Tourist attractions by accident
One question I often get is ‘how do we get new tourist attractions coming up’. Yes now and then new attractions are created or do come up. Interestingly some of the world famous attractions are actually discovered by mistake.
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In our first series, we take a look at some of the world's most celebrated tourist destinations that were discovered by fluke or happenstance.
Dead Sea scrolls, Israel
Just like would happen in a bible story three Bedouin shepherds in November 1946 were strolling and minding their business on the banks of the Jordan River when bang, they found a document which enhanced the world’s understanding of the Bible itself.
The shepherds found an initial seven scrolls housed in jars in a cave near the Qumran site. Also known as the Qumran Cave Scrolls, the Dead Sea Scrolls are believed to be the oldest remnants of the Hebrew Bible known to mankind.
Dating from 150 BC to 70 AD, the texts are considered to be of great historical, religious and linguistic significance. The initial discovery prompted the excavation of the Qumran caves, leading to the discovery of more artefacts.
The majority of the Scrolls can be visited today at the Shrine of the Book at the Israel Museum, Jerusalem.
Petra, Jordan
Described by UNESCO as "one of the most precious cultural properties of man's cultural heritage," Petra has now become Jordan’s most visited tourist attraction. But this attraction remained hidden to the world for over 2,000 years until it was discovered by the Swiss explorer, Johann Ludwig Burckhardt, in 1812.
Burckhardt had to visit the site disguised as a Persian tourist since it wasn’t safe for a Christian to travel so far deep into the territory
The city of Nabateans, formerly a nomadic tribe, had a population of around 30,000 at its peak, and the architecture of Petra incorporated influences from Greece, Egypt, Mesopotamia and India.
The city is renowned for its rock-cut architecture and water conduit system.
Terracotta warriors, China
As the name suggests it is a collection of terracotta sculptures depicting the armies of China’s first emperor, Qin Shi Huang, who unified all of China in 221 BC.
The terracotta army is a form of funerary art buried with the emperor in 210-209 BC with the goal of protecting the buried emperor in his afterlife for us in Ghana sounds familiar, right. The sculptures buried in the third century were not discovered for about 2,000 years until local farmers in Lintong District, Xi'an, and Shaanxi province made the accidental but historic discovery.
The sheer scale of the terracotta army has astonished archaeologists, with an estimated 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses and 150 cavalry horses, making up the infantry.
The majority of the figures still remain buried under Qin’s mausoleum. The figures are now a major tourist destination.
Derinkuyu, Turkey
In 1963 in Turkey, a nearby resident came across a mysterious room behind a wall in his home. It looked odd. The site was opened to the public six years later.
The underground city of Derinkuyu extends to a depth of approximately 200 feet. Astonishingly, the depth and size of the city is such that it could have housed as many as 20,000 people complete with their houses of worship, food stores, ventilation shafts, wells and a religious school.
This historical site's year of construction is yet to be determined, some attribute its construction to the Phrygians in 800 BC, while others believe it was built by the Hittites in 1,000 BC.
Ikal, Guatemala
In its heydey, Tikal served as the capital of one of the most powerful kingdoms of the ancient Mayan era. Dating back to 300 A.D., Tikal was one of the most important cities in the Mayan region, controlling vast territories and ruling over smaller city-states.
The city is believed to have been abandoned by 950 AD. Locals, of course, always knew of it, but the remoteness of the location made it difficult to access. The first archaeological teams arrived at the site in the 1880s.
It has since become one of the largest archaeological sites and urban centres of the pre-Columbian Mayan civilization, and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979.
The Rosetta stone, Egypt
The Rosetta stone is a rock stele that is inscribed with a decree issued at Memphis, Egypt, in 196 BC on behalf of King Ptolemy V. The decree appears in three scripts: Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, Demotic script and Ancient Greek.
The same text appears in all three scripts, providing a key to the understanding of Egyptian hieroglyphs.
The ancient stone was discovered in July 1799 by a French soldier named Pierre-François Bouchard, who was part of Napoleon Bonaparte’s campaign.
Since the defeat of the French troops by the British in Egypt in 1801, the stone has been in the possession of the British and remains the biggest attraction for the tourists visiting the British museum.
