We've all lost important stuff, let's be honest. But this is on a whole different level. Some of the most important artifacts in human history, art, and literature, gone. Forever. In case you wanted to lose some faith in humanity or have a good chuckle or just to boost your self-esteem a little bit, here you go.
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1. Margites
Oh, you thought the Iliad and the Odyssey were the first pieces of western literature? Wrong. 'Twas actually Margites, a comic mock-epic of Ancient Greece written by the big man himself, Homer. Or at least it would have been if we didn't lose it. Aristotle even claimed that it basically invented Greek comedy. Great job, guys.
2. The Amber Room
Originally constructed in the 18th century in Prussia, the Amber Room was a world-famous chamber decorated in amber panels backed with gold leaf and mirrors. The room was worth $142 million in today's dollars. But of course, it disappeared during World War II after being looted by Nazi's. Before the room was lost, it was considered an "Eighth Wonder of the World". The Russians recreated it in 2003, but let's be real, that doesn't make up for the stupidity it took to lose it.
3. The Library of Alexandria
Alexandria was situated smack dab in the middle of Let's-Burn-S***-To-The-Groundville, Ancient Egypt. It's remarkable that it didnt get destroyed sooner. It housed anywhere between 650,000 to one million scrolls, which was basically everything ever written up until that point. The only thing we do have left to remember the great Library of Alexandria with are a bunch of paintings of people burning it down. Kind of makes your heart hurt, doesn't it?
4. Victoria’s Parliamentary Mace
The Parliamentary Mace was a symbol of the Office of the Speaker and the constitutional rights of the people of Victoria. On October 9, 1891, it vanished. Some claimed that the mace was taken by members of the house and left in a brothel as a joke. If that isn't the most human thing ever, I don't know what is. Though the mace had little intrinsic value, the reward for its return stands at $50,000.
5. Kafka's Love Letters
Ah, Franz Kafka, arguably the most important writer of the 20th century. I mean, hell, modern scholars consider every single line he wrote so valuable that they’ve even published collections of his work memos. Career goals, right? Yet we’re still missing some of Kafka’s most important correspondence: 35 love letters he exchanged with Dora Diamant just before he died. During a Nazi ransack, Diamant was forced to flee her house and leave the letters behind. And of course with Nazi's being Nazi's, they destroyed everything.
6. Manuscripts of Leonardo da Vinci
I don't think I need to explain this one much. Most of his greatest work is contained in his manuscript books, where he sketched out concepts for cars, hang-gliders, and the practice of geology . . . and about 80 percent of those books are lost forever.
7. Lewis Carroll's Diaries
One of the Victorian eras greatest writers, the creator of Wonderland, Lewis Carroll was (to put it lightly) an odd one. According to the Lewis Carroll Society, he kept a continuous record of his life from age 10, right up till a month before his death. However, you guessed it, at least a third of them are lost. Rumor has it the author was romantically involved with the eight year old girl who inspired Wonderland's Alice but conveniently, the diary from this time in his life was destroyed. Supposedly, one of Carroll's descendants destroyed the diaries in an attempt to save his reputation. Way to go, dude.
8. The Rest of the Bayeux Tapestry
A medieval work of art depicting the Norman Conquest of England, the 70 meter (230 ft) length of cloth is the most widely recognized tapestry in the entire world. It covers the life of the last English king before William the Conqueror’s invasion, depicts Halley’s Comet, contains possibly the first recorded history of kebab . . . oh, and about 3 meters of it is missing. No one knows why. Just poof, gone.
9. "From Hell" Letter
The "From Hell" Letter is a badly-spelled note that Jack the Ripper (yes, him) may have sent to London police in 1888. He also generously included half a human kidney. It’s considered to possibly be the only authentic communication from history’s most notorious serial killer. And at some point, the police managed to lose the letter and kidney. With the modern technology we have and that letter, we could have finally solved the Whitechapel murders. But no, the London police had to go and lose it.
10. The Contents of Ernest Hemingway's Suitcase
Yes, the bad ass himself. In one, now-lost suitcase, was the sum of just about everything Ernest Hemingway had written up to 1922, including his war years. 18 full short stories and his first f***ing novel. And what makes it worse, his wife lost it, Now I'm not a big fan of Hemingway, but that is nothing short of tragedy.
11. The Rest of the Canterbury Tales
Chaucer's Canterbury Tales was expected to clock in at anywhere between 100 and 120 chapters. Unfortunately, the dude only managed to finish 24 tales before he suffered a permanent state of writer's block commonly known as death. What we're left with is about a quarter of the intended whole. Bummer.
12. All Music Made Through Most of Human History
All records of the music that humans were making for the first several thousand years of the art form, simply doesn't exist. All records of the music that humans were making for the first several thousand years of the art form, simply doesn't exist.
13. Lincolns Lost Speech
On May 29, 1856, Abraham Lincoln took the stage and delivered a (undoubtedly eloquent) 90-minute speech. It created the Illinois Republican Party. It made Lincoln a star. It set the course for the Civil War, Reconstruction, and the creation of modern America. And no one f***ing wrote it down.
14. City of Paititi
Heard of "El Dorado"? Paititi is basically the same thing. It is a legendary Inca lost city that allegedly lies east of the Andes, hidden somewhere within the remote rainforests of southeast Peru, northern Bolivia or southwest Brazil. Start searchin'.
15. The Original Hamlet
Everything your high school English teacher taught you is a lie. I'm just kidding, but they probably didn't tell you that ShakespeareHamlet is a rip-off of an earlier play by Thomas Kyd known as the Ur-Hamlet, a piece of unimaginably important writing we just happen to have lost forever. At least it's one less play to study.
16. The Crown Jewels of King John
The Crown Jewels have been replaced, stolen, and destroyed on several occasions. The Crown f***ing Jewels. Like come on.
