11 Key Missing Historical Documents

From Redditor/u/EatSkeetSleepRepeat:

The Inquisition suppressed and destroyed the entire collection of Mayan literature and art.

Context:

After the Spanish conquered the Maya, Catholic missionaries arrived.in the Yucatan Peninsulato spread their faith. Friar Diego de Landa led this effort.Friar Diego de LandaBetween 1524 and 1579 CE, conversion efforts involved torturing thousands of Mayans and destroying written works and physical remains of older indigenous practices.

Few Mayan codices existed, but only three or four survive.three or fourLanda states these are the extant copies.The books contained, "nothing in which there was not to be seen superstition and lies of the devil." Landa burned them because the Maya regretted this greatly and it caused them great suffering.

From Redditor /u/wayfarer71:

I wanted to read Ptolemy Soter's direct accounts of his campaigns with Alexander the Great from the Library of Alexandria.

Context:

The Library of Alexander belonged to a larger group of thinkers. Demetrius of Phalerum and Ptolemy I Soter founded this institution during the mid-290s BCE.mid-290s BCE. They aimed to build a complete collection of all knowledge. Through the patronage of later pharaohs, the Library received hundreds of texts and became a busy research place.patronage of subsequent pharaohs, the Library received hundreds of texts and became a busy research place.

Mystery surrounds the destruction of the Library of Alexandria. Julius Caesar, the Christian Church, and Musim caliphs are blamed for the loss.blamed for the loss. Even if someone carried the main blame, much of the Alexandria collection was lost, possibly including memoirs by Ptolemy I Soter himself.

Ptolemy I Soter (366-282 BCE)Ptolemy I Soter was one of Alexander the Great's companions. He accompanied him on campaigns in Persia and India. Only some information remains.his workis found inwritings of Arrianfrom the 1st century CE.

From Redditor /u/faelcoa:

The Mongols attacked Baghdad in 1258 and destroyed the Grand Library of Baghdad, also called The House of Wisdom, and every other library in Baghdad.

Context:

Also known as the Grand Library of Baghdad, the House of Wisdom served as a center for Islamic learning from the 8th century until it was destroyed in 1258.Contents of its collectionincluded medical treatises, math texts, and scientific works in Arabic, Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and other languages.

The Mongol attack on Baghdad in 1258 destroyed the intellectual content in the city and reportedly tossed it into the Tigris River.intellectual contentthe collection in the city was destroyed and reportedlytossed into the Tigris River. This also ended the so-called Golden Age of Islam, which centered in the Abbasid Caliphate.the Abbasid Caliphate.

From Redditor /u/amp1212:

I vote for the missing 10,000 or so volumes of the great Encyclopedia of the Yongle Ming Emperor.

Context:

TheYongle EncyclopediaThe emperor named Yongle commissioned this encyclopedia. He reigned in Ming China from 1402 to 1424 CE. Yongle gathered thousands of scribes and scholars.scribes and scholarsThe Yongle Encyclopedia records Chinese history, philosophy, agricultural methods, literature, learning, and many other subjects.

The Yongle Encyclopedia finished in 1408.Yongle EncyclopediaIt included more than 22,800 chapters.It has 22,800 chapters.It contained 11,095 volumes.After the Ming Dynasty fell, the original encyclopedia burned.Only about 400 volumes survived to the modern time after the Ming Dynasty fell; the original encyclopedia was destroyed.About 400 volumes survived.Copies of the encyclopedia survived to modernity.

From Redditor /u/ctsibius:

The Sibylline BooksThe Sibylline Books were lost by fire in 83 AD. I was surprised they actually existed.

Context:

Legendarily, the Sibylline Books were offered to King Tarquinius Superbus.the last king of Romeduring the 6th century BCEThe Sibylline BooksThe Sibylline Books totaled nine volumes with prophetic writings. People tried to buy the Books. Superbus refused because the price was too high. She burned three books, but the king still would not buy them. She burned three more, leaving only three for the king to buy at full price.theBooksSuperbus declined due to the high price. The Sibyl burned three books but the king still refused to buy them. She burned three more, leaving only three for the king to buy at full price.

The Sibylline Bookswerekept under watchmembers of the Roman Senate watched the Sibylline Books and kept them at the Temple of Jupiter. The Romans consulted them often. However, when the Temple burned down, the Books were destroyed.the Temple burned downin 83 BCEthe Bookswere destroyed.

From Redditor/u/lenaro:

[T]he 1890 US Census. A fire in 1921 burned almost everything. Records not destroyed by fire were destroyed by foolishness (the remaining records were intentionally destroyed in the 30s).

Census data helps historians. Destroying the 1890 census makes researching that time hard. Finding specific people becomes much harder.

Context:

The Census of 1890 preceded the Census Bureau's 1902 establishment as the 11th U.S. census. This data collected statistics on race, mortality, crime, and economic status, offering a more in-depth assessment than prior efforts.more in-depth assessmentthan previous efforts.

The fire that broke outin 1921 destroyedabout one-quarter of the data and damaged fifty percent more. Congress made the National Archives in response to calls for safer record keeping.the National Archives.

When the National Archives opened in 1934, the head librarian rejected keeping census records for history. Thus, the remaining census records were destroyed, except for a few fragments.exception of a few fragments.

From Redditor /u/HalPhilipWalker:

Easy.Lives of Famous Whoresby Suetonius. We only know the title. But given what he did with The Twelve Caesars, I guess it is a juicy read about famous prostitutes from antiquity.The Twelve Caesars, I assume a rather juicy read about the lives of well-known prostitutes from antiquity.

Context:

According to the introduction to The Lives of Caesars,The Lives of Caesars translated by Robert Graves, Suetonius (69 BCE-c. 122 CE) wrote many works that history lost. This claim rests on what scholars have found about Suetonius.about Suetoniusopus from theworks of later scholars.

One of those works isLives of Famous WhoresThis book about Roman historian Suetonius reads like his known works: biographical, full of facts about daily life, politics, and customs in Imperial Rome.The book covers Suetonius's daily life, politics, and customs.It details the customs in Imperial Rome.

From Redditor /u/TheForeverKing:

There are many possibilities, butAb Urbe ConditaAb Urbe Condita springs to my mind. It once had 142 books; only 35 survive, that's only 25%. We know what the other books cover, but seeing the actual works would give us a treasure of extra facts.

Context:

Titus Livy wrote this.c. 59/64 BCE-c. 17 CEAb Urbe ConditaAb Urbe Condita tells the whole of Roman history in 142 volumes. The 35 books that exist today include the first ten.include the first ten, which tell the foundation story of Rome through the Samite Wars. Books 21 through 45 recount the Second Punic War and events up to 167 BCE. Later authors used summaries and Livy's work to share information from the remaining chapters with today's readers.

From Redditor /u/easteracrobat:

The writings and music of Sappho.

Context:

Born on theisland of Lesbos, Sappho (c. 620-570 BCE) was a very influential lyrical poet in Ancient Greece. Plato called her "the Tenth Muse."called her "the Tenth Muse."" The details about her life have been blurred through the centuries, but she composed nine volumes of poems and songs. The only Sappho works that exist includeone full poem, "The Hymn to Aphrodite," and simple fragments from others.

From Redditor /u/bowies_dead:

Ancient Greek drama offers great world history. Sophocles wrote 120 plays. Only seven survive in complete form. Only seven of Aeschylus' estimated seventy to ninety plays survive. Ancient scholars assigned 95 plays to Euripides. Eighteen or nineteen of these survive nearly complete. Eleven of Aristophanes' forty plays survive almost complete. Out of about 332 plays by these great playwrights, we have 44. Tragedies came in trilogies; we have only one complete trilogy: Aeschylus' Oresteia. We lack a complete trilogy by Sophocles or Euripides.

Context:

Theater in ancient Greecewas a form of celebration, competition, and a way for social and political commentary.social and politicalcommentary. Plays showed.performed at festivals., and the surviving works show four major writers. Dramatists Aeschylus (c. 525-c. 456), Sophocles (c. 496-406 BCE), and Euripides (c. 484-407) join comedian Aristophanes (c. 460-380 BCE) as the most influential early playwrights.

From Redditor /u/Skookum_J:

A whole lot of Avesta texts (sacred writings of Zoroastrians) are lost; only later summaries tell us about them.

Context:

Zoroastrianism began duringthe 6th century BCEin Ancient Persia. The Avesta, which forms the core collection of holy works for Zoroastrianism, was collected then.the AvestaThe Avesta texts contain Zoroaster's teachings, narratives, commentaries, hymns, and laws. These were passed down between 1500-1000 BCE. Only about a quarter of the 21 books that once existed remain.

Much of this material appears in works from the 9th or 10th century.This covers the Missing Zoroastrian Avesta Texts in the list '11 Key Missing Historical Documents'.Denkard is listed among the Missing Zoroastrian Avesta Texts in the list '11 Key Missing Historical Documents'., and divides the texts into categories. TheGathas appear in the Missing Zoroastrian Avesta Texts in the list '11 Key Missing Historical Documents'.The and the are part of the Missing Zoroastrian Avesta Texts in the list '11 Key Missing Historical Documents'.Yashts are listed among the Missing Zoroastrian Avesta Texts in the list '11 Key Missing Historical Documents'.hymns are the Yashts; theYasna is among the Missing Zoroastrian Avesta Texts in the list '11 Key Missing Historical Documents'.is written for liturgical use. Narratives called theVenidad is in the Missing Zoroastrian Avesta Texts in the list '11 Key Missing Historical Documents'.explain myths and rules of the Zoroastrian tradition.