roots,
29:39adorned with delicate
29:40portraits of her parents
29:41and standing
29:42an impressive
29:42nine inches tall.
29:44But during the frantic
29:45evacuation
29:45of the Imperial family,
29:47HMS Marlborough,
29:48prepared for around
29:48ten passengers,
29:50was suddenly overwhelmed
29:51with over 80 people
29:52and 200 tons
29:53of unmarked luggage.
29:54In the rush,
29:55many valuables
29:56were lost or forgotten,
29:57and it's entirely possible
29:58that the Royal Danish Egg
30:00never made it out of Crimea.
30:02In the upheaval of war,
30:04it's easy to see
30:05how a priceless treasure
30:07like the Royal Danish Egg
30:08could disappear.
30:09Perhaps it returned
30:10to Russia
30:11or was stored away
30:12with the Empress,
30:13hidden in England
30:14or Copenhagen,
30:15where she spent
30:16her final years.
30:17It could still be tucked
30:19in some forgotten
30:20corner of Europe,
30:21uncatalogued
30:22and unnoticed,
30:23or deliberately concealed
30:25as a safeguard.
30:28In times of war,
30:30items of great value
30:31often slip through
30:32the cracks.
30:33While some Fabergé eggs
30:35may have been lost
30:35in the turmoil,
30:37others could have suffered
30:38a darker fate,
30:40once sealed
30:41by the harsh economic realities
30:43of the Soviet state.
30:45By the 1920s,
30:46the Soviet government
30:47had shifted
30:48from selling treasures
30:49to dismantling them,
30:51reducing the Romanov wealth
30:52to raw materials.
30:54Gold and jewels
30:55were melted down
30:56to fuel the regime's
30:58industrial ambitions.
30:59So it's possible
31:00that some of the missing
31:02Fabergé eggs,
31:03including the Mauve egg,
31:04were destroyed.
31:06The Mauve egg,
31:08an 1897 masterpiece
31:09gifted to Maria Fedorovna,
31:11was last seen
31:11in the Gatchina Palace
31:12before vanishing
31:13from records.
31:14It's completely absent
31:16from both the 1917
31:17and 1922 inventories
31:18of seized treasures.
31:20The surprise,
31:21a diamond-encrusted heart
31:22that opens into a clover,
31:24resurfaced decades later.
31:26It was passed
31:27between collectors
31:28in the 1970s and 2000s
31:30and now sits on display
31:31at St. Petersburg's Fabergé Museum.
31:34But the fate
31:35of the gold
31:35and Mauve enameled egg
31:37itself remains a mystery.
31:39It's possible
31:40it was dismantled,
31:41its gold and jewels
31:42repurposed
31:42to finance the new regime.
31:44But it's also possible
31:45that the Mauve egg
31:46survived liquidation.
31:48Even under the most
31:49ruthless regime,
31:50some people risked
31:51everything to protect
31:52Russia's cultural heritage.
31:54Curators and officials
31:55often hid treasures
31:56or smuggled them
31:57out of the country,
31:58though there's no proof
31:59the Mauve egg
32:00was among those saved.
32:02The logistics
32:03of moving such valuable items
32:04would have been
32:05meticulously planned,
32:06and it's unlikely
32:07that they would
32:07simply vanish.
32:08Seven Fabergé eggs
32:12remain missing today,
32:13each one a priceless artifact
32:15of a vanished world.
32:17Their stories
32:18continue to captivate
32:19historians
32:20and treasure hunters alike.
32:22Of the missing
32:23Fabergé eggs,
32:24only two are known
32:25to have survived
32:26the revolution.
32:27But every so often,
32:28a new clue
32:29raises the thrilling
32:30possibility that
32:31more of these
32:31lost treasures
32:32may yet be found.
32:34In 2012,
32:36the third imperial egg
32:38turned up
32:38at a flea market
32:39at a flea market
32:39in the United States,
32:41bought by a scrap metal dealer
32:43for less than $14,000.
32:45He planned to sell it off
32:46to be melted down
32:47for his gold
32:48until an expert
32:50valued it
32:51at nearly
32:51$33 million.
32:54So,
32:55if the third imperial egg
32:56could resurface
32:57in a flea market,
32:58then who's to say
32:59the other missing eggs
33:01aren't still out there
33:02somewhere,
33:03waiting to be discovered?
33:04The mystery of the Fabergé eggs
33:07is far from over.
33:09Some are out there.
33:10The next clue
33:11waits to be uncovered.
33:13And as history has shown,
33:15sometimes the most
33:16priceless treasures
33:17are hidden
33:18in unexpected places.
33:20In 1952,
33:35near the northwestern shores
33:37of the Dead Sea
33:38and the Judean desert,
33:40and deep in a cave
33:41in Qirbat Qumran,
33:42the site where the Dead Sea Scrolls
33:44had first been discovered
33:45five years prior,
33:46a startling new revelation
33:48came to light.
33:51Tucked in a niche
33:52behind a large stone
33:54and embedded in the dirt
33:55were the two broken halves
33:58of a metal scroll.
34:00All the scrolls
34:01found at the Dead Sea
34:03up to that point,
34:04literally hundreds of them
34:06in 11 different caves,
34:09had all been either
34:10parchment or papyrus.
34:13But this scroll
34:14was solid copper.
34:16The scroll was so ancient
34:20and corroded
34:20that it couldn't be unscrolled.
34:22It had to be cut
34:23into strips,
34:24which were placed
34:25edge to edge,
34:26revealing a document
34:27about eight feet long,
34:29dense with Hebrew text,
34:31composed by an anonymous author.
34:33It was a list
34:34detailing the contents
34:36of dozens of stashes
34:37of gold and silver,
34:39over a billion dollars worth,
34:41and giving clues
34:42as to where each stash
34:44could be found.
34:45The first few locations
34:48were deciphered,
34:49but the initial excavations
34:50didn't find any treasure
34:52at all.
34:53So people knew
34:54it would be an immensely
34:55important find,
34:56historically and culturally,
34:59not to mention
34:59the monetary value.
35:01So the search was on.
35:03Where was all this gold
35:05and silver?
35:06Who originally owned
35:08the treasures
35:09of the Copper Scroll?
35:12The original Dead Sea Scrolls,
35:14discovered by chance
35:15in 1946 or 47,
35:18are often said
35:19to contain biblical texts.
35:21But even that description
35:22isn't quite so simple.
35:24The Dead Sea Scrolls
35:26are believed
35:27to have been written
35:27between 200 B.C.
35:29and 68 C.E.
35:30That was about
35:31a thousand years
35:32before the earliest
35:33known Bible.
35:34Much of what was written
35:35in the scrolls
35:36would then also show up
35:37in the Bible
35:37about a millennium later.
35:39This was pre-biblical.
35:41A big find,
35:42probably one of the most important
35:44in modern archaeology.
35:45The task of deciphering
35:48the scrolls
35:49started immediately
35:50and continues to this day.
35:52It's been an uphill battle
35:54because most of the
35:55800 to 900 scrolls
35:58were so old and brittle
35:59that they've crumbled
36:01into fragments,
36:02about 15,000 of them,
36:04most of them tiny.
36:07It wasn't until
36:08the early 90s
36:09that a computer program
36:11was finally able
36:12to reconstruct
36:13one of the texts.
36:15So much has been learned
36:18from the scrolls
36:19about culture,
36:20history,
36:20and, of course, religion.
36:22The texts
36:23helped push the date
36:24of a stabilized
36:25Hebrew Bible
36:26back to at least
36:2770 C.E.
36:29They helped reconstruct
36:30Palestine's history
36:32from the 4th century B.C.E.
36:34to 135 C.E.
36:36And they revealed
36:37a great deal
36:38about the relationship
36:39between early Christian
36:40and Jewish religions.
36:43How the Dead Sea Scrolls
36:44came to be
36:45in those caves
36:45has been a mystery
36:46from the start.
36:47Were they moved there
36:49from a library somewhere,
36:50maybe to protect them
36:51from some kind of threat?
36:53Even then,
36:54when exactly
36:54were they moved?
36:56Who wrote them?
36:57Why?
36:58There's lots of debate,
36:59but all those questions
37:00remain unanswered.
37:01The discovery of the Copper Scrolls
37:05introduced a whole new set
37:07of questions.
37:09For starters,
37:10the language.
37:12Most of the other scrolls,
37:13the ones on papyrus
37:14and parshma,
37:15were written
37:15in literary Hebrew.
37:17The Copper Scrolls language
37:18was closer to an early form
37:20of Mishnah,
37:21which was more casual.
37:22And whoever inscribed
37:24the text got some
37:25of their Hebrew letters
37:26mixed up.
37:26It could be
37:28that the people
37:29who had the scroll made
37:30used an illiterate scribe,
37:33so they wouldn't know
37:34where the treasures
37:35were hidden
37:36and couldn't tell anyone else.
37:38Kind of a low-tech encryption,
37:41but also pretty ingenious.
37:45Stranger still,
37:46the scroll was not even
37:48written entirely in Hebrew.
37:49There were some Greek words used
37:51and even sequences
37:52of Greek letters
37:53that weren't words.
37:55They looked like code.
37:58The Copper Scroll
37:59described riches
38:00of immense value.
38:02Researchers tried to work out
38:03the treasure's likely owners
38:05based on proximity
38:06and history.
38:08One very popular theory
38:11is that the treasure
38:12belonged to the Temple
38:13of Jerusalem,
38:15which wasn't even 15 miles
38:16west of the caves.
38:18According to the Hebrew Bible,
38:20it was first built
38:21in 957 BCE
38:23and is said to have housed
38:25the famous Ark of the Covenant.
38:28So the building certainly
38:30had a high enough profile
38:31to be used to store
38:33staggering amounts
38:34of gold and silver.
38:35What seems to be a catch here
38:39is that the Temple
38:39of Jerusalem
38:40was looted and destroyed
38:41by the Babylonians
38:42in 587 and 586 BCE,
38:45long before the Copper Scroll
38:47is believed to have been made.
38:49But by 515 BCE,
38:51the Temple was rebuilt
38:52on the same site
38:53into the Second Temple
38:55of Jerusalem.
38:56And the Second Temple,
38:57while it no longer
38:58housed the Ark,
38:59was documented as having held
39:00vast amounts of gold
39:01and silver.
39:02The Second Temple
39:04stood intact
39:05until 70 CE
39:07when the Romans
39:08destroyed it.
39:09And some believe
39:10that the Copper Scroll
39:12could have been inscribed
39:13a couple of years
39:15before that,
39:16in 68 CE.
39:19There's a troubling inconsistency
39:21with that suggestion, though.
39:23Historical records
39:24from that time
39:25claim that when the Romans
39:26destroyed the Second Temple,
39:28the treasure was still in it.
39:29And even if the gold
39:31and silver had been removed
39:33and hidden
39:33before the Romans came in,
39:35it's hard to link
39:36the location descriptions
39:37given in the Copper Scroll
39:39with the area
39:40around the temple
39:41or with Jerusalem itself.
39:44If not the Temple
39:45of Jerusalem,
39:46the Copper Scroll
39:47and the riches it described
39:48may have had their origins
39:50even closer to the caves.
39:53One theory suggests
39:54the owners
39:54of the Copper Scroll's
39:56treasures could have been
39:57in the Essenes,
39:58an ascetic Jewish sect
39:59who may have had a community
40:00within walking distance
40:02of the caves.
40:03Some believe
40:04they lived at Qumran
40:05in modern-day Palestine
40:06from about the 2nd century BCE
40:09until the end
40:10of the 1st century CE.
40:12Those dates overlap
40:13with when the Copper Scroll
40:15might have been made,
40:16so some think maybe
40:17the gold was part
40:18of the Essenes'
40:19communal wealth.
40:21Roman arrowheads
40:23and evidence of burning
40:24were found at the ruins
40:25of the Essenes' settlement,
40:26which rather ominously
40:28supports the idea
40:29that they may have had
40:30something the Romans wanted.
40:33And the Essenes
40:33didn't believe
40:35in temple worship,
40:36so while many communities
40:38may have stored
40:39their riches in a temple,
40:41the Essenes would have
40:42had to find
40:43some other way
40:44to store whatever wealth
40:45they had
40:46and find some place
40:48to hide it
40:49from the Romans.
40:50The Copper Scroll
40:52might have been describing
40:53their hiding places.
40:55The issue with that theory
40:57is that the Essenes
40:58were an ascetic sect.
41:00They believed
41:00in manual labor
41:01and seclusion.
41:03The copper alone
41:04that went into the scroll
41:05would have been
41:05extremely costly
41:06at the time.
41:07It can't be ruled out,
41:09but it's hard to imagine
41:10that the Essenes
41:11possessed the kind
41:11of material wealth
41:13described in the Copper Scroll.
41:15If the Essenes
41:16didn't hide the treasures,
41:18there was another group
41:19that was more accustomed
41:20to subterfuge
41:21and the necessities
41:22of hiding
41:22and communicating
41:24in code.
41:25Another theory claims
41:26that gold and silver
41:28could have belonged to
41:29and been hidden by
41:30Jewish rebels
41:31who rose up
41:32against the Romans
41:33around that same time,
41:36maybe during
41:36the first Jewish revolt
41:37from 66 to 70 CE
41:39or the Bar Kokhba revolt,
41:42the final war
41:43between the Jewish people
41:44and the Roman Empire,
41:46which was fought
41:47between 132
41:48and 136 C.
41:50Both of those date ranges
41:51are within the realm
41:52of possibility,
41:53according to some scholars,
41:55based on what's known
41:56about the age
41:57of the Copper Scroll.
41:59Behaviorally,
42:00this hypothesis fits.
42:02Jewish rebels
42:03were known
42:03to hide themselves
42:04or their valuables
42:05in safe rooms
42:06to keep the Romans
42:07from finding them
42:08and to make sure
42:09they could access them
42:10when necessary.
42:11This helped fund
42:12and sustain the resistance.
42:16Interestingly,
42:16a number of the cryptic clues
42:18the Copper Scroll contained
42:20regarding the hiding places
42:21seemed to fit the area
42:23around the caves
42:25and caves used
42:27by the Jewish rebels
42:28have been located.
42:30And one of them
42:31found in the 1960s
42:33is called
42:34the Cave of Letters
42:35because several letters
42:37were discovered in it
42:38from Bar Kokhba,
42:39who was the leader
42:40of the last rebellion.
42:43Many of the caves
42:44in the Judean desert
42:45had been thoroughly excavated,
42:47but none of the treasures
42:48described by the Copper Scroll
42:50have been found.
42:51To some,
42:52the degree of wealth
42:53described in the scroll
42:54seems like it might have been
42:55beyond what the rebels
42:56could have gathered together.
42:58But who knows?
42:59The scholar and historian
43:02of the day,
43:03Flavius Josephus,
43:05wrote that after the war,
43:07Roman warriors
43:07dug up gold,
43:08silver,
43:09and other riches
43:10from the Jewish people,
43:11whether civilian citizens
43:13or rebels,
43:14and tried in vain
43:15to hide.
43:17What Josephus wrote
43:18suggests at least
43:19two significant things.
43:22The gold and silver
43:23were hidden
43:24from the Romans,
43:25and that some of it
43:26was found.
43:27But he didn't specify
43:29whether all of it
43:30was discovered,
43:31so if there's anything
43:33the Romans didn't find,
43:35it could still be hidden
43:36wherever it was buried.
43:39One person claims
43:41to have found
43:42at least two locations
43:43near Qumran
43:44that match what's described
43:46by the Copper Scroll.
43:47Given the conflict
43:48and strife
43:49the region continues
43:50to suffer from,
43:51the local government
43:52is not likely
43:53to grant excavation permits
43:55any time soon,
43:56the Copper Scroll's secrets
43:58and the treasures
43:59it describes
43:59still await discovery.
44:02The Copper Scroll
44:04and the Copper Scroll
44:05and the Copper Scroll
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