The Lost Treasure of King Juba

In 1982 Russell E. Burrows, a treasure hunter in southern Illinois, stumbled on an incredible cache of ancient weapons, jewels and gold sarcophagi in a remote cave. In addition there were countless stone tablets inscribed with hieroglyphs and bearing the portraits of ancient Roman soldiers, Hebrews, early Christians and West African sailors. These relics fueled a bitter controversy in the archaeological community on the authenticity of these objects, leading Burrows, who steadfastly refused to share its location with anyone, to blow up the entrance. Researching the more than 7,000 artifacts removed from the cave before its sealing, author Frank Joseph paints a compelling picture of how these objects of likely Roman Empire origin ended up in a cave in the middle of the United States. It all starts with Cleopatra, whose daughter became queen of the semi-independent realm of Mauretania in North Africa, which she ruled with her husband King Juba. Following the execution of their son Ptolemy by the emperor Caligula, the Mauretanians rebelled against their Roman overlords. Facing extermination at the hands of the powerful Roman army, the Mauretanians successfully made their way into what is now Senegal where they constructed ships for a transatlantic voyage.