Bizarre drawings. Unknown languages. Strange symbols. And pages and pages full of mystery, ancient secrets, hidden messages from the past, secret knowledge lost to the passage of time. They may contain answers to some of history’s greatest questions. They may contain detailed instructions leading to dazzling treasure. They may give us all the knowledge we need of the world around us.

Or, these mysterious ancient texts may be hoaxes invented by people looking to get famous, get rich or get something in return. They are the most mysterious ancient texts ever discovered…so far. They are confusing, they are intriguing, and they are all completely unreadable. Will anyone ever crack their codes and penetrate all their secrets?

Take a look at the ancient texts that have baffled the world’s greatest minds, confused all the best archaeologists, left linguists scratching their heads and sparked debates among antiquities specialists the world over. Lurking somewhere within these indecipherable letters and symbols, somewhere hidden in all those strange markings, within these pages, there are clues about where these texts came from, who wrote them — and why. Will you see their secrets, or will these ancient texts remain ancient mysteries that we can’t possibly solve?

15. The Voynich Manuscript

Many historians and experts have called the Voynich Manuscript the “most mysterious book in the world.” Since it was first brought to attention in 1912, it has been the subject of a great deal of study and debate. After 100 years, historians are no closer to understanding what this book actually is. Experts across a variety of disciplines have studied the book, which is full of diagrams and hand-drawn images of plants. Botanists have looked at it, cryptographers have tried to crack the code and linguists have studied the odd language. But no one can really make sense of this book. The text is indecipherable and not all the drawings make sense. The Voynich Manuscript is so confusing, some have said this book must be a hoax. Carbon dating suggests the book dates to the early 1400s and history puts the book in Italy, but there is information in the book that Europeans could not possibly have had at this time. The exact origins of the manuscript remain a mystery, and for now this book isn’t yielding any of its secrets.

14. The Phaistos Disc

Though small, the Phaistos Disc could have a huge impact on history — if anyone can figure out what it means. This clay disc dates to 2,000 BC and it’s covered with symbols that linguists and historians can’t fully decipher. There are 45 distinctly different symbols on the disc. Some of the symbols clearly look like animals, plants and people, but the meaning of the symbols and how they come together is still unknown. Discovered in Crete, nothing similar from the same time period and region has been discovered. This has left scientists and historians scratching their heads as to the disc’s meaning, origin and purpose.

13. Treatise of the Vessels

King Solomon’s treasure was a legend even in its own time, and centuries later the story of the treasure is more epic than ever. The third king of Israel and said by many to be the greatest, Solomon obtained an enormous fortune while he sat on the throne in the last century BC. In the 6th century, the King of Babylon sacked the great temple of Solomon in Jerusalem. The treasures lost in this event include the Ark of the Covenant, a gorgeous golden chest containing the Ten Commandments. The Treatise of the Vessels, an ancient text, may hold the clues as to where this treasure went. First published in 1648, the Treatise has only recently been translated from its ancient Hebrew. The exact location of the treasure is not told in the text, but it does contain many messages about the treasure and when it will be revealed.

12. Handbook of Ritual Power

Written 1,300 years ago in an ancient Egyptian language, the Handbook of Ritual Power is full of spells and even medical advice. Its pages offer details on creating love spells, treating black jaundice and using invocations to become more powerful. The text is written on pages of bound parchment, and contains several drawings in addition to the text. There are spells to bring success and cure demonic possession, among others. Historians think this codex was written in the 7th or 8th century. What makes this text mysterious is the many references to Seth, the third son of Adam and Eve. The book seems to revere Seth, which seems to link it to a group of Egyptians who worshipped him during the early centuries of Christianity. But the book contains references to someone or something called Baktiotha, a possibly divine being of some sort, whom no one can identify as any known Biblical figure. The church saw followers of Seth as heretics and they faded into obscurity in the 7th century. Who wrote this codex, and why, remains a mystery.

11. Gospel of the Lots of Mary

Among the Gospels, the Lots of Mary stands out. This text is about 1,500 years old and written in Coptic, an ancient Egyptian language. The Gospel of the Lots of Mary is 37 oracles and rarely makes mention of Jesus Christ, unlike other Gospels that are largely devoted to him. The Gospel is at Harvard University currently, and has been completely deciphered. The details of the Gospel were published in 2014 by a professor at Princeton University’s Department of Religion. The professor believed that the Gospel was used to predict the future. The book was donated to Harvard in 1984, but its history before this is murky. It’s not known how the book came to be in America.

10. Linear A

An archaeologist named Arthur Evans had a strange, carved stone placed in his hands in the year 1886. The text on that stone has baffled historians, linguists and cryptologists ever since. The stone comes from Crete and it’s engraved with an undeciphered writing system now known as Linear A. Many believe the writing system comes from the ancient Minoan empire because of where it was discovered. Evans discovered two unique writing systems from the same area and named them Linear A and Linear B. The second, Linear B was deciphered in the 1950s when it was discovered it was based on an ancient Greek language. Linear A, however, remains a complete mystery. Scholars can’t even decide on the origins of the language, or even which ancient culture created it.

9. Wadi el-Hol Script

The script is in the Wadi el Hol (Gulch of Terror) in Egypt’s western desert, and archaeologists believe it may be the earliest alphabet ever discovered. The script was carved into a limestone wall 4,000 years ago, dating it to about 1,800 BC. Linguists are still attempting to decipher the alphabet, which some say may be Hebrew in origin. Some believe this alphabet represents a critical linguistic step between ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics and the Phoenician alphabet. Discovering the meaning and origin of these ancient carvings, however, may prove to be impossible unless new finds are made in the future.

8. Gospel of Judas

One of the most controversial and mysterious religious texts of the modern era, the Gospel of Judas has split theologians and caused quite a few esoteric discussions about the events surrounding Jesus Christ’s crucifixion. The National Geographic Society published a translation of this text in 2006, which has been tested and verified as authentic. The text dates to the third century and some believe it sheds a more positive light on Judas Iscariot, the apostle who betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. Some say the text describes Jesus instructing Judas to betray him. Others disagree with this interpretation, and the debate continues.

7. The Cascajal Block

With the discovery of the Cascajal Block, scientists believe they have found the oldest writing system in the New World. Until the tablet was found, there was no hard evidence that the Olmec civilization had their own system of writing. Archaeologists believe the Olmecs were the first true civilization in the Americas, and the discovery of the tablet thrilled the scientific community. The 5-inch tablet was found at the Cascajal site, and scientists are still studying its authenticity and age. The block was believed to have been created in 900 BBC, making it the earliest evidence of written language in the Americas. There are 62 symbols on the tablet arranged in horizontal rows, and no one knows what they mean…yet.

6. Proto-Elamite

Proto-Elamite is the oldest undeciphered writing in the entire world. This mysterious language was used sometime before 3,000 BC, and no one knows what it means. Because Proto-Elamite was in use for only a short time, linguists have had trouble cracking this language code. However, it was written down on many tablets. There are more than 1,600 texts and fragments in museums all over the world containing snippets of the Proto-Elamite language, with the majority housed in the Louvre in Paris, France. This language is the last undeciphered writing system used in the Ancient Near East, which makes it a tantalizing mystery for scientists.

5. The Copper Scroll

The Copper Scroll is one of the most enduring mysteries in human history. It was found in a cave near the Dead Sea, and it’s a bona fide treasure map. The Copper Scroll describes riches untold, and yet no one has found the treasure — that we know of. Discovered in 1947, the Copper Scroll was found among the Dead Sea Scrolls and dates to around the year 100. The scroll tells of 64 hiding places containing treasure that includes gold and silver bars and silver vessels. The treasure has never been found in the modern era, though it’s possible that if it ever existed it was discovered long ago. Numerous treasure hunters have searched, and none have ever found the treasure described in the Copper Scroll — at least, not publicly.

4. The Rohonc Codex

The Rohonc Codex was discovered in Hungary in the early 1800s. It’s a detailed manuscript filled with illustrations and an indecipherable text. There are still no definite answers about what the book is, what it means or even if it’s authentic. Some have decried the Rohonc Codex as a hoax. Many scholars and even amateur linguists have studied the Codex, but none have reached any conclusive translation of the text. There are several different hypotheses about the Rohonc Codex. The paper it’s written on dates to the 1530s, but the text may have been transcribed from a previous source. There are 87 illustrations in the book that contain the symbolism from pagan, Christian and Muslim religions.

3. Vinca Symbols

The Vinca Symbols are perhaps the most mysterious text in human history. This text is believed to represent the earliest known proto-language. The symbols were found in Hungary in 1875, and are believed to date to 4,000 BC. The Vinca Symbols are named for the Vinca culture that inhabited the region. They were the most advanced Neolithic society in the world, older than the cultures of both Mesopotamia and Egypt. It’s still not known what happened to them, but they vanished from history 6,000 years ago and left very little behind. One of the few things that remain are their symbols, which are still indecipherable and totally mysterious.

2. The Indus Script

For 1,000 years, the Indus civilization thrived and created their own culture. Then, they disappeared for 4,000 years. This mysterious society was discovered in the 1920s, and archeologists are still trying to put the pieces of history together. The Indus left behind a system of writing on small stones and clay tablets. Linguists and scholars of all types have been trying to crack the language for nearly a century. So far, there is no translation for the text. Scholars still haven’t reached a consensus on where the language comes from and how it relates to other languages used at the time.

1. Rongorongo

The Rongorongo text is so mysterious, scholars can’t even agree that it’s actually meant to be writing. Since the tablets were found in 1864, no one has been able to crack their code. The symbols are so strange that some think this is an independent system of language, not linked to any others we have previously discovered. This would make it one of only three or four independent systems of writing in known human history. The Rongorongo text was discovered on about two dozen wooden tablets in a place that’s known to be mysterious: Easter Island. The island is famous for its huge heads, another archeological mystery that remains unsolved.

Sources: livescience.com, theverge.com, dailymail.co.uk, mentalfloss.com, washingtonpost.com