There are some historical mysteries that may never be solved, from the date that Jesus was born to the location of Cleopatra's tomb. Sometimes, that's because the excavated material has been lost or destroyed. Sometimes it's because new evidence is not likely to come forward or the evidence is too vague to lead to a consensus.
The lack of answers make these mysteries more intriguing. Live Science looked at 14 historical questions that may never have a definitive explanation.
Was there a real King Arthur?
The statue of King Arthur is on a headland on the Atlantic coast of Cornwall. The image is from Shutterstock.
The story of King Arthur has been told many times. The sword Excalibur is one of the most famous parts of the Arthurian tales.
The reality was likely less magical if King Arthur existed. The earliest surviving accounts tell of a leader who fought several battles against the Saxons, but the accuracy of these accounts is questionable.
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There are a number of sites in Britain that are believed to be the home of King Arthur, but excavations have not been able to confirm whether or not he ever lived there. It is unlikely that scholars will ever know for certain whether King Arthur was real or not.
The image is from Shutterstock.
Jack the Ripper killed at least five women in London in the late 19th century. A number of letters were sent to the police, supposedly from the ripper, taunting them. It is a matter of debate among scholars whether any of them were written by the ripper. The name "Jack the Ripper" comes from these letters.
Over the years, dozens of people have been brought up as possible candidates, because the Ripper was never found. John Morris wrote a book in 2012 that claimed that a woman named Lizzie Williams was the ripper. It is unlikely that the true identity of the Ripper will ever be known.
Where is Jimmy Hoffa?
The image is from the genic Images.
The leader of the teamster union, who was known for his involvement in organized crime, went missing in Oakland County, Michigan, on July 30, 1975, and is presumed to have died. The location of his body and the identity of his killer are still unknown. Police and forensic anthropologists have searched a number of sites in Detroit and Oakland County, but have not found anything.
There was a popular theory that Hoffa's body was buried in New Jersey. This theory has been disproven. FBI agents visited a former landfill in New Jersey to conduct a site survey in October of 2021, according to The New York Times. The survey is a follow-up to a deathbed confession by a landfill worker who claimed that he and his father buried Hoffa's body in a steel barrel under the dump in 1975. Live Science reported that the agents didn't find the barrel.
His killer's identity is not known. The Iceman, as he was known, claimed to have killed Hoffa and dumped his body in a scrap yard. Philip Carlo wrote a book on the confessions of Kuklinski before he died. A number of police officers doubted the confession in the media. It appears that Hoffa's remains will never be found.
Where is Cleopatra's tomb?
The image is from Fine Art Images/Heritage Images.
The tomb of Cleopatra VII and Mark Antony was located near a temple of Isis, according to a writer.
The location of the tomb is a mystery. The Taposiris Magna site is located near Alexandria and contains a number of tombs dating to the era when Cleopatra VII ruled Egypt. Hawass reported in a series of news releases that Cleopatra VII's tomb was not among the many archaeological discoveries made. Even if Cleopatra's tomb does survive, it may be heavily plundered and unidentifiable.
Who killed JFK?
The president and his wife were in the presidential limousine. The image is from Photo 12/Universal Images Group.
The biggest mystery in American history will never be solved. On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was shot in Dallas by Lee Harvey Oswald. Jack Ruby shot Oswald to death before Oswald could stand trial. On January 3, 1967, Ruby died of lung cancer.
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Oswald and Ruby killed JFK on their own, according to the most widely accepted explanation. Ruby's motivation was to spare Kennedy the embarrassment of Oswald coming back to trial. Many amateur historians and professional historians do not agree with this explanation and since JFK's death, many alternative explanations have been brought forward. A firm consensus will probably never be reached because of the lack of new evidence.
Was Caesarion really Caesar's son?
The Temple of Hathor has a relief sculpture of Cleopatra VII and her son Caesarion. The image is from Shutterstock.
Cleopatra VII gave birth to a son named Caesarion who she claimed was the son of Julius Caesar. Cleopatra named Caesarion as co-ruler of Egypt in 44 B.C., and the surviving art depicts mother and son as co-rulers.
The child was thought to be Caesar's son. Caesar didn't acknowledge the child as his own. One of Caesar's friends wrote a pamphlet denying that Caesarion was Caesar's son. After Mark Antony and Cleopatra VII were defeated by Octavian in 30 B.C., Mark Antony and Cleopatra VII were both killed by suicide.
It is unlikely that scholars will ever be able to determine if Caesar was really Caesarion's father, because no remains of Julius Caesar or Caesarion are left.
There is a money pit on Oak Island.
The Historic Collection has an image credit.
Oak Island, located off Nova Scotia, Canada, has been rumored to hold a money pit of buried treasure for more than two centuries. Over that time, many expeditions costing millions of dollars have traveled to the island to look for the lost treasure, but have not found it.
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Oak Island has been searched for treasure for hundreds of years. People are still trying to find it. A History Channel show called the "Curse of Oak Island" follows a modern-day expedition; the show was just renewed for a fourth season in 2016
Here, strip 11 of the scroll. The image is from Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin FRCP(Glasg).
Another treasure tale that will probably never be solved is more old. Archaeologists found a copper scroll in a cave at the site of Qumran in 1952. The writing was engraved onto a scroll. Some scholars believe that it is impossible for the scroll to record so much gold and silver treasure.
The Roman Empire ruled the Qumran area for more than 1,900 years. Scientists theorize that the treasure was hidden to prevent Roman forces from capturing it at the time the scroll was written. Whether the treasure is real, where exactly it was hidden, whether it was ever found, and whether it could still exist today are all mysteries that will likely never be solved.
The fate of the Ark of the Covenant.
The image is from Fine Art Images/Heritage Images.
The First Temple, a building used by the Jewish people to worship god, was destroyed in 587 B.C. when the Babylonian army conquered Jerusalem. The Ark of the Covenant was in the First Temple.
The fate of the Ark is not known. The ark may have been hidden before the city was captured. The ark could have been destroyed during the city's dismissal. The ark's location is not known. There are a number of stories about the ark's fate. The ark is kept in Ethiopia, according to one story. The ark was hidden and won't appear until a messiah arrives.
When was Jesus born?
Toby Hudson's photo has been credited with an image.
Many Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus on this day, but he probably wasn't born there. The date may have been chosen because it is close to the Roman festival of Saturnalia. The earliest records of Jesus' birth date to the fourth century.
Many Orthodox Christians celebrate Jesus' birthday as being on January 6 or 7 because ancient records suggest that early Christians were never able to agree on a birth date. It is unlikely that the date of Jesus' birth will ever be known, even if scholars agree that it was sometime around 4 B.C.
Was the Hanging Gardens of Babylon real?
The image is from Fine Art Images/Heritage Images.
The gardens were constructed at the ancient city of Babylon in modern-day Iraq. Some ancient writers called the gardens a "wonder of the world" because they were so impressed by them. The Hanging Gardens had plants cultivated at a height above ground level, and the roots of the trees were embedded in an upper terrace.
Archaeologists have not been able to find the remains of a garden that meets this description. Archaeologists have a question: Did the hanging gardens exist? The gardens were proposed in a book as being located in the Assyrian city of Nineveh. The wars and loot of the past two decades have caused damage to both Nineveh and Babylon, and it is unlikely that this mystery will ever be solved.
Is there a City of Atlantis?
The image is from Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector.
Plato wrote in the 4th century B.C. about a land called Atlantis that was located in the Atlantic Ocean and conquered Europe and Africa in prehistoric times. In the story, the prehistoric Athenians strike back against Atlantis in a conflict that ends with Atlantis vanishing beneath the waves.
Some believe that the legend could have been inspired by real events that happened in Greek history. The Minoan civilization, which flourished on the island of Crete until about 1400 B.C., could have inspired the story of Atlantis. The Minoan settlements in Crete suffered a lot of damage during the eruption of Thera, a volcano in Greece.
The Minoans were overcome by a group of people called the Mycenaeans, who were based on mainland Greece. It's not likely that this debate will ever be fully settled.
What was it like to be with Jesus?
The Brooklyn Museum is in the public domain.
It was recently announced that a possible first-century fragment had been found, but the earliest surviving gospels date to the second century.
There are a number of questions left unanswered by the lack of surviving first-century texts about Jesus. When were the scriptures written? How many of the stories actually happened? What was it like to be a person like Jesus? The environment where Jesus grew up is revealed in archaeological investigations. The house that Jesus grew up in was venerated by scientists as being the house that Jesus grew up in, but it is not certain if it was actually Jesus' house.
Scholars think it's unlikely that they will ever fully know what Jesus was really like.
Where is the Holy Grail?
The image is from Shutterstock.
The cup that Jesus drank from at his last supper with his disciples is almost certainly never found. The search for the Holy Grail was described in some of the King Arthur stories as a quest that King Arthur and his knights took on.
Although the Holy Grail is popular in fiction, there are no serious scholarly attempts to find it, and it is used as a plot device in films like "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade", where it was used to heal Indiana Jones after he was shot by the Nazis.
Live Science published the original article.
