The world is full of strange objects and artifacts from the past that took a long time to find but were seemingly right in front of us. A lot of secret messages were hidden in plain view and when they were discovered after hundreds or even thousands of years, researchers could sometimes decipher them and sometimes, the secret messages remained a mystery forever. Here are some bizarre secret messages that were hidden right in front of us.
5The Novgorod Codex
In an archaeological dig in Novgorod, Russia, archaeologists found the oldest Slavic book which was created out of tablets made of wood. There are only three tablets, but they are filled with hidden text.
The codex comes from the 11th century, and when it was examined, it was discovered that the wood was reused and that there are many layers of text, however, the handwriting is identical on all layers.
The codex, found in 2000, is the only known “hyper-palimpsest,” meaning that there could be hundreds of hidden layers of text on the wooden tablets, however, it’s quite possible that the hidden text will never be deciphered.
4The Silver Scroll
In Jerash, Jordan, an amulet was found in 2014, and its length was about 2 inches, but the exterior was corroded and inside was a silver scroll. The archeologists polished the amulet and found a hidden message on it, however, the silver plate couldn’t be unrolled.
The scroll was too old and too thin and in 2015, a CT scan was used to digitally scan the scroll. Scientists found there were 17 lines with 5 letters of text. When the text was analyzed, the first line was in Greek, and it contained a strange spell, but the second couldn’t be deciphered. Analysts believe that the scroll dates back to 749 AD when the area was destroyed by a huge earthquake, but it’s possible they might never decipher the text.
3Lincoln’s Watch Contained a Secret Message
In 1861, a watchmaker engraved a hidden message inside a watch that was meant for Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln got the watch at the beginning of the Civil War, however, the message in the watch wasn’t seen until 2009, when it was opened and examined.
The curious thing is that the watchmaker never revealed his message and that Lincoln didn’t know about it, the engravings said “The first gun is fired. Slavery is dead. Thank God we have a president who at least will try.”
2Mussolini’s Secret Message
The Mussolini Obelisk in Rome was examined in 2016 and a secret message was found at its base. There was a parchment of text buried in a metal box underneath the which was placed there when the obelisk was built in 1932.
The Codex Fori Mussolini was written in Latin and it contains a 1,200-word account about the rise of fascism and Mussolini as its leader. The message was hidden under 300 tons and it was meant to be discovered in the future, with tales of Mussolini being the new Roman emperor.
1Giza Pyramid
The Great Pyramid has two shafts which lead to the depths of the object and into some hidden chambers which no one has ever seen before. In 2011, a small robot was used to investigate those areas, and it found some mysterious hieroglyphics written in red.
Robots were used to look into these areas since the 1990s and the robots couldn’t proceed further after finding some strange slabs of copper, but the recent expedition managed to pierce a small hole and discover the hidden chamber that no one has seen for more than 4 millennia.
