It is always interesting to find about our history. In the past there have been many civilizations that were constructed, that thrived well and later were destructed into ruins. Learning about these civilizations gives us an insight into their way of living, their culture, their architecture, their art and their technological inventions. These civilizations have been mysteries, clues to which are found in the form of ruins throughout the world. They have risen to glory and fallen. It is fascinating to discover these ruins and to learn about their glorious pasts. Given below are the top 10 ancient civilizations along with the mysteries that surround them.
1. Egyptian Treasures in the Grand Canyon
This is regarding many artifacts found in the Grand Canyon which was publicized by the Arizona Gazette in 1909. The truth behind this story is yet to be established, moreover since the site of the excavation was never found again. However some experts did give the article a certain amount of credibility because of the mention of the Smithsonian Institution which had financed the expedition.
2. Location of Atlantis
A very famous island is the Atlantis. It was described by Plato but its location was not mentioned clearly. There is a lot of confusion regarding its exact location. For many the island does not exist at all and others who thought it existed have searched for clues, but to no purpose. There are many places considered as locations of Atlantis like the Bermuda, Antarctica, Mexico, etc. These theories will continue till actual evidences are found.
3. Voyages to Americas
Everyone knows that Colombus discovered America. However the truth is that there have been people visiting this island even before Colombus. Evidence shows that the island had been inhabitated by the natives and has been explored by explorers, much before Colombus set his foot on the American soil. Artifacts, pottery, coins and statues have been found that prove the above mentioned facts. Egyptians, Asians, Hebrews, all have explored the American soil at some time or the other.
4. Mu or Lemuria
This place is a legend. Better known as the lost world, it was considered located in the Pacific Ocean. It was considered to be a beautiful island almost equal to paradise. It is rumored that the island along with its people sank in the ocean some thousands of years ago. Of course, it is still being debated whether such an island did exist at all.
5. Sunken City off Cuba
In the year 2001, ruins were discovered below the ocean waters off Cuba. The ruins were placed in proper patterns which were too good for nature to have placed them. There has been a good deal of investigations happening to find out what are the ruins all about. Is it really a sunken city? Only timely evidence can prove that.
Probably the world’s most famous detective, Arthur Conan Doyle created a character who became renowned for his perceptive reasoning abilities and for his ability to disguise himself effortlessly. Watson, his friend and assistant became the world’s best known sidekick. Sherlock Holmes set the benchmark for all the fictional detectives who followed later. And in my honest opinion, there is none greater than this master of detection.
A detective with a head shaped like an egg, with a bad English accent and all the French foibles you can think of, only Agatha Christie could have imagined and created a character like him. He is not your physical, hard working kind of detective; he is the thinking man’s detective with great intelligence and an even greater ego.
Only Rex Stout could have given us a detective who is not only fat and indulgent, but will also not step out of his residence in New York unless forced to do so. Called the Falstaff of detectives, he is described by his friend and narrator of the stories, Archie Goodwin as weighing “one-seventh of a ton”. Nero Wolfe however manages to solve all the cases which are under his purview without indulging in too much physical activity.
Airtight plots and a well etched character are the distinguishing characteristics of an Ellery Queen novel. Frederic Dannay and Manfred Lee created a persona of a detective whose name was also used as a pseudonym for the authors. A Harvard alumni, he is quite uppity, and solves crimes because he finds it stimulating. Seven decade4s later his books are still popular among mystery novel aficionados.
The creator of Inspector Maigret was a prolific writer and wrote over 500 books. He is considered to be the forerunner of the police detective genre of books. His books followed the simple formula of murder, investigations, clues and the arrest of the murderer. Simply written and set in Paris, the books have remained ever popular, even 80 years after the first book was published.
The Guiness Book of Records lists her as the bestselling book writer of all times, with over four billion copies of her books having been published worldwide. Her mystery novels were never too long,. The stories were superb and the characterization of her detectives such Hercules Poirot and Miss Marple was very well done. She wrote about 80 detective novels, and some plays and also some romantic novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott.
Sherlock Holmes’s deductive and reasoning abilities have astonished readers for many decades. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle gave us a series of mysteries which have enchanted and confounded us. He also wrote science fiction book, plays, poetry, non-fiction books and some historical novels, but he is best remembered for his series of books with Holmes as their central character, accompanied by Watson.
The first book written by two friends under this pseudonym was released in 1934, and over eight decades later his books are still very popular. They have instituted a much coveted mystery writer’s award in his name. The books are excellent whodunit mysteries and they are very elegantly crafted and intellectually challenging.
He sold over 100 million books, and his lawyer Perry mason became the bane of most practising lawyers in the US. Every litigant began to expect his lawyer to eventually solve all crimes and find the right killer. Clever legal systems, fast action and good mystery stories are what marked this prolific and best selling writer.
Joseph Crater disappeared in 1930 when he was on a vacation in Maine. He got a phone call from a stranger and told his wife that he had to return to New York City immediately. He was leaving a restaurant with his friends and mistress and got into a taxi alone. He disappeared after that and his mistress vanished a month later.
Lady Lucan was covered in her own blood when she ran into a pub screaming about how her husband had tried to murder her. The police searched the Lucan house and found the nanny lying dead along side a bloodstained pipe. Lord Lucan said that he was in the house when the woman was attacked. He disappeared a few days later and a similar pope was found in his bloodstained car.
This man was the captain of a ship found in the Atlantic Ocean. The Mary Celeste was abandoned and its crew members, Briggs, his children and his wife were all missing. This disappearance is among the most famous historical mysteries.
Etta Place was Harry Longabaugh’s girlfriend- the notorious man who was also known as The Sundance Kid. People around her were never sure what her real name was as she changed it often. She was a prostitute and the first female landowner in Argentina. Etta Place disappeared after procuring her boyfriend’s death certificate. She did this to settle the problems surrounding the property he owned.
Monsieur Chouchani was a Jewish teacher and this was his nickname. Mysteriously enough, his life history was never revealed- neither by him nor his family members. The text on his gravestone was written out by Elie Wiesel-one of his students. His body of work is not known either but the legacy that he has left behind is extremely intellectual.
This is again a nickname given to that man who took it upon himself to visit Poe’s grave year after year. He started this tradition in 1949 and visited the cemetery on Poe’s birthday as soon as the sun rose. His face was covered and he wore only black clothes.
When professionals were going through the footage they had collected on John F. Kennedy’s assassination, they found an unknown woman lurking in the shadows with a camera in front of her face. When the FBI asked her to hand over the footage publicly, she refused outright. She was referred to as the Babushka Lady because she adorned a ‘babushka’ which is a head scarf worn by grandmothers.
In 1828, a young boy was seen roaming the streets of Germany with a letter in his hand. The parchment was addressed to a 6th cavalry regiment’s captain and the letter said that the boy ‘belonged’ to him and that he had never let him step out of house during his lifetime. Hauser went on to say that he had spent most of his life in a small cell with one toy and a bed of straw.
Fulcanelle is an author’s pseudonym whose true identity has not been revealed till date. It is believed that this man had great knowledge about nuclear weapons and that the German intelligent unit had contacted him.
