phoenix
Bermuda Heritage • Discoveries & Legends

Blog 4: The Lost Bust of the Greek God

An artefact, a hidden cache – and a house that knows more than it reveals. The case of a vanished marble bust leads deep into the early history of Bermuda.

An ancient marble bust, similar to the one said to have been recovered from the Sea Venture.
The bust of a Greek god – comparable to the artefact that was allegedly recovered from the Sea Venture.

Henry Tucker was the first governor of Bermuda. His House of Henry Tucker still preserves books, documents and artefacts from the time of the island’s discovery – and no doubt one or two secrets that remain undiscovered.

The Sea Venture had run aground on a reef. The castaways apparently managed, before the ship finally sank, to salvage several valuable objects from on board. Among these artefacts was said to be an extraordinary marble bust of a Greek god – originally stolen from a temple in Greece and destined for an exhibition in Jamestown.

The photo above shows a similar bust. According to tradition, Christopher Carter is said to have hidden it in secret at an unknown location on the island.

In Henry Tucker’s house, the museum management has now found new clues
– hidden inside an old book about ancient sculptures. Notes, marginalia and a slipped-in fragment of a map suggest that Carter may indeed once have possessed the bust.

The map that was found shows locations connected to Carter, the Sea Venture and the Tucker family. It may be the key to one of Bermuda’s oldest unsolved mysteries.

Mini-Riddle • Number Code

The Whisper of Numbers

An old sailor claims he knows the key to a hidden clue from the days of the Sea Venture. But instead of clear words, he leaves only numbers – and a single sentence.

Sailor’s Note

BERMUDA WAS ONCE A DANGEROUS PLACE FOR SEAFARERS

Code: 3 – 12 – 21 – 35

Count only the letters, ignoring spaces and punctuation. The four numbers correspond to four letters. Together they form a word that fits the waters around Bermuda.

Enter the resulting word:

Henry Tucker’s House

The Bust of the Sea Venture

The bust from the Sea Venture must still be somewhere on Bermuda. We should take a closer look at the house of Henry Tucker, which today serves as a museum. I lent one of the museum staff my infrared camera so she could go searching for clues on our behalf.

She found strange markings that form a magic square. Imagine laying the two grids on top of each other and fill the empty fields with the numbers from 1 to 16, so that every number is used only once and the sum of each row, each column, and both diagonals equals 34. If you solve the square correctly, it will reveal where the hiding place is located – marked with the number 2 – very close to the Swizzle Inn.

Stage 1 · The Magic Square

Enter the missing numbers into the fields marked with X. Each number from 1 to 16 may only be used once – and each row, column, and diagonal must add up to 34.

12
13
14
11
10
15
16
9
Hint: All 16 numbers from 1–16 are used exactly once.

Stage 2 · The Hiding Place on the Island

The square is solved – and the number 2 marks the field you are looking for. There are not many possibilities left. Where is the 2 located? The grid can be placed over the Bermuda map – right next to the Swizzle Inn.

(In the final game, the grid will appear as an overlay on the Bermuda map, directly at the marked position.)

Hint: Follow the arrows all the way to the end and look around inside the cave. Which Roman god does the bust depict?

You have found coin .