Mystery in an Illinois Cave: The Treasure of King Juba

In 1982, an amateur treasure hunter, Russell E. Burrows, found a remote cave near his hometown of Olney in southern Illinois. After advancing through a 500-foot-long tunnel lined with oil lamps, he discovered several chambers filled with ancient weapons, gold sarcophagi, jewels, and stone tablets depicting Roman soldiers, Jews, early Christians, and West African Soldiers. He removed more than 7,000 artifacts from the cave and then sealed the entrance using dynamite, following the controversy over his discovery.

The case for the treasure's origin is argued in Frank Joseph's controversial book, The Lost Treasure of King Juba: The Evidence of Africans in America before Columbus.

Juba's father was king of Numidia (modern day northeast Libya) on the North African coast. He fought with Pomsey against Julius Caesar and the Roman Empire in 46 B.C. After they were defeated, Juba's father committed suicide rather than allow himself to be taken alive, and Caesar as a trophy took his baby son, Juba II, back to Rome.

Juba was brought up as a Roman by Caesar's nephew Octavian. He was well educated and became one of the learned men of his day. When Octavian became emperor, he installed Juba as ruler of Mauritania on the West Coast of Africa. He later married Cleopatra Selene, the daughter of Antony and Cleopatra, and together they ruled from 25 B.C. to around 19 A.D.

They turned their kingdom into a cultural and prosperous land and introduced Greek architecture and art to North Africa. Juba continued with his academic and field studies, writing histories of Africa and Arabia and even corresponding with Pliny the Elder about Botany and Zoology. He is credited with discovering a succulent plant, which he named Euphorbia in honor of his family physician, Euphorbus.

According to Frank Joseph, Juba was persecuted by the Emperor Caligula and his son Ptolemy was executed, causing a Mauritian rebellion against the Romans. They moved southeast into present day Ghana, built a fleet of ships, and set sail to establish their kingdom on another continent. They made off with Cleopatra's treasure and King Juba's library.