Because of conquests, the ravages of time, and other unknown reasons, many documents, like Rome’s holiest texts or ancient Chinese manuscripts, no longer exist. Smithsonian put together a list of ten of the most important documents that will forever remain a mystery. They start the list with the Sibylline Books, which Roman leaders consulted during political crises for perhaps 900 years. The originals were burned in 83 B.C. and the replacements were allegedly destroyed by a 5th-century Roman general who was worried they would be stolen by invaders. Aeschylus’ Achilleis — the tragic triology by the famed Greek dramatist — was thought to have reframed the Trojan War as a reckoning with contemporary Athenian democracy. About 80 or more of his plays were lost to history. Also on the list is a collection of beloved Indian animal fables called Panchatantra, written as early as 100 B.C. Confucius’ Sixth Classic was also lost in the 3rd century-B.C. “Burning of Books and Burying the Scholars.”
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