10. The Sarcophagus of Mankaure was lost at sea during its transportation to London the following year
An ancient Egyptian pharaoh belonging to the fourth dynasty of the Old Kingdom, Menkaure is thought to have reigned for between eighteen and twenty-two years beginning in 2530 BCE. Although limited information is known about the Egyptian monarch, with surviving understandings offering only vague insights into his reign and even his parentage is unclear, Menkaure has become one of the most famed rulers of the ancient kingdom via his extravagant tomb design. The smallest of the three pyramids at Giza, measuring a nonetheless impressive 103.4 meters at the base and 65.5 meters in height, the Pyramid of Menkaure – also known as Netjer-er-Menkaureor or “Menkaure is Divine” – was built to serve as his illustrious resting place.
Situated several hundred yards southwest of its larger neighbors, the Pyramid of Khafre and the Great Pyramid of Khufu, Menkaure’s pyramid was opened for excavations in 1837. Led by Englishmen Richard William Howard Vyse and John Shae Perring, the duo discovered a large stone sarcophagus carved from basalt. Uninscribed but decorated in the style of a palace facade, the sarcophagus offered the potential to better understand the ancient culture and an otherwise relatively unknown period of history. Removed from the pyramid and placed on the Beatrice – a merchant ship – for transport to the British Museum in London, the ancient relic was lost following the disappearance of the ship near Malta on October 13, 1838.