Priceless Treasures - Where Are They ? Quiz

Answer: no one

Jewish and Christian holy scriptures dictate that the Ark of the Covenant can be carried only by Levites. They must carry the Ark by using two wooden poles inserted through rings on its sides. Touching the Ark itself will result in death at the hands of God.

The Ark was taken to Jerusalem by King David, and was eventually placed in the innermost sanctum of Temple of Jerusalem by King Solomon in the 10th century BCE. This space was accessible only to the Israelite high priest and only on Yom Kippur.

In 586 BCE the Babylonians overran Jerusalem. after which the Ark disappeared. It hasn't been seen since.

Answer: Florentine Diamond

To say that the Florentine Diamond has had a storied past would be a monumental understatement. Theories abound as to the kings, queens, dukes, and emperors who have claimed possession of the diamond. Documents exist that reveal that the diamond and other jewels once owned by Charles I of Austria made their way to Switzerland for safe keeping in 1918 after World War I.

It is believed that the diamond was stolen by someone who was known to the family sometime after 1918, and the Florentine Diamond has not been seen since. It is likely that it has been re-cut into smaller diamonds.

Answer: the Crown Jewels of Ireland

No one knows for sure exactly when the theft occurred, except that it was sometime between June and July 1907. There was a special room built in Dublin Castle, and a special safe built to house the Irish Crown Jewels. The problem was that when the safe was delivered it was too big to fit through the door to the room. So the safe was kept in the custodian's library. Several suspects were identified, but all were cleared and the jewels have never been found.

Answer: The Amber Room

The Amber Room in the Catherine Palace was looted when the Germans seized Tsarskoe Selo in 1941. The treasures were dismantled and taken to Germany. They haven't been seen since.

Answer: Sappho

Sappho was an ancient Greek poet from the island of Lesbos, about whom very little is known. In addition to the noun/adjective "lesbian", the adjective "sapphic" has its origin in Sappho's name.

The theory surrounding the mysterious disappearance of her poetry that is most accepted by historians is that the medieval homophobic Christian church destroyed them for being too sexually explicit.

Answer: a swordsmith

Masamune was a master swordsmith. The Honjo Masamune was his masterpiece. It was handed down through generations for 700 years.

At the end of WWII, the Japanese were ordered to turn in everything that could be considered a weapon. The Honjo Masamune was turned over to someone posing as an American soldier. It has never been seen since.

Answer: lost at sea

In the 1838 an English army officer and amateur archaeologist, Howard Vyse, explored the pyramid, found the sarcophagus, and tried to ship it to England aboard the merchant ship Beatrice. The ship sank, however, and took the ornate sarcophagus down with it. There was no body in the sarcophagus. It didn't contain any inscriptions or hieroglyphics. Menkaure's remains were never found.

The Beatrice set sail from Alexandria. It arrived on the island of Malta and was to sail to Liverpool, England. Once there, it was to be sent to England's British Museum in London. On October 13th, 1838 the Beatrice encountered a storm and the ship sank somewhere in the Mediterranean.

Answer: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

The Isabella Gardner Stewart Museum offered a $10 million dollar reward, the largest ever offered by a private museum at that time. In 2013, the FBI announced that they had identified the thieves, but that the statute of limitations on the theft had run out. Noticeably, the FBI didn't identify the thieves other than to say they were part of a criminal organization operating in the mid-Atlantic area.

These treasures have never been recovered.

Answer: The Ghent Altarpiece

The Ghent Altarpiece consisted of twelve panels. One of the twelve, known as the Just Judges Panel, was stolen in 1934 and to date has never been recovered.

The Altarpiece may be the most stolen piece of artwork in history. It was stolen by Napoleon, hunted during WWI, and stolen numerous times in WWII. Both Goring and Hitler wanted it.

Answer: by a dog named Pickles

The FIFA World Cup, officially known as the Jules Rimet Trophy, was stolen by a thief who broke in through the church's back door. The Cup, while not particularly valuable, was surrounded by several hundred thousand dollars worth of stamps.
Pickles, a collie, was walking with his owner when he spotted something wrapped in newspaper and began sniffing. The rest is history.