13 Artifacts Humanity Lost In The Dumbest Ways
![13 Artifacts Humanity Lost In The Dumbest Ways](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/1/5/5/805155_320x180.jpg)
Some of the most valuable artifacts in history have been destroyed in the most jaw-droppingly stupid ways. Take, for example, the library of Alexandria. This ancient institution was once home to over 700,000 scrolls, making it one of the largest and most important libraries in the world. But it was all for naught because, in 48 B.C.E., Julius Caesar accidentally set fire to the library while siege warfare raged outside its walls. All those priceless scrolls were turned to ash in a matter of hours.
Or consider the case of the Colossus of Rhodes. This bronze statue was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and for a good reason - it was an absolutely massive sculpture that towered over the city of Rhodes. But in 226 B.C.E., an earthquake knocked the Colossus down, and it lay in ruins for centuries before being sold for scrap metal by Byzantine Emperor Constans II. So much for preserving history...
These are just two examples of countless artifacts that have been needlessly destroyed over the years. It's a shame that so much history has been lost forever due to such stupidity.
![The Nazis lost an entire room. The Nazis stole the entire contents of The Amber room, an entirely gold and amber room worth over 500 million dollars in today's currency, from the Catherine Palace of Tsarskoye Selo in Russia. It was hidden during the war and has yet to be found. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/1/8/6/805186.jpg)
Source: Smithsonian
![In 2010, Paintballers destroyed 800 year old Native American petroglyphs. 11 dollar paintballs priceless ancient art The residual paint cannot be cleaned off without destroying the ancient artwork. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/1/8/5/805185.jpg)
Source: National Parks Traveler
![A London family turned a 250 year old Chinese vase into a DIY Lamp. If not for the drilled hole in the bottom the lamp would have been worth £250,000. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/1/8/3/805183.jpg)
Source: Metro
![One of the first American Flags was cut into a bunch of pieces. The daughter of a revolutionary war hero would cut up the flag and gave it to whoever she deemed worthy of a piece. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/1/8/2/805182.jpg)
Source: Smithsonian
![The guy who broke King Tut's beard tried to glue it back on. It took 9 weeks of scraping high strength industrial glue off of the 3000 year old mask in order to restore it, however a gap still remains between the mask and the beard. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/1/8/1/805181.jpg)
Source: Live Science
![Greenpeace destroyed a 2000 year old Peruvian geoglyph. TIME FOR CHANGE! THE FUTURE IS RENEWABLE GREENPEACE Ironically, it was their footprints that did the most damage. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/1/8/4/805184.jpg)
Source: The New York Times
![The original film for Lunch Atop A Skyscraper was dropped. It splintered into 5 pieces and is now unusable. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/1/7/8/805178.jpg)
Source: Artsy
![Oxford University let bugs eat the world's only complete Dodo specimen. It was one of 3 remaining tissue samples and the only complete specimen. But by 1755 it suffered so much mite damage they burned everything but the foot and head. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/1/8/0/805180.jpg)
Source: Mental Floss
![The oldest ship in the world became a fancy coffee table. During World War II American forces burnt down the museum containing the Nemi ships, the oldest surviving ships. In 2017 it was discovered one of the last remaining artifacts, a mosaic, was being used as a coffee table by a wealthy family in New York. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/1/7/9/805179.jpg)
Source: The Washington Post
![NASA trashed the Apollo 11 mission controllers. - APOLLO II TEMPORBAY PARTS RENOUND TM CREAM ORD DINSER T NEXT MARK Number VSA 201 Mutin adidas REMEXT T412 GAG INC MICH PART P SEINSTALLED The employee instructed to throw them out sold them to a private buyer. They resurfaced in 2020 when they went up for auction- for 780,000 dollars. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/1/7/7/805177.jpg)
Source: Popular Mechanics
![The world's most isolated tree was hit and killed by a car. The Tree of Ténéré in the Sahara desert was the only tree for 250 miles- until a drunk driver rammed into it in 1973. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/1/7/4/805174.jpg)
Source: Smithsonian
![We ate all the mummies. There are very few mummies left because different parts of mummified bodies were commonly used as medicine in 16th and 17th century Europe. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/1/7/5/805175.jpg)
Source: Smithsonian
![The world's oldest tree was cut down. ...to confirm it was the world's oldest tree. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/1/7/6/805176.jpg)
Source: National Park Service