Most people are familiar with a few of the world’s most famous historical artifacts and buildings — the Great Pyramid, the Coliseum, and Stonehenge included. But have you ever thought about the number of important items from history that didn’t made it into the present day?
One user on Reddit was curious about that question, so they took to AskReddit to ask. Of course, Redditors stepped up to the plate and shared a bunch of fascinating items from history that were, unfortunately, destroyed.
1. The Temple of Artemis.
“The Temple of Artemis was burnt down by a man named Herostratus just so that his name would be remembered.
I have to commend him because it worked.”
2. The missing Wonders of the World.
“IMHO The Colossus of Rhodes would be nice to see.”
“The same can be said for the other 5 destroyed wonders of the ancient world. They didn’t call them the 7 wonders of the ancient world ’cause they weren’t worth the trip.”
“Like many of the Ancient Wonders of the World, it’s unclear what it actually WAS. The documentation is not entirely based in clear factual measurements or description, nor is it even consistent, and there’s little archaeological evidence.”
3. The Parthenon.
“The Parthenon remained largely intact for about 2000 years until it was hit by an artillery shell in 1687… Apparently, it was a combination of the (Venetian) artillery shell and munitions the Ottomans were storing there that caused the damage.”
“Yes, most people don’t realize that up until 1687 it was hardly a ruin at all, it was very well preserved, then stupid shit happened.”
4. A sacred tree.
“The Golden Spruce. A tree on the Queen Charlotte Island that was sacred to the aboriginals and a genetic anomaly(only one ever found) was cut down by a logger. In protest of logging.”
“There’s a clone of the Golden Spruce growing at the UBC Botanical Garden in Vancouver.
They had taken cuttings before that nutbar cut down the original.”
5. Mayan Codices.
“Mayan Codices… The entire knowledge of a culture lost due to fear and intolerance. So sad.”
“Well maybe not the most, but when the Spaniards came to Central America they destroyed every historical proof of the Mayans, including books, scriptures and all of that kind of things, except for the Popol Vuh which is a book written in Mayan language. They did it because it was the devil.”
“One of my professors in college did his dissertation on Mayan cosmology. He learned the language and helped with some of the recent work to decode the hieroglyphics. To think that the system of writing wasn’t merely lost to history but purposefully destroyed is enraging.”
6. Namdaemun in Seoul
“For a country that has been treated pretty badly by all of its neighbors and its own people, physical cultural pieces are few and far between.
Namdaemun was one of the few really old structures left in Seoul, let alone Korea.
It was burned down by a Korean man who was outraged (and rightfully so) at the gov’t taking his land.”
7. The oldest living tree.
“The oldest tree ever found was cut down to make the process of finding out how old it was easier only to realize it is the oldest tree ever found.”
8. Sixth-century statues of Buddha.
“The destruction of the Bamiyan Buddha statue by the Taliban comes to mind as a modern example.”
9. $500 million in art.
“Although they were not lost or destroyed but instead stolen: The Isabella Steward Gardner heist.
An estimated $500 million in art stolen in 1990 and still remains unsolved.
Pieces including Rembrandt’s “The storm of the sea of galilee”.”
10. Templo Mayor, the main temple of the Mexica peoples.
“Cortés showed up in Tenochtitlan and tore the entire fucking thing down, and then used the stones to build a cathedral.
This is the equivalent to Alexander the Great showing up in Giza, then tearing down one of the ancient pyramids in order to erect a statue of his dick.”
11. The Holy Grail.
“The French say they have one, but they refuse to let anyone have a look at it.”
12. The Arc of the Covenant
“Though it’s still a theory, The Arc of the Covenant was most likely dismantled/destroyed.
One of the most sought after and important artifacts in history.”
13. The Archimedes Codex.
“The Archimedes Codex, which could’ve potentially sent humans hundreds of years into the future in the mathematics world.
It was erased and written over by a monk, and only until recently was deciphered using digital imaging.”
14. Aleppo.
“The destruction of Aleppo, Syria during the Syrian civil war. It was a UNESCO world heritage site, and much of it is now reduced to rubble.”
15. The Columbia Space Shuttle.
“How about the Columbia Space Shuttle? I don’t know its exact value, somewhere in the $3B-$8B range…”
“Yes it was a historic craft and it was the very first of its kind. They first reusable spacecraft ever. An evolution past rockets.”
Whoa! Did you know about any of those? Any of these revelations surprise you?
Let us know in the comments!
