Why Archaeologists Can't Explain These Imposible Ruins

Some ancient ruins are so massive, so precise, and so technologically advanced that they simply shouldn't exist. Did ancient builders possess lost knowledge, or is there a stranger explanation? Here are six impossible ancient sites that defy modern science, starting with Turkey's mysterious tombs in the clouds. The Lycian Cities of the Dead 2,000 years ago in Turkey, an ancient society came up with a system of democracy that was In the southwestern corner of Turkey, amidst towering mountains, the Lycians developed a fully functioning democratic federation that would go on to inspire the founding fathers of the United States. One of the most mysterious things these ancient democrats left behind were cities of the dead carved directly into the sides of cliffs. You don't even have to go very far to find these cities of the dead. When you drive along the Mediterranean coast of Turkey, you can see them from afar. They are huge, elaborate tombs carved into the sides of mountains, overlooking modern-day villages, valleys, and shorelines. There are also massive sarcophagi scattered throughout the countryside here. These massive stone coffins once held the remains of the most important citizens of Lycia. There are so many of them that they're just part of the normal urban landscape. So what's the story behind these massive coffins? Why are they scattered so far away? And what possessed the Lycians to carve elaborate tombs into vertical rock in the first place? The best place to start is at the port city of Fethiye, popular with tourists who like a little bit of fun in the sun. The city is situated along the turquoise coast riviera of Turkey, nothing but golden sun and clear blue waves. I'm adding this place to my bucket list. Above Fethiye, looking down on all of those beachgoers, are the Amintas rock tombs. It's a complex of honeycomb graves carved into the cliffs, with some of them dating to the 4th century BC. That was around the time Alexander the Great was conquering the world. Sadly, the tomb was looted centuries ago, so it's empty. You also have to pay if you want to climb the steps of the main tomb and peek your head inside, but it's worth it. You get to enter a niche etched into the stone by a civilization obsessed with death, and of course take a quick selfie. Not much is known about the occupants of these tombs. The main one, the great big tomb that attracts the most tourists, was occupied by a man named Amintas, son of Hermapias. But other than that, these people are a massive unknown. Why did they want to be buried so high up? Were they trying to get further from the underworld or closer to the heavens? Local guide Ünder Uğut said that according to an ancient legend, the Lycians buried their dead in cliff crevices because they believed a winged siren-like monster would carry them into the afterlife. When you look at the sheer scale of the cliff tombs, it's easy to assume the culture was consumed by an obsession with death. But Dr. Catherine Dreycott of Durham University suggests our understanding of their funerary mythology is just guesswork. She has been studying Lycian tombs for years, and building monumental tombs doesn't mean a culture was morbidly fixated on dying. Just because they built all of these incredible tombs doesn't mean they were obsessed with death. We have massive cemeteries today, but we're not obsessed with death, are we? It was probably more of an ancient flex. It was more a show of money and wealth and power carved into the mountain. If you go northwest of Fethiye, you'll find even more impressive cliffside tombs near the city of Dalyan. These other tombs once loomed above a prosperous Roman city, which today is in ruins. Some of the tombs near Dalyan are crazy high up, way too high for tourists to reach. These are some most compelling pieces of evidence that people use today to show the Lycians feared the underworld, which is unusual because most ancient cultures on the Mediterranean gravitated toward a belief in spirits that dwell underground, for example all of the death gods from Greek mythology. The fact that these tombs are so high up suggests the Lycians had more of an interest in sky gods than those dwelling in the earth. They clearly did not want to be buried below ground. But why? Placing your dead so high up means they're closer to the heavens. Their spirits could also watch over the city every day. At the same time, it was brilliant ancient pragmatism. Carving a tomb hundreds of feet up into sheer rock was the ultimate security system against decay, moisture, and grave robbers. The impossible stone coffins of the Serapium. While Egypt's great pyramids steal most of the spotlight, the real mystery is buried deep beneath the desert sands. Hidden near the steppe pyramid of Dozer in the Saqqara necropolis lies an underground monument that defies explanation. It's known as the Serapium of Saqqara, and no one is entirely sure what it was for. The complex looks like a giant underground tomb, but where are the bodies? The subterranean structure does contain massive stone sarcophagi, but they were supposedly not built for people. Take one look at them and you can see they are way too big. According to Egyptian historians, these huge stone boxes were built to hold the bodies of the sacred Apis bulls, which were manifestations of the god Ptah. However, not everyone is convinced. French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette first found the place in 1850. He couldn't believe the long corridors, enormous stone coffins, and suppressing darkness. How were these coffins cut? How did they get them underground? And why were they all empty? After almost 200 years, none of Auguste's questions have been satisfyingly answered. Each of the 24 monolithic stone boxes was carved from a single block of either hard granite or diorite. Each one also weighs between 60 and 100 tons. The lids alone often weigh up to 30 tons. Just moving that kind of weight across the desert is a logistical nightmare. So how on earth did the ancient Egyptians get them down into underground vaults? To understand why they went through all of that trouble, you have to realize that to the ancient Egyptians, the sacred Apis bull wasn't just an animal. It was a living god walking the earth. This chosen creature lived a life of absolute luxury. It was showered with gifts, worshipped by crowds, served banquets of the finest food, and even given its own hand-picked harem of cows. When one of these living manifestations died, it was mummified. The bull would go through the same mummification process reserved for pharaohs and high priests. After the mummification, the bull was buried with an equally elaborate funeral and placed in a beautiful tomb. Which brings us right back to the Serapium. Were these colossal stone vaults really meant to hold mummified cattle? According to Egypt's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, the very first time the Serapium was used was during the reign of Amenhotep III around 1400 BC. Amenhotep is known for having ruled Egypt during the Golden Age, a time when they were so flush with cash they were doing building projects up and down the country. One of those projects was likely the Serapium. It would make sense because this was a time of excess. It was an era in which Egypt had the funds to turn bulls into gods and bury them with full honors. Archaeological evidence shows an avenue of sphinxes once led across the sand to the complex. The evidence also shows just how much work went into designing and crafting the enormous stone coffins. All of these projects prove there were master masons, armies of skilled laborers, and ingenious systems of sledges, tracks, and levers. It sounds impossible because the sheer scale is staggering. But when a civilization unites behind a single obsessive vision backed by the full wealth of the crown, humans can pull off wild things. But it still doesn't explain the empty sarcophagi. There were two bulls found in two undisturbed burials, but all the others were empty. Archaeologists say the necropolis was robbed by ancient tomb raiders. But think about that for a second. When looters broke into sacred crypts, they were after gold, amulets, and jewels. They weren't usually taking 100-pound mummified cows. Thieves don't usually steal every last scrap of bandage, bone, and sacred organ without leaving a trace behind. However, I do have some proof for you. Mariette found thousands of stone stelae right outside these vaults, specifically documenting the exact birth, coronation, and death dates of every single apis bull signed off by the pharaohs who built the chambers. It's really difficult to argue with those stone stelae, so you're left with a bizarre historical contradiction. Ironclad physical inscriptions telling us that these vaults were built exclusively for sacred bulls. But inside these 100-ton vaults, there's nothing but echoing silence. Were the mummies secretly relocated to protect them from looters, or did something far weirder happen down in the dark? Let me know your best theories in the comments! China's Oldest Wooden Tower In China's Shanxi Province stands the tallest and oldest wooden tower in the world. It's an all-timber pagoda that has stood unwavering for almost 1,000 years. Known as the Pagoda of Fagang Temple, this impossible feat of engineering is held together by 80,000 joints. Even so, 1,000 years of exposure to the elements is nothing to sneeze at. Today, China's national treasure is in a dangerous position. It was recently decided to restore the tower. Authorities are going to piece by piece, partially tear it apart, strengthen and stabilize its sections, and then put it back together. Wang Yongxian, a former expert at the Shanxi Institute of Ancient Architecture Conversation, compared the pagoda to an old person, saying it's like a frail elderly person with severe osteoporosis. The tower is tilting, especially the second and third floors. Without stabilization, this thing is going to need a life alert bracelet. And speaking of old people, the Pagoda of Fagang Temple was constructed in 1056 at the site of Emperor Daozhong of Liao's grandmother's family home. The Emperor of the Liao Dynasty, which ruled China following the collapse of the Tang Dynasty, built the pagoda in honor of his grandma. How cute is that? And amazingly, it has stood the test of time. It even survived seven earthquakes between 1056 and 1103, leading many people in China to believe the tower is blessed by the gods. Sitting on a 13-foot stone base with a 33-foot steeple on top, the whole pagoda climbs to 220 feet high. It's not the oldest pagoda in China because that would be the Songyue Pagoda on Mount Song that was built in 523 AD. But this is the oldest fully wooden pagoda in the world. If the historical records are to be believed, there was an even earlier pagoda standing where this one is now. A different pagoda was supposedly built in 936, standing for a full century before something happened to it and the new one was built. Between 1056 and the 20th century, even after being violently shaken by multiple earthquakes, the pagoda only required 10 minor repairs. That all changed after the tower found itself under fire during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Japanese soldiers fired more than 200 rounds into the structure, causing major damage. A large repair job was done in 1974, where renovators found texts from the beginning of the structure's history. The texts were mostly Buddhist sutras and other religious documents, but they came from the Liao Dynasty when the pagoda was built, so that was pretty cool. Renovators unearthed an incredible haul – 12 scrolls in simplified Chinese, 35 large block-printed scripture scrolls, and 8 handwritten manuscripts. Now, are you ready for the impossible part? This giant wooden pagoda was built entirely without the use of nails or iron bars. There isn't a single piece of metal that was used to build the structure. It relied strictly on interlocking wooden components. Simple, effective, but so genius it boggles the mind. Using nothing but wooden components, this architectural marvel has stood the test of time. After the newest round of preservation work is finished, it will probably stand another thousand years. The Impossible Craftsmanship of Kailasa Temple India is home to some of the most incredible temple architecture in the world. It's also home to some of the most impossible temples ever built. There's the legendary Lepakshi Temple with its hanging pillar, a massive granite column that doesn't touch the ground. Then, there's also the Kailasa Temple, where craftsmanship meets mystical legends. The Kailasa Temple is so magnificent that it's said supernatural powers are responsible for its construction. There are many conspiracy theories surrounding the place, with some claiming the engineering is so sophisticated that aliens must be responsible. I don't know if aliens were involved per se, but let's take a look at the engineering and see what stands out. It all began at the top of a basalt hill. Workers started chiseling down into the rock, removing handfuls until they had taken out about 200,000 tons. The workers carved out a two-story complex covering about an acre. The temple has an open courtyard, hallways supported by tall pillars, beautifully sculpted gateways, and spires twisting into the sky. The fundamental question is how ancient humans with nothing but hammers and chisels managed to complete such a delicately perfect structure. Scholars said it would have taken a workforce of hundreds working day in and day out more than 20 years to complete the temple. But it's not just about the execution, it's about the planning. The carvings are uniform, the drilling precise, the narrow channels required meticulous attention to detail. The artisans behind the temple must have had unprecedented knowledge of architecture, but how? The man behind the marble was King Krishna I, who commissioned the structure around 756 AD. He likely didn't have much to do with the planning itself. Instead, Krishna would have hired skilled sculptors and architects, the best on the subcontinent. These professionals were the ones who possessed the knowledge of architecture. There were expert artisans with knowledge of temple building that had been passed down over generations. Structural engineers, architects, designers, painters, statuary experts, staircase builders, pillar carvers, I assure you, there were many trades in ancient times. All these people would have played a role in the construction of Kailasa Temple. Knowledge of how to build was passed down through countless generations. It's the precision here that seems to defy explanation. The Kailasa Temple is one of many in the Ellora Caves, but none of the others can compare to it. This is the largest rock-cut Hindu temple anywhere on the planet. The method of construction was also completely unique. Usually, temples like this were built by stacking blocks, not from sculpting a single stone. Local legend says there was a king suffering from a severe disease and there was no available cure, so his queen prayed to Shiva to cure him. The queen vowed that if Shiva would just grant her wish, she would construct a mighty temple that would make Shiva very proud. The queen also Amazingly, the king was cured of his terrible disease. The queen upheld her promise and immediately got to work building a temple. However, it was going to take months at least for them to complete the structure, and the queen was supposed to fast the entire time. Of course, she didn't want to starve to death because that would be crazy. She had also made a promise to a god. She wasn't going to eat until the shikara, the topmost piece of the temple, was finished. Luckily, one of her architects was good at thinking outside the box. He assured the queen that she would see the shikara of the new temple in under a week. It should have been an impossible task, but this architect had a trick up his sleeve. He started building the temple from the top by carving it out of the solid rock. He finished the shikara way faster than any of the other architects because he built the spire first. This story is just a legend, but it's grounded enough in reality that it could be true. It also reminds me of another certain impossible structure, one that was carved from the top down, by angels. The churches of Lalibela. If you ask the local people in Lalibela, Ethiopia who built their churches, they will all give you the same answer. They'll tell you that it was god. They'll say god sent his angels to build 11 monolithic underground churches. The problem for archaeologists is they can't seem to figure out how these impossible structures were built without divine intervention. Did you know that Ethiopia has been Christian since 330 AD? They claim to be the oldest Christian country in the world. They also say they have the Ark of the Covenant, although they won't show anybody. But that should tell you everything about Ethiopia's connection to Christianity. For nearly two millennia, that bond has remained unbroken, and even today, the country is home to a massive, thriving Christian community. The center of Ethiopia's Christianity is here in Lalibela, where 11 massive churches sit inside pits in the earth about 150 feet deep. There are many theories surrounding the creation of these extraordinary churches. Some believe in the local myth about the angels, while others cling to more scientifically provable theories. One of my favorites is that the Knights Templar built the churches at the height of their power in the 13th century. There isn't any concrete evidence that the Knights Templar were involved, but it's fun to think about. At the small museum near the entrance to the churches is a plaque that tells you how they were likely made. The museum says they were built at the order of King Lalibela, Emperor of Ethiopia. The king had just visited Jerusalem before the Muslim forces retook the holy city. He returned to Ethiopia with plans of building a series of new churches along the Jordan River. He was inspired to create a new Jerusalem where the Christians of the world could gather without having to constantly fight the Muslims. So this became the mainstream scientific theory for how the churches were built. Even their layout has been confirmed as a symbolic representation of Jerusalem. But the regular pilgrims who worship in these churches accept a much simpler explanation. The thousands of Christians who attend daily service in the churches believe they were built by angels. King Lalibela called upon heaven and God sent his angels to build all of the churches in one night. Another local tradition claims that before Lalibela ever ascended the throne, he was guided by the specter of Jesus on a tour of Jerusalem. He never went there physically. It was more like a spirit quest. When the tour was over, Jesus instructed Lalibela to build a new Jerusalem in Ethiopia. Of course, researchers doubt they were built in a single night. Experts like David Roden Buxton said the work is so detailed and meticulous, it likely took longer than Lalibela was even alive. He thinks the work continued from the 13th into the 14th century, so definitely longer than a single night. But even scientists can't agree. David Philipson, a professor of African archaeology from Cambridge, suggested the churches were initially carved 500 years earlier and not as churches. David's theory is that they were palace structures built during the day of the Aksumite kingdom. He thinks King Lalibela didn't have anything to do with it and that his name was attached to the structures only after his death. It's one of those situations where nobody agrees on anything other than that they exist. Local historian Getachew Mekonnen said it was Lalibela's wife, Queen Meskel Kibra, who built the first rock church as a memorial for King Lalibela after his death. Clearly, nobody knows when the structures were built, whether it was by human hands or those of angels, or even if they were meant to be churches in the first place. Recent archaeological excavations have made matters even more confusing. Scientists found pottery remains dating to around 900 AD, suggesting Lalibela began as a secular settlement before King Lalibela transformed it into a Christian one. On the walls of a nearby cave, scientists uncovered pre-Christian animal artwork. The pre-Christian artwork is on the lower sections of the walls, while Christian paintings decorate the upper sections. These cave images are evidence that Lalibela was undergoing Christianization. It looks like, based on the chronology, the churches were carved prior to the area becoming fully Christian, which means they likely served a different purpose before King Lalibela had his army of laborers shape them into Christian buildings. What do you think these monumental structures were supposed to be? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments. The Ancient Coral City of Micronesia On a remote island in Micronesia, 2,500 miles from Australia, in the middle of essentially nowhere in the Pacific Ocean, there is an entire ancient city. It is the only ancient city built on top of a coral reef. The island is called Pompeii, not to be confused with Pompeii, and is technically part of the The city of coral is called Nan Madol, or sometimes the Venice of the Pacific. Historians say its ancient name was Sun Nan Leng, meaning Reef of Heaven. No matter what you want to call it, this place shouldn't exist. The city consists of about 100 stone and coral platforms resting on top of artificial islands and separated by narrow channels, hence why it seems like Venice. The whole thing is enclosed by a seawall, protecting the city from the restless ocean waves. The wall surrounds 75 hectares of ruined civilization. The foundations of each of those 100 platforms were crafted out of huge volcanic stones. Then, on top of these megaliths, up went the walled enclosures of volcanic columnar basalt, all of it filled with coral rubble. It's essentially built out of volcanoes and coral reefs. Basalt forms from the rapid cooling of lava that's rich in magnesium and iron. 90% of all volcanic rock on our planet is basalt, but we don't usually make cities out of it. Unfortunately, this city is largely destroyed, so you won't find any palaces or temples made of solid coral, but through the ruins, scientists have been able to piece together clues of what the city used to look like. Its walls were once 30 feet high and 15 feet thick. The average weight of the basalt stone blocks was In total, all the basalt making up the city's construction is nearly 1 million tons. So who the heck was moving 1 million tons of basalt in the middle of the Pacific Ocean? Mainstream archaeologists don't actually know, but they do have ideas. The earliest evidence of human habitation on the island dates to the 1st century BC, but mainstream science tells us the coral city wasn't built until the 5th century AD. So how does that make sense? It doesn't make as much sense as it could. Scientists claim that Nan Madol served as a ritual center for the ruling chiefs of the Sadalur dynasty. They were the first known government on Pohnpei Island, ruling from around 1100 to 1628. Before the Sadalur dynasty was the Muehin Kawa, known as the period of building by the locals. It's a touchy subject because no one's sure what Was this an earlier era for the people living on the island? Or does it refer to an age in which a completely different civilization occupied the island? The people of Pohnpei believe that Nan Madol was discovered by the Sadalur dynasty, but not constructed by them. It's sort of like how the Aztecs stumbled upon Teotihuacan in central Mexico and made it their own, despite it having been built by a much older culture. Likewise, Nan Madol may have already been an ancient ruin thousands of years old when the Sadalur dynasty found it. But if that's true, who were the people who found the island and built the city of coral? Scientists don't even know where the basalt stones came from that were used to build Nan Madol. There haven't been any quarries found in the immediate vicinity, so the stones must have been cut and transported from elsewhere. Given that this is a very small island in the middle of an ocean, there are only so many possibilities. Archaeologists found one quarry 25 miles away on the other side of the island, but that would have been a heck of a journey over rugged terrain. The only thing that makes sense is that the blocks were transported by boat. Even still, it's impressive. There's a quarry 25 miles away, great. The builders could have cut the blocks, put them on rafts, and floated them to the build site. But how exactly were they extracting chunks of basalt weighing 50 tons? Where did they get the cutting tools and lifting equipment? Even if they did have all that stuff, this construction project is not simple. Assuming they had all the gear necessary, including levers, pulleys, and metal, they still would have required the entire population of the island working non-stop to complete the city. Assuming they were able to move over 2,000 tons of material a year, which is pushing it given how many people could even fit on the island, it would have taken them 375 years to construct Nan Madol. So what's the answer? Was it an advanced civilization who stumbled upon the island and used their sophisticated building techniques? Do you think other coral cities existed but have since been destroyed? Let me know in the comments and be sure to share any thoughts you have on anything we talked about in today's video. Thanks for watching, hit that subscribe button, and I'll see you tomorrow. Bye!