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Well I was thinking of lost as in vanished when I wrote the thread starter, not to mention something relatively recent. The Library at Alexandria was lost as well, however there is no doubt what became of it. I had always thought that the amber room was at the bottom of the Baltic Sea, but I'm beginning to think it was either hidden or split up by the Nazis near the end of the war. All four captains ( three civilian, one military) aboard the the Wilhelm Gustloff survived. At least one of them would have known that the amber room was aboard if it had been
Meh, I've got the amber room installed in my basement. I store my old junk down there.
In my opinion this is the greatest "lost" treasure in the word:
Qin Shi Huang's tomb
"One of the first projects the young king accomplished while he was alive was the construction of his own tomb. In 215 BC Qin Shi Huang ordered General Meng Tian with 300,000 men to begin construction. Other sources suggested he ordered 720,000 unpaid laborers to build his tomb to specification. Again, given John Man's observation regarding populations of the time (see paragraph above), these historical estimates are debatable. The main tomb (located at 34°22′52.75″N 109°15′13.06″E) containing the emperor has yet to be opened and there is evidence suggesting that it remains relatively intact. Sima Qian's description of the tomb includes replicas of palaces and scenic towers, "rare utensils and wonderful objects", 100 rivers made with mercury, representations of "the heavenly bodies", and crossbows rigged to shoot anyone who tried to break in. The tomb was built on Li Mountain, which is only 30 kilometers away from Xi'an. Modern archaeologists have located the tomb, and have inserted probes deep into it. The probes revealed abnormally high quantities of mercury, some 100 times the naturally occurring rate, suggesting that some parts of the legend are credible. Secrets were maintained, as most of the workmen who built the tomb were killed."
And to think it's probably all still there, probably undisturbed for all this time!!! It drives me crazy!!! I'm liable to get a shovel and plane ticket to see it for myself if the Chinese Government doesn't excavate it in my lifetime... and they have no plans to do it.
No Pharaoh of Egypt had a tomb anywhere near as astonishing... and considering the incredible "Terracotta Warriors" found outside, I doubt the ancient records are exaggerating.
Well i agree with all of the other treasures lost to time mentioned above, especially the Library, i mean the vast knowledge lost there can only be seen as a disaster to civilization, but one that has been left out was the Tomb of Genghis Khan. Can you imagine what was buried with him? His empire extended over a vast area and would have included treasures from all of it.
Excellent point, I don't think it is fair to necessarily categorize the Amber Room as the worlds "greatest" lost treasure. Perhaps a more compelling one given how recent it was lost, but that's about it.
The tomb of Ghengis Khan would no doubt be insanely wealthy.
Ughh...you've made me dig again, like with Ukrainian ( and yes, again I'm learning new things)))
The question for me was kinda - well, if it was destroyed by the fire in Konigsberg, than somehow you would have to have some proof that it happened. ( I mean how big was the fire, what were the leftovers from that room - things like that.) But from a very detailed article in Russian ( I hope what they write there is true,) I understand why it was not really conclusive.
Yes, it did make it to Konigsberg, but whenever it was moved after - it couldn't last there for long. See, this room was due for serious restoration ( yet again) in 1941; that's why probably Russians decided not to pack it for evacuation, although they've evacuated a lot of other things; they thought it was already too fragile.
But wherever it ended up, it was most likely burned ( according to psychics ( yeah, even they've got involved by invitation,) - so according to them - I quote - "it was burned along with boxes it was in, on a territory of some small castle in Eastern Prussia, where it has been brought from Konigsberg, closer to Danzig ( Gdansk.)" That announcement was made in 1975.
However it looks like both Gorbachev and Yeltzin knew something else, because ( according to this article) the following took place; during his official visit to Western Germany in November 1991, Gorbachev shocked members of the Bundestag by the announcement that he knew where the Amber room was. A month later Yeltzin ( then president of the Russian Federation) repeated the same in Bonn.
However they've never stated it to their own compatriots. Why? Go figure.
But anyways, my point is that whenever this room was moved after Konigsberg, it couldn't survive for long without restoration, because as you've said it yourself amber can be destroyed if not cared for properly.
I did look at the history blog site Njgoat speaks of above, and read it. Very interesting.
In his last posting ANONPD has answered the comments posted here by NJGOAT and ERASURE
So he must have read them here before he answered them.
All very interesting thanks Njgoat, for your directions to the site.
A quicker way to get there is. [url=http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/183]The History Blog » Blog Archive » The Amber Room? For reals?[/url]
I don't know what "the greatest" lost treasure was, but I will add this to the list:
"The Storm On The Sea Of Galilee" by Rembrandt Harmenszoon Van Rijn (1606-1669). The only seascape ever painted by the great Dutch master. It was hanging in Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum when thieves, dressed as police officers, stole it in March of 1990. It has never been recovered. Some have called it the greatest art heist in modern history.
The Library at Alexandria contained all of the world's knowledge. It can never be duplicated. Maybe we are still inventing things that had already been invented before. The history of the ancient world, so many of the questions we have about it, would have been answered at this library.
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- so according to them - I quote - "it was burned along with boxes it was in, on a territory of some small castle in Eastern Prussia, where it has been brought from Konigsberg, closer to Danzig ( Gdansk.)" That announcement was made in 1975.
