Mysteries of the Ancient World, Photos, Facts -- National Geographic

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Mysteries of the Ancient World

FACT #1 of 17

The legend of the Inca gold began with the 16th-century kidnapping of Inca king Atahualpa by Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizzaro—and the ransom he demanded.

After the tomb of King Tutankhamun was opened in 1992 to great fanfare, expedition sponsor Lord Carnarvon died suddenly.

Recently, an amateur archaeologist claimed that the Holy Grail might be hidden in Rome's ancient catacombs—beneath the Basilica of San Lorenzo Fuori le Mura, near the tomb of St. Lawrence, a deacon martyred in A.D. 258.

In 2005, a team discovered the first unknown tomb in Egypt's Valley of the Kings since Tutankhamun's. The site, dubbed KV 63, was found only about 50 feet (15 meters) from the walls of Tut's resting place.

The Well of Souls is purportedly located below a natural cave under the rock upon which Jewish tradition says Abraham prepared to sacrifice his son Isaac. Islamic tradition says Muhammad ascended to heaven from this same stone.

China's First Emperor, Qin, standardized coins, weights, and measures; interlinked the states with canals and roads; and is credited for building the first version of the Great Wall.

Spanish historians writing long after Juan Ponce de Leon died in 1521 may have created the story that he was seeking the Fountain of Youth to make fun of him.

According to legend, the founders of Atlantis were half god and half human. They created a utopian civilization on lush islands full of precious metals and exotic wildlife. Then they vanished forever.

The famous crystal skull purchased by the British Museum in the early 1930s is a fake. It was made in Germany, taken to Mexico, and then brought to London.

In 1906, a blue bowl believed by some to be the Holy Grail was found in Glastonbury, England, a Roman outpost at the time of Christ's crucifixion.

According to the Bible, when the Israelites crossed the Jordan River into the Promised Land, the river stopped flowing the moment the people carrying the Ark of the Covenant stepped into it.

In the 16th century, Spanish explorers heard of a South American ruler who was covered with gold dust during a ceremony. They called him El Dorado, "the gilded one."

Archaeologist Alberto Ruz Lhuillier in 1952 rolled away a stone inside the Temple of Inscriptions at Palenque—and discovered the tomb of Pakal the Great.

Researchers at the Pyramid of the Moon temple in Teotihuacan found evidence for animal and human sacrifice-buried bodies with their heads lopped off.

The Inca weren't the only people to live at Machu Picchu. Archaeologists have found artifacts associated with peoples from coastal regions and as far away as Lake Titicaca.

French archaeologist Pierre Montet's discovery of the lost Egyptian city of Tanis and its astounding treasures was completely overshadowed by the nearly simultaneous eruption of World War II.

All the sculptures discovered at the ancient Indus city of Mohenjo Daro were found broken—indicating that the city's last inhabitants didn't like those who were there before them.

Spanish conquistador Francisco Vazquez de Coronado led a large and expensive Spanish expedition to find the legendary Seven Cities of Cibola in 1541—but came up empty-handed.

About a third of Pompeii is still buried beneath tons of volcanic ash and debris—despite hundreds of years of continuous excavation.

Tomb art found in the Pyramids at Giza includes depictions of ancient farmers working their fields and tending livestock, fishing and fowling, carpentry, costumes, religious rituals, and burial practices.

According to folklore, Stonehenge was created by Merlin, the wizard of Arthurian legend, who magically transported the massive stones from Ireland, where giants had assembled them.

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