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Narrator: A legendary Japanese samurai sword

disappears amidst the chaos of World War II.

Anthea Nardi: The Honjo Masamune embodied Japan's feudal past

and the enduring legacy of the samurai.

James Ellis: Police handed the Honjo Masamune

to a soldier from the Foreign Liquidations Commission in 1946.

Could this soldier have unknowingly taken

one of Japan's greatest treasures?

Narrator: The sarcophagus of an Egyptian pharaoh

goes missing en route to London from Egypt.

Alison Leonard: The 18th and 19th centuries saw a surge

in plunder as countless artifacts were shipped

to Europe on vulnerable vessels.

Amma Agbedor: So what happened to the Menkaure sarcophagus?

Narrator: The exquisite collection of infamous

Faberge eggs mysteriously disappear.

James Ellis: These eggs reflected the vast wealth,

power, and ultimately, the corruption and excess

that fueled the discontent leading to the

1917 Bolshevik Revolution.

Adam Bunch: So what happened to those lost Faberge eggs?

♪ (show theme music) ♪

Narrator: The chain of history has many missing links.

Prominent people.

Priceless treasures.

Extraordinary artifacts.

Their locations still unknown...

Lost to the fog of time.

What happens when stories of the past

become

Vanished History.

♪♪

Narrator: In 1837, the quiet sands of Giza, Egypt

witness an excavation that would leave a mark

on the annals of archaeology.

Colonel Richard Howard Vyse,

a British army officer turned explorer,

embarked on an expedition across the Giza Plateau,

aiming to unlock the secrets of the pyramids,

including the smallest of them all -

the Pyramid of Menkaure.

James Ellis: In the 19th century, a wave

of archaeological obsession

drew wealthy explorers to Egypt's ancient monuments.

Vyse, in particular, was convinced that the pyramids

held far more hidden chambers than anyone had yet discovered,

especially within the enigmatic Pyramid of Menkaure.

Alison Leonard: Menkaure, the grandson of Khufu

and son of Khafre, had built the Third Pyramid

to complete his family's legacy.

Though smaller than his ancestors'

monumental structures, it did stand apart.

Its base encased in dark, rich granite,

it was a stark contrast to the gleaming white limestone

of his forefathers' tombs.

Adam Bunch: Vyse noticed a big channel

carved into the pyramid.

Deep, but not deep enough to get inside.

So, to reach what he called

the sepulchral chamber,

his team made the wildly

contentious decision to use

gunpowder and dynamite

to blow their way in.

Even back then, some of his colleagues were

absolutely outraged.

Amma Agbedor: After months of blasting and digging,

Vyse reached the burial chamber,

and what he found there would become

one of archaeology's greatest mysteries.

A large, basalt sarcophagus

that would eventually disappear

when the ship it was supposedly on, named the Beatrice,

vanished into the depths of the Mediterranean Sea.

So what happened to the Beatrice and the Menkaure sarcophagus?

Narrator: Colonel Vyse later described the sarcophagus

in meticulous detail.

It was about eight feet long, made of polished basalt,

and covered in intricate carvings in the classic

'palace-façade motif' of Old Kingdom architecture.

James Ellis: But despite its grandeur, when Vyse found it,

the sarcophagus was completely empty;

the lid was shattered, with pieces scattered

all over the chamber floor.

Arabic graffiti covered the walls,

suggesting others had entered long before.

Alison Leonard: The discovery was groundbreaking nonetheless.

Vyse noted the sarcophagus seemed to be sawn

with 'some sharp substance,' possibly emery powder,

a technique he thought the Romans discovered much later.

And although it wasn't inscribed with hieroglyphs,

Vyse did feel hopeful that

the sarcophagus belonged to the Pharaoh Menkaure himself.

Narrator: Vyse made the controversial decision

to remove the sarcophagus

and send it to the British Museum in London,

claiming it would have been destroyed

had it remained in the pyramid.

Adam Bunch: The export of Egyptian antiquities

to Western institutions like the British Museum,

had surged since the French surrender

at Alexandria back in 1802.

And Vyse was very much part of that colonial approach,

focused on taking precious artifacts out of the country,

instead of preserving them in the place

where all that history happened.

And that seems to have led to complex negotiations

with the museum's keeper of antiquities,

who was eager to keep adding to their collection.

Amma Agbedor: Following weeks of grueling effort

using a combination of levers, wheeled trucks,

and sheer muscle power,

the sarcophagus was finally brought into daylight

for the first time in over 4,300 years.

It was then transported over 140 miles

across the desert to the port of Alexandria

and loaded onto the Beatrice,

which set sail in the autumn of 1838,

bound for Liverpool.

James Ellis: According to the Lloyd's List,

one of the oldest and most detailed sources

on British merchant vessels from the 19th century,

the Beatrice left Alexandria on September 20th,

with around 200 boxes of other precious Egyptian artifacts,

including pink granite sphinxes and gold pieces.

Alison Leonard: Her Captain, Richard Mayle Wichelo,

had exclusively sailed the Beatrice for years.

By her final voyage, she was rated

'second description of the first class',

well-equipped and reinforced with copper sheathing

and iron supports to strengthen her deck,

which makes her disappearance all the more confounding.

Narrator: The Beatrice was last recorded in Malta

on October 13th or 14th,

before disappearing off the coast of southern Spain.

What happened next remains a mystery,

raising questions about her cargo

and the dangers it might have posed.

Adam Bunch: The evidence suggests

the Beatrice was seaworthy,

but it might not have been designed to carry

such a heavy, irregular load.

If it wasn't loaded properly,

something the sarcophagus could have seriously compromised

the ship's stability.

And if it shifted during the voyage,

maybe that would have spelled disaster.

Amma Agbedor: The last official record of the ship

is from Malta, but according to Vyse's accounts,

the Beatrice was last heard from in Livorno, northern Italy.

And if that's true, then historical shipping patterns

would indicate that the Beatrice

would have followed a southwesterly route

from Livorno toward Gibraltar.

James Ellis: If the Beatrice encountered a storm

near the coast, the Captain may have ordered

a sharp turn south to steer clear of danger,

a maneuver that might have worked under normal conditions.

But the abrupt shift of the heavy sarcophagus,

could have easily caused the ship to capsize.

Narrator: While capsizing is certainly a possibility,

a closer look at the bureaucratic maneuvers

of the time, reveals a more mundane theory.

Alison Leonard: It's possible that the sarcophagus

was never on the Beatrice to begin with,

or that it was simply lost.

Research shows inconsistencies in the records,

suggesting a bureaucratic blunder may have occurred.

Shoddily kept manifests could mean it was listed as cargo

but never actually loaded onto the ship.

♪♪

Adam Bunch: Taking a sarcophagus out of Egypt

could be a very complicated process,

with officials from the British Museum

and Egypt's consular network getting involved.

And the collectors who are rushing to get their hands

on the treasure, didn't always worry about

leaving behind a proper paper trail.

So it's not too hard to believe the sarcophagus

could have been misplaced somewhere,

or even left behind in a web of red tape.

Amma Agbedor: With such a complicated chain of custody,

errors and miscommunications were common,

which may have led to the sarcophagus disappearing

into the fog of history.

If that's the case,

it could still be hidden away in a forgotten storage room

or even resting in an undocumented private collection.

Narrator: But some historians suggest

the disorganization may have concealed a darker motive.

James Ellis: The mysterious circumstances of the shipwreck

that supposedly claimed Menkaure's sarcophagus,

have fueled speculation that it may have been

a cover for an illegal sale.

It's possible that the disappearance might have been

orchestrated to mask a secret transaction,

given the demand for rare and valuable artifacts at the time.

Alison Leonard: The 18th and 19th centuries marked an era

of relentless smuggling, and saw a surge in plunder

as countless artifacts were shipped to Europe

on vulnerable vessels.

One such ship, the HMS Colossus,

wrecked in 1798

carrying Sir William Hamilton's priceless Greek vases.

They now sit shattered in the British Museum.

Adam Bunch: Records show the Beatrice stayed in port

much longer than usual, which could be a hint

that there's a possibility of some backroom deals,

and Captain Whitlow didn't sail with the ship

on its final voyage.

Instead, his son John took command,

while Whitlow stayed behind in Alexandria

for some unknown reason,

which has also raised a few eyebrows.

Narrator: Most archaeologists believe the wreck

of the Beatrice can be found,

but a coordinated search remains mired in bureaucracy,

requiring cooperation and approval

from the Spanish government.

Amma Agbedor: If the sarcophagus is indeed at the bottom

of the sea, it could still be remarkably well-preserved,

since basalt is far less vulnerable to seawater,

than other materials like limestone.

James Ellis: Luckily, the Beatrice wasn't the only ship

carrying artifacts; the lid from the sarcophagus

and other items were sent on a separate ship

that safely arrived at its destination.

Alison Leonard: If we could find Menkaure's sarcophagus,

it would be like opening a time capsule from the Old Kingdom,

offering invaluable insights into

ancient Egyptian craftsmanship and burial practices.

Narrator: Pharaoh Menkaure's sarcophagus endured

millennia in the desert, the threats of tomb robbers,

and the dynamite blasts of 19th-century explorers,

only to disappear without a trace.

Yet, the search continues, driven by the hope

that this ancient treasure may still be found.

♪♪

♪♪

Narrator: Emerging in the 10th century as regional soldiers

who served local chieftains,

Japan's Samurai evolved into a class of nobility

that shaped the country's history for hundreds of years.

Synonymous with these storied warriors

was their weapon of choice - the Samurai sword.

The Honjo Masamune,

the most legendary Samurai sword in Japanese history,

was far more than just a weapon,

it was the ultimate symbol of power and authority.

Created by the masterful Goro Nyudo Masamune

in the 13th century,

this iconic weapon came to represent

the unstoppable might of the Tokugawa shogunate.

♪♪

James Ellis: The blade had 30,000 layers of steel,

balanced between strength and razor-sharp precision.

The spine was durable, while the edge was so thin

it's said to have been atoms thick.

This masterpiece remains unmatched

in craftsmanship and power.

Alison Leonard: For over 700 years,

the Honjo Masamune was passed down through Japan's elite,

becoming a symbol of dominance and might.

It was wielded by high-ranking nobles as a mark of prestige,

and ultimately found its way to the legendary warlord

Tokugawa Ieyasu, who would go on to shape the course

of Japan's history as the founder of the last shogunate.

Anthea Nardi: The Honjo Masamune wasn't merely a weapon;

it embodied Japan's feudal past

and the enduring legacy of the samurai.

By 1939, it was designated a National Treasure,

and revered as an emblem of honor, loyalty and strength.

Adam Bunch: By the end of the Second World War,

nearly 2 million Japanese soldiers carried swords

as a powerful symbol of a warrior tradition

that spanned centuries.

But with Japan's surrender and the allied occupation,

Supreme Allied Commander General MacArthur

ordered every single sword from mass produced blades

to priceless heirlooms to be handed over.

In the process, the Honjo Masamune disappeared.

And ever since, people have been trying to figure out

what happened to it.

Narrator: Japan's defeat was followed by a cultural

and military disarmament.

The Allied occupation under MacArthur

aimed to reshape Japan,

dismantling symbols of its feudal warrior culture.

Alison Leonard: By confiscating swords,

they weren't just removing weapons;

they were stripping away centuries of samurai tradition,

symbolically reinforcing Japan's shift

from a militaristic empire

to a peaceful, democratic society.

It was a powerful statement, signaling the end of an era.

Anthea Nardi: Over three million swords were confiscated

in the process, many destined to be buried or melted down.

Japanese families tried to protect their swords,

but thousands of priceless treasures were lost.

Adam Bunch: For many people in Japan,

the sword hat wasn't just about a loss of weapons,

but the erasure of a centuries old tradition.

It was a devastating loss for the Japanese people,

whose swords weren't just weapons,

but treasured family heirlooms passed down through generations

and deeply rooted in history and tradition.

James Ellis: In December 1945, the Honjo Masamune's

last known owner, Tokugawa Iemasa,

a descendant of the shoguns, obeyed the law

and handed over the family's treasured swords

to the Mejiro police station.

And then, without a trace,

the Honjo Masamune disappeared.

Narrator: In the turmoil of post-war Japan,

countless swords met violent ends, stoking the belief

that the Honjo Masamune may have been one of them.

James Ellis: The Allies' post-war demilitarization

of Japan was swift, decisive and indiscriminate.

Across the Pacific, surrender ceremonies were organized,

where Japanese soldiers handed over their swords

to the Foreign Liquidation Commission.

It's entirely possible that the Honjo Masamune

was tragically destroyed during this process.

Alison Leonard: Swords were seized and piled high

in warehouses, many destined to be buried,

dumped at sea or melted down for scrap.

Thousands of them ended up at the U.S. 8th Army Weapons Depot

in Akabane, Tokyo.

As word of the destruction spread, influential collectors,

museum curators, and cultural figures

urgently raised concerns to MacArthur,

explaining this was more than just disarmament,

it was an assault on Japan's cultural identity.

Adam Bunch: There was a meeting between Dr. G. Hong Lim,

an expert in swords,

and Colonel Victor Cadwell of the US Eighth Army,

the person in charge of weapons collection.

Dr. Honma explained that many of these swords,

like the Honjo Masamune, weren't just weapons,

but ancient works of art.

That they were cultural treasures significant to Japan

in many of the same ways

cathedrals are significant to the West.

Anthea Nardi: Cadwell was ultimately convinced

that they should be preserved,

and he began efforts to save Japan's cultural swords

by differentiating them from wartime weapons.

Narrator: Although MacArthur eventually rescinded the edict,

the damage was done.

Countless swords had been lost or destroyed,

and five irreplaceable blades,

officially registered as national treasures,

had already vanished.

Anthea Nardi: The Honjo Masamune's absence

from the records raises the grim possibility

that this priceless treasure was lost or destroyed,

before its significance was fully understood.

But given the dedicated efforts to preserve

Japan's National Treasures,

it's hard to believe such an iconic sword

could have been overlooked.

Narrator: Despite the widespread destruction,

no evidence has confirmed that the Honjo Masamune

was destroyed, or that it ever reached Akabane,

leaving open the possibility

that it slipped through the cracks

or into more mysterious hands.

James Ellis: In 1966, a mysterious figure surfaced,

Sergeant C.I. Bimore.

According to an article in SAGA,

an British mystery magazine,

Mejiro police handed the Honjo Masamune

to a soldier named Coldy Bimore

from the Foreign Liquidations Commission in 1946.

Could this soldier have unknowingly taken

one of Japan's greatest treasures?

Alison Leonard: Some elements of the SAGA story align with

what we know: the 7th U.S. Cavalry

was stationed in Tokyo at that time,

conducting patrols to inventory and dispose of weapons,

including swords.

But if Bimore acquired the Honjo Masamune,

why has no trace of it been found since?

Anthea Nardi: It's possible Bimore took the Honjo Masamune

without realizing its significance.

But the real mystery lies in the fact that

there is no official record of a C.I. Bimore

in U.S. Military Archives.

Adam Bunch: Frustratingly, it seems the American military

records that would have listed him weren't retained.

So it's hard to trace the story.

Japanese records do suggest that a Coldy Bimore

did collect the sword,

but all police documentation from that period was lost.

And the name itself is likely a mistranslation.

Theoretically, it could even be an alias.

So the trail of C.I. Bimore

quickly goes cold entirely,

leaving us with nothing more

than hopeful speculation.

Narrator: Although it may just be wishful thinking,

the belief that the Honjo Masamune still exists endures,

along with the tantalizing possibility

that this legendary sword is still out there,

its true worth yet to be realized by its current owner.

Anthea Nardi: After the war, countless priceless artifacts,

including swords, were taken home

by U.S. soldiers as souvenirs.

Those assigned to weapons depots like Akabane

likely recognized the quality of certain swords,

if not the significance.

So it's possible that the Honjo Masamune

ended up tucked away in an attic or garage somewhere in the U.S.,

a priceless treasure left to collect dust.

Adam Bunch: The allied occupation of Japan

lasted until 1952.

Millions of Japanese swords

were confiscated during that time.

More than seven tons of them

taken to the United States,

many as trophies of war

to be kept in private collections.

James Ellis: The influx of swords into America

was like a tidal wave.

For the few who truly understood the craftsmanship

behind these blades, it was a golden opportunity.

Dealers uncovered historically significant swords

hidden among the confiscated weapons,

now scattered across the U.S.,

and it's possible the Honjo Masamune was one of them.

Adam Bunch: Some historically significant swords

have resurfaced in unlikely places.

An American collector stumbled across another one

of the national treasure swords

that disappeared at the end of the war.

This one was by another famous swordsman: Kunimune.

It had been bought at a military junk sale for $10!

And after he realized what it was,

he returned it to Japan in 1963.

So, if it could go unnoticed for so long,

it's possible that someone in the U.S.

has the Honjo Masamune

and just doesn't realize it.

Narrator: Since World War II,

thousands of Japanese swords have been returned,

including the Shimazu Masamune,

a treasure missing for over 150 years

that was rediscovered in 2014.

Although no credible trace of the Honjo Masamune

has surfaced, the return of other artifacts keeps hope alive

that this legendary sword may one day reappear.

James Ellis: Most Japanese sword smiths

etched their signatures into the hilt of their blades,

making them easier to identify.

But Masamune rarely signed his work,

which makes authenticating his swords

incredibly difficult, but not impossible.

Alison Leonard: The Honjo Masamune is unlike

any other sword, it has distinct, irrefutable features,

like its signature wave-like hamon.

If it ever surfaces, we could verify it almost immediately

using detailed drawings created

when it was declared a National Treasure in 1939.

James Ellis: The Honjo Masamune isn't just a missing artifact,

it's a piece of Japan's identity.

Finding it would mean reclaiming a lost piece of history

and restoring a symbol of the nation's heritage.

Narrator: Whether lost to the vagaries of time,

hidden in a private collection,

or destroyed in the chaos of war,

the Honjo Masamune remains one of Japanese history's

greatest puzzles.

Its fate is unknown,

but its legend endures.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

Narrator: For over three centuries,

the Romanovs ruled Russia with an iron grip,

a dynasty steeped in grandeur,

opulence, and deadly secrets.

At the heart of their vast wealth

were the legendary Fabergé Imperial Easter eggs,

commissioned from the world-renowned jeweler

Peter Carl Fabergé.

Alison Leonard: The Romanovs' tradition of gifting

imperial Easter eggs began with Czar Alexander III in 1885,

just four years into his reign.

Seeking an extraordinary gift for his wife Maria Feodorovna,

he turned to master goldsmith Peter Carl Fabergé.

What he received was far beyond an ordinary jewel,

it was the now-famous Hen Egg,

a deceptively simple white egg

that opened to reveal a golden yolk,

a miniature hen, and hidden treasures within.

Anthea Nardi: What began as a carefully planned gift

from Alexander III, soon became an annual showcase

of Fabergé's imagination and artistry.

While the first eggs followed the Tsar's specifications,

Fabergé was eventually given free rein

to create masterpieces.

Each egg became more than a gift,

it was a hidden world of wonders,

reflecting the extravagant tastes

and personal lives of Russia's Royal family.

James Ellis: Over time, these eggs became

more than symbols of personal devotion,

they reflected the vast wealth, power,

and ultimately, the corruption and excess

that fueled the discontent leading to

the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution.

And one year later, the assassination

of the Romanov family.

Adam Bunch: 50 eggs were crafted

for the Imperial Family between

1885 and 1917,

each more extravagant than the last.

Seven of the masterpieces vanished after the chaos

of the revolution, and their whereabouts are still unknown.

So what happened to those lost Fabergé eggs?

Narrator: The story of Fabergé

and his exquisite, bejeweled eggs

is one of beauty caught in the path of revolution.

As Russia transformed in 1917,

toppling the monarchy and descending into turmoil,

Carl Fabergé's creations were scattered across the world.

In a nation on the brink of irrevocable change,

even its greatest artistry was overshadowed by chaos.

A. Nardi: By 1917, a revolution was nearly unavoidable.

The Romanovs' weakening grip,

the endless bloodshed on the frontlines,

and Nicholas II's refusal to embrace liberal reforms

created a perfect storm.

Even before the Bolsheviks seized full power,

Fabergé himself had come under close surveillance,

his international clients and high-profile connections

marked him as a potential threat to the new regime.

James Ellis: In February 1917, revolution erupted in Petrograd,

as St Petersburg was named back then,

where Fabergé's jewel house was headquartered.

Military regiments mutinied, policemen were shot,

and prisons were overrun.

As a fragile provisional government emerged,

the old Russian empire, along with Fabergé's world,

was slipping away.

Anthea Nardi: During the brief period of provisional rule,

Fabergé's business managed to survive,

adapting to make munitions instead of luxuries,

and wealthy Russians continue to cling to his pieces

as portable wealth, since they were easy to smuggle or hide.

Adam Bunch: The rise of Lenin

marked a dangerous turning point.

When Lenin and the Bolsheviks seized control,

Faberge was placed under close watch.

His family harassed, his sons arrested.

In 1918, the company was nationalized,

and within months, closed forever.

Fabergé was forced to flee for his life,

escaping Russia in disguise,

eventually ending up in Switzerland,

where he died not long after, in 1920.

Narrator: In the 1920s and 30s,

economic survival outweighed cultural preservation.

The Soviet regime began liquidating Romanov treasures,

selling them off to foreign collectors,

with little regard for their historical value,

desperate for foreign currency

to stabilize the struggling state.

Adam Bunch: Some of the missing eggs might have

quietly changed hands

during this tumultuous period.

Lenin initially tried to preserve that cultural heritage.

But Stalin's rise to power marked a shift.

Between 1930 and '33, the Soviets sold

14 Fabergé imperial eggs

to Western collectors,

And the eggs that left Russia

included the legendary Nécessaire egg,

which had been crafted in 1889.

James Ellis: In 1949, the Nécessaire Egg

appeared anonymously at an exhibition,

only to vanish again three years later,

when it was sold for just $1,600

to a buyer known only as 'A Stranger.'

At the time, the Cold War's iron curtain

meant little was known about these treasures,

and it wasn't until decades later,

with the openness of Glasnost, that it became clear

that the Nécessaire Egg had been lost.

Alison Leonard: For decades, the Nécessaire Egg

remained missing, until 2017,

when a long-lost photograph surfaced,

showing the egg alongside another Russian treasure,

the Golden Chalice, commissioned by Catherine the Great.

Until recently, we only had a basic description

and a grainy image of the Nécessaire Egg,

and while the new photograph has sparked excitement,

there's been no trace of it since.

Adam Bunch: During Stalin's sell off in the early 1930s,

many of the buyers were from Britain,

and that's where the Nécessaire Egg was last spotted.

So it's entirely possible that it's still out there somewhere,

sitting in some unsuspecting person's home.

Narrator: The Nécessaire Egg may still be hidden

in a forgotten collection, waiting to be rediscovered,

but in the tumult of revolution,

other Fabergé treasures weren't so lucky.

And some may have never made it out of Russia.

Anthea Nardi: Amid the Romanovs' desperate flight,

their most treasured possessions were moved

from place to place in a frantic attempt to protect them,

so it's possible that some of the Faberge Eggs

were lost or hidden during this time.

In April 1919, the British Navy

orchestrated a dramatic evacuation of Dowager Empress

Maria Feodorovna from Crimea to England.

She fled with all her personal belongings,

including jewels and possibly the Royal Danish Egg,

a deeply personal Fabergé creation from 1903.

Alison Leonard: The Royal Danish Egg was a tribute

to the Empress's Danish roots,

adorned with delicate portraits of her parents

and standing at an impressive nine inches tall.

But during the frantic evacuation

of the Imperial family,

HMS Marlborough, prepared for around ten passengers,

was suddenly overwhelmed with over 80 people

and 200 tons of unmarked luggage.

In the rush, many valuables were lost or forgotten,

and it's entirely possible that the Royal Danish Egg

never made it out of Crimea.

James Ellis: In the upheaval of war,

it's easy to see how a priceless treasure,

like the Royal Danish Egg could disappear.

Perhaps it returned to Russia, or was stored away

with the Empress, hidden in England

or Copenhagen, where she spent her final years.

It could still be tucked in some forgotten corner of Europe,

uncatalogued and unnoticed,

or deliberately concealed as a safeguard.

♪♪

Narrator: In times of war, items of great value

often slip through the cracks.

While some Fabergé eggs may have been lost in the turmoil,

others could have suffered a darker fate,

one sealed by the harsh economic realities

of the Soviet state.

James Ellis: By the 1920s, the Soviet government

had shifted from selling treasures to dismantling them,

reducing the Romanov wealth to raw materials.

Gold and jewels were melted down

to fuel the regime's industrial ambitions,

so it's possible that some of the missing Fabergé eggs,

including the Mauve Egg, were destroyed.

Alison Leonard: The Mauve Egg, an 1897 masterpiece,

gifted to Maria Feodorovna,

was last seen in the Gatchina Palace

before vanishing from records.

It's completely absent from both the 1917

and 1922 inventories of seized treasures.

Narrator: The surprise, a diamond-encrusted heart

that opens into a clover, resurfaced decades later;

it was passed between collectors

in the 1970s and 2000s

and now sits on display

at St. Petersburg's Fabergé Museum.

But the fate of the gold and mauve-enamel egg itself

remains a mystery.

Alison Leonard: It's possible it was dismantled,

its gold and jewels repurposed to finance the new regime.

Anthea Nardi: But it's also possible

that the Mauve Egg survived liquidation.

Even under the most ruthless regimes,

some people risked everything

to protect Russia's cultural heritage.

Curators and officials often hid treasures

or smuggled them out of the country,

though there's no proof the Mauve Egg

was among those saved.

The logistics of moving such valuable items

would have been meticulously planned

and it's unlikely that they would simply vanish.

Narrator: Seven Fabergé eggs remain missing today.

Each one a priceless artifact of a vanished world.

Their stories continue to captivate historians

and treasure hunters alike.

Anthea Nardi: Of the missing Fabergé eggs,

only two are known to have survived the revolution.

But every so often, a new clue raises the thrilling possibility

that more of these lost treasures may yet be found.

Adam Bunch: In 2012, the third imperial egg turned up

at a flea market in the United States,

bought by a scrap metal dealer for less than $14,000.

He planned to sell it off to be melted down for its gold,

until an expert valued it at nearly $33 million.

So if the third imperial egg could resurface

in a flea market, then who's to say the other missing eggs

aren't still out there somewhere waiting to be discovered?

Narrator: The mystery of the Fabergé eggs is far from over.

Somewhere out there, the next clue waits to be uncovered.

And, as history has shown,

sometimes, the most priceless treasures,

are hidden in unexpected places.

♪♪

♪♪

Narrator: In 1952, near the northwestern shores

of the Dead Sea in the Judaean desert,

and deep in a cave at Khirbat Qumran,

the site where the Dead Sea Scrolls

had first been discovered five years prior,

a startling new revelation came to light.

Amma Agbedor: Tucked in a niche behind a large stone

and embedded in the dirt were the two broken halves

of a metal scroll.

All the scrolls found at the Dead Sea

up to that point, literally hundreds of them,

in 11 different caves,

had all been either parchment or papyrus.

But this scroll was solid copper!

James Ellis: The scroll was so ancient and corroded

that it couldn't be unscrolled.

It had to be cut into strips,

which were placed edge-to-edge...

revealing a document about eight feet long,

dense with Hebrew text,

composed by an anonymous author.

It was a list, detailing the contents of dozens

of stashes of gold and silver,

over a billion dollars' worth

and giving clues as to where each stash could be found.

Adam Bunch: The first few locations were deciphered,

but the initial excavations

didn't find any treasure at all.

Still, people knew it would be an immensely important find

historically and culturally,

not to mention the monetary value.

So the search was on.

Where was all this gold and silver?

Who originally owned the treasures of the Copper Scroll?

Narrator: The original "Dead Sea Scrolls"

discovered by chance in 1946 or '47,

are often said to contain "biblical texts".

But even that description

isn't quite so simple.

Anthea Nardi: The Dead Sea Scrolls are believed

to have been written between 200 BCE and 68 CE.

That was about a thousand years before the earliest known Bible.

Much of what was written in the Scrolls

would then also show up in the Bible,

about a millennium later.

This was pre-biblical!

A big find! Probably one of the most important

in modern archaeology.

Amma Agbedor: The task of deciphering the scrolls

started immediately, and continues to this day.

It's been an uphill battle

because most of the eight to nine hundred scrolls

were so old and brittle,

that they've crumbled into fragments,

about 15,000 of them,

most of them tiny.

It wasn't until the early '90s

that a computer program was finally able

to reconstruct one of the texts.

James Ellis: So much has been learned from the scrolls

about culture, history, and of course religion.

The texts helped push the date of a stabilized Hebrew Bible

back to at least 70 CE;

they helped reconstruct Palestine's history

from the 4th century BCE to 135 CE;

and they've revealed a great deal about the relationship

between early Christian and Jewish religions.

Adam Bunch: How the Dead Sea Scrolls came to be

in those caves has been a mystery from the start.

Were they moved there from a library somewhere,

maybe to protect them from some kind of threat?

But even then, when exactly were they moved?

Who wrote them? Why?

There's lots of debate,

but all of those questions remain unanswered.

Narrator: The discovery of the copper scroll

introduced a whole new set of questions.

Anthea Nardi: For starters, the language.

Most of the other scrolls, the ones on papyrus and parchment,

were written in literary Hebrew.

The copper scroll's language was closer to an early form

of Mishnah, which was more casual.

And, whoever inscribed the text

got some of their Hebrew letters mixed up.

Amma Agbedor: It could be that the people

who had the scroll made

used an illiterate scribe,

so they wouldn't know where the treasures were hidden,

and couldn't tell anyone else.

Kind of a low-tech encryption,

but also pretty ingenious.

James Ellis: Stranger still, the scroll was not even

written entirely in Hebrew.

There were some Greek words used and even sequences

of Greek letters that weren't words, they looked like code.

Narrator: The Copper Scroll described riches

of immense value.

Researchers tried to work out the treasures' likely owners,

based on proximity and history.

Adam Bunch: One very popular theory is that

the treasure belonged to the Temple of Jerusalem,

which wasn't even 50 miles west of the caves.

According to the Hebrew Bible,

it was first built in 957 BCE

and is said to have housed the famous

Ark of the Covenant.

So, the building certainly had a high enough profile

to be used to store staggering amounts of gold and silver.

Anthea Nardi: What seems to be a catch here is that

the Temple of Jerusalem was looted and destroyed

by the Babylonians in 587 and 586 BCE,

long before the copper scroll is believed

to have been made, but by 515 BCE,

the temple was rebuilt on the same site,

into the Second Temple of Jerusalem.

And the Second Temple, while it no longer housed the Ark,

was documented as having held vast amounts of gold and silver.

Amma Agbedor: The Second Temple stood intact until 70 CE,

when the Romans destroyed it.

And some believe that the copper scroll

could have been inscribed

a couple of years before that,

in 68 CE.

James Ellis: There's a troubling inconsistency

with that suggestion, though.

Historical records from that time

claimed that when the Romans destroyed the Second Temple,

the treasure was still in it.

And even if the gold and silver had been removed

and hidden before the Romans came in,

it's hard to link the location descriptions

given in the Copper Scroll

with the area around the Temple,

or with Jerusalem itself.

Narrator: If not the Temple of Jerusalem,

the Copper Scroll and the riches it described

may have had their origins even closer to the caves.

Adam Bunch: One theory suggests the owners

of the Copper Scrolls treasures

could have been the Essenes, an ascetic Jewish sect

who may have had a community within

walking distance of the caves.

Some believe they lived at Qumran, in modern day Palestine,

from about the 2nd century BCE,

until the end of the 1st century CE.

Those dates overlap with when

the Copper Scroll might have been made,

so some think maybe the gold was part

of the Essenes communal wealth.

Anthea Nardi: Roman arrowheads and evidence of burning

were found at the ruins of the Essenes' settlement,

which rather ominously supports the idea

that they may have had something the Romans wanted.

Amma Agbedor: And the Essenes didn't believe

in temple worship,

so, while many communities may have stored

their riches in a temple,

the Essenes would have had to find some other way

to store whatever wealth they had.

And find someplace to hide it from the Romans.

The Copper Scroll might have been describing

their hiding places.

James Ellis: The issue with that theory is

that the Essenes were an ascetic sect.

They believed in manual labor and seclusion.

The copper alone that went into the scroll

would have been extremely costly at the time.

It can't be ruled out, but it's hard to imagine

that the Essenes possessed the kind of material wealth

described in the Copper Scroll.

Narrator: If the Essenes didn't hide the treasures,

there was another group that was more accustomed to subterfuge,

and the necessities of hiding,

and communicating in code.

Adam Bunch: Another theory claims that gold and silver

could have belonged to and been hidden by Jewish rebels

who rose up against the Romans around that same time,

maybe during the first Jewish revolt from 66 to 70 CE,

or the Bar Kokhba revolt,

the final war between the Jewish people and the Roman Empire,

which was fought between 132 and 136 CE.

Both of those date ranges are within the realm of possibility,

according to some scholars,

based on what's known about the age of the Copper Scroll.

Anthea Nardi: Behaviorally, this hypothesis fits;

Jewish rebels were known to hide themselves

or their valuables in safe rooms,

to keep the Romans from finding them and to make sure

they could access them when necessary.

This helped fund and sustain the resistance.

Amma Agbedor: Interestingly, a number of the cryptic clues

the Copper Scroll contained regarding the hiding places

seemed to fit the area around the caves,

and caves used by the Jewish rebels have been located.

And one of them, found in the 1960s,

is called the "Cave of Letters"

because several letters were discovered in it

from Bar Kochba, who was the leader

of the last rebellion.

James Ellis: Many of the caves in the Judaean desert

have been thoroughly excavated, but none of the treasures

described by the Copper Scroll have been found.

To some, the degree of wealth described in the scroll

seems like it might have been beyond what the rebels

could have gathered together, but...who knows?

Narrator: The scholar and historian of the day,

Flavius Josephus, wrote that after the war,

Roman warriors dug up gold, silver,

and other riches from the Jewish people,

whether civilian citizens, or rebels,

had tried in vain, to hide.

Adam Bunch: What Josephus wrote suggests at least

two significant things.

The gold and silver were hidden from the Romans;

and that some of it was found.

But he didn't specify whether all of it was discovered.

So, if there's anything the Romans didn't find,

it could still be hidden

wherever it was buried.

Narrator: One person claims to have found

at least two locations near Qumran

that match what's described by the Copper Scroll.

Given the conflict and strife

the region continues to suffer from,

the local government is not likely to grant

excavation permits anytime soon.

The Copper Scroll's secrets,

and the treasures it describes,

still await discovery.

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