The Golden Falcon

by David C. Clark

  He paused for effect. “On the north-western wall, the one leaking sand, we expected to find the same reading as we found in the first two walls as, in theory, the limestone behind that wall should be solid though showing the discontinuities typical of Theban limestone. At first, the results looked very similar to the other two walls but Claude refined the program’s focus and they noticed an anomalie etrange, sorry, a strange anomaly. Mes amis, the readings appear to indicate there is limestone for about half a metre, then sand for three metres and then solid limestone of an indeterminate thickness. The suspect wall may not be monolithic. At the lowest level, there seems to be a mass of what might be high density stone, and above this layer, the sand. My technicians tested the wall’s height and returned the same readings from the floor to its top at the level of the gate just before the well shaft. If you look at the screen graphic, you will see an image produced from the computer generated results. I must warn you this is a preliminary result and only several days of intensive seismic testing and imaging may confirm what we have found so far.”

  Henri’s announcement and the image created a sensation. Animated discussions developed around the table until Yousef put his hand up and called a halt.

  “Please, can we settle down? Dennis, it is time to look at some theories. You intimated you have an idea?”

  I stood and went to the white board. “A few builders used sand as a hydraulic medium and it was also employed as a filling in a few deeply quarried tombs. The best example of using sand to mask a tomb’s existence is the Saite burials of the Twenty-Sixth Dynasty at Saqqara. Also at Saqqara, the use of sand as a hydraulic material is known in the sarcophagus chamber in an unfinished pyramid from the Thirteenth Dynasty. Let me draw you a typical application using this technique.” I sketched a rough drawing of a square box filled with sand with a block sitting on top, tunnels underneath and clay pots at the bottom of the tunnels. “By breaking the pot, sand runs out through the tunnels and the block settles into the desired position. From what we have seen in the shaft so far, the sand running out could indicate something behind the wall may settle if we allow more to pour out. Henri, from your initial soundings, have you been able to calculate the size or volume of the limestone wall?”

  “At a very rough estimate, it could be between five and ten tonnes. Thierry put a feeler gauge into the cracks, which are very narrow. The gauge was not long enough to determine how deep the crack is but it goes right around the sides and top of the wall. We cannot get under the block unless we get permission to chisel up some of the well floor.”

  Jean-Claude said. “I have no objection to Henri’s people chipping up the floor. Is it a problem for you, Yousef?” Yousef nodded his head in approval.

  “You are drilling holes into the walls so chipping up the floor creates no greater difficulties. If nothing is discovered, Jean-Claude’s men can repair the floor if the damage is substantial and apply black paint to mask the repairs. As it is, the lower edges of the walls and the floor are already badly damaged by flooding. I think we need to stop any further activity in the first tomb until Henri’s team have undertaken the next survey. We appear to be in unexplored territory at the moment and must proceed with caution. I fly back to Cairo tomorrow but will return when we are ready to hear Henri’s next presentation. Until then, please maintain secrecy.”

  The French team began an extensive examination of the hill over KV7. Merenptah’s tomb, the next closest, was set well back from the entrance so there was little chance of its presence causing much interference with the survey. Henri, Claude and Thierry spent two days placing their acoustic probes in the hill’s margins and out onto the edge of the roadway in front of the entrance. Questions from curious tourists were fended off with the reply the Frenchmen were hydrologists doing a water table survey of the Valley. Late in the afternoon of the second day, Henri rang me and suggested Abdullah and Yousef should fly down immediately and I should book the conference room again.

  As soon as Yousef arrived, we re-convened at the hotel. Jean-Claude had brought some of his team, Henri’s men were all present with my father, Abdullah,Yousef, Richard, Elizabeth and Tamaam completing the gathering. Thierry had connected his computer to a large screen. Henri began his presentation. “Good Evening. By way of introduction, let me say we are seismic engineers and know nothing of archaeology. This is the first time my crew and I have worked on a project of such interest and so different from what we normally do. However, I believe you will be surprised by the results but it is for you to interpret the findings. We effectively triangulated the hill from dozens of different locations and set the results around the model on the screen.”

  The projection showed a three dimensional image of the hill, part of the valley floor and the existing tomb set into a green grid. The image could be made to revolve through 360 degrees at ground level and pivot 180 degrees, so we could look down and through the entire structure. This type of program is widely used in designing engineering projects.

  “Thierry, you may begin.” The image was turned so we saw the tomb head on from the entrance gateway. Henri took a laser pointer and the red light hit the pillared hall behind the well shaft. “Delete everything from the pillared hall onwards including the burial chamber and storerooms.” Thierry tapped away at the keyboard. These disappeared, leaving a truncated section from the entrance to a point just after the well shaft.

  “Now, show them what we have found. Voila!” Highlighted in red lines against the green matrix was a new set of irregular outlines with a vague shape to the north of the well shaft. “Add density to the background.” The area outside the outlines filled with a slight blue tinge. “That is limestone surrounding the object.” The inner part of the image filled with a yellow tinge. “This, we believe is sand but watch this.” Thierry tapped away again.

  Right in the middle of the outlines, stood a solid white mass, a number of squares and behind it, further to the north, there appeared a series of short white lines in what seemed to be a very regular pattern. Yousef jumped up and looked more closely at the screen. Jean-Claude, my father and I joined him.

  “The white lines and mass tells us there is highly impenetrable material in various parts of the matrix. We have an idea that it is a high density stone like granite or basalt and it is not naturally occurring. The reason we suspect a high density stone is that we had to increase the level of acoustic scanning as we think there is a shell of similar material around the outer margins of this structure. The roof gave irregular results as there are interruptions in the density at what may be piers. The readings of the short lines and the big mass in the middle are accordingly somewhat imprecise but I have approximate dimensions for you to consider. The mass in the middle is about twenty seven cubic metres. Thierry, revolve the image and then sweep over it in an arc.” The image slowly revolved and stopped. We viewed a perspective from due north over the top of the hill finishing at ground level to the south.

  “You will notice the white squares appear to be piers when viewed this way and the short white lines to the north could to be slabs. The mass in the middle remains a constant solid block no matter which way it is scanned. In our opinion, we believe there are chambers filled with sand and buried in this sand are some solid objects, all fabricated by the hand of man.” He finished with a flourish.

  Abdullah exclaimed “Ma sh’allah. I think Henri is right. The image indicates a series of objects that are too regular to be natural. Just what the mass is I have no idea”

  My father spoke up quietly. “I do. You mentioned the problem with Ramesses’ mummy. People, I think we are looking at a second, hidden tomb which is the actual burial place of Ramesses the Great. The block is his sarcophagus and these are stone doors closing storerooms.” He pointed to the white slabs with his hand. Silence fell on the room. Henri asked,

  “What is the problem with Ramesses mummy? I read about some DNA tests in Paris two years ago.” Yousef told him and reminded him not to breathe a word about the mat
ter or what we were discussing. Sacre Bleu, c’est incroyable, exclaimed Jean-Claude.

  I asked, “What do we do now? We will have to look at the well shaft again to see how to approach opening the wall. Henri, you mentioned sand. What do you think these objects are behind the well shaft wall?”

  “Again, it is only an observation, but notice these lines are symmetrical and whatever they are fashioned out of is, presumably, high density stone. I cannot determine their purpose, though we think the lower sides of the main room are lined with heavy stone as these lines indicate some sort of reinforcement. The same symmetrical formation appears to be sitting behind the well shaft wall. The sand serves no structural purpose. What is of interest is this.” The image turned to a side view and he pointed to an indistinct area above the chambers.

  “The limestone there appears to be badly fractured and although it looks solid on the image, the discontinuity is more marked than in the surrounding matrix and we detect more sand.” We looked whilst Thierry revolved the image again.

  “The clever bastard. That’s a tunnel. There is a tunnel, driven through the limestone from the top of the hill to the chamber, which was used to pour sand into it. Ramesses built a hidden tomb and then had it filled with sand to foil grave robbers. The hand of a genius is involved here.” said my father.

  The image kept slowly revolving on the screen and we watched transfixed by the enormity of what was revealed. My father said to Jean-Claude “Didn’t I read something in one of your reports about finding basalt chips just outside the entrance, chips you could not account for as they did not fit any known artefact or object?”

  “Mais, oui. We only found a small volume of chips which we could not explain as basalt is not native to this area. They were not pieces from smashed statuary or anything we are familiar with. I think, Yousef, the closest basalt deposit is way up in north Egypt and it was not widely used in the south.” Yousef confirmed Jean-Claude’s remark.

  My father said “Gentlemen, it is my opinion the king built himself an underground fortress for his remains and I think this will be the work of his Overseer of Works, a man by the name of Sennefer, if my memory serves me correctly. The great block could turn out to be the biggest sarcophagus in Egyptian history and we may find it extremely difficult to enter this tomb.”

  Abdullah put this hand up. “We need to stop speculating and work out how to get into those rooms, if they are actually rock cut chambers. Henri, you fly back to Sudan in a few days. Can you leave us these images? Incidentally, is there any indication of a mass of unnatural rock suspended over the chambers?”

  “I can do better. My team has to return but I am due some vacation time and what better place to have a holiday than down a well shaft in Egypt? You may need some further diagnostic work as you move ahead with whatever you propose. The main room appears to be very large and my equipment can possible tell you if the room is stable before you enter. In answer to your question, no, there does not appear to be anything suspended over the main chamber that we can determine so far. Apart from the technical aspects, I would not miss this opportunity for all the oil domes in Alaska.”

  “Excellent. Your presence will be of great value. You have my thanks. Yousef, what about the sand?

  “The sand, which Dr. Hussein assures me comes from the western desert, is bone dry or at least it is in the section behind the shaft wall.”

  “Dennis, your observations, please.”

  “The image indicates the possibility of a corridor behind the wall and then a large mass of limestone. The corridor turns to the left and then leads to the large chamber. The obvious first stage is to drill more and larger holes through the wall and carefully let the sand drain out. I do not know the etiquette involved in breaking into royal tombs but, Yousef, do we plan to cut through the wall?

  “That is a question we will discuss once we know a little more about the nature of the wall. Intentionally destroying part of a tomb is something we do not permit unless it is absolutely necessary. If we are in agreement, the wall should be opened in the least destructive manner and then we can look at the options. I need to be re-assured about releasing the sand and not creating a nightmare by having rocks or blocks coming down, injuring people or destroying the tomb. We need to proceed with great caution.”

  The rest of the evening passed in serious discussion about what we thought we had found, it’s meaning to Egyptian archaeology and possible methods by which the mausoleum could be opened. In turn, we were excited, stunned or just pensive as the implications began to sink in. If we had stumbled onto a new Ramesside tomb, the ramifications were immeasurable.

  Within a few days, Richard had rigged up a bucket hoist to remove sand from the shaft and Jean-Claude’s men set up an elevator to haul the spoil to the entrance where it was dumped into waste bins for removal from the Valley. Abdullah approved drilling larger holes through the wall and we began. Progressively, sand poured out until nothing further flowed from the lowest holes. Acoustic microphones did not detect the sound of stone grinding or moving.

  Remote camera equipment was brought in so we could have a look at the environment. Richard climbed into the shaft with his kit and we all crammed into the well shaft. After hooking up a monitor, he fed the flexible metallic cable through a hole at mid level, flicked a switch and the screen was flooded with light and a blurred image, which he sharpened. The micro-camera’s head was slowly rotated to reveal a blank wall directly ahead of it, a few metres of corridor to the right and a partially sand filled corridor to the left. On the floor lay a number of what appeared to be squared blocks between the rock face and the wall we had drilled through. He withdrew the camera and threaded it through a lower hole. After some fiddling, the monitor showed the squared blocks more sharply, which solved the first mystery.

  “This wall may have been hollowed out and there are blocks, which look like granite, stacked to the left and right of centre between us and the back wall as though to buttress the two. That doesn’t make sense. Why buttress anything at this point?” Richard asked us as we watched the monitor.

  I asked “Can this camera see around a corner? So far, we can just make out corridors to the right and left but I cannot see the alignment between the end of the block wall in front of us and the nearside corridor wall. Can you take the camera alongside the inner edge of the block wall and turn its head to the left?”

  Withdrawing the flexible cable and inserting it into the furthermost hole on the left, he slowly advanced it along the inner side of the hollowed block, came to the end and moved a toggle pivoting the camera head so it peered left.

  “You can’t see the corridor wall. I wonder why not? Is it possible to go out further and turn the head to the left again?”

  “Bloody hell, you wee man. I only took a two day course on how to use this kit. Let me see what it can do.” Richard was sweating from the concentration of operating the camera but, after some false starts on the toggle device, he managed to get the camera looking backwards at what appeared to be a red line and, although the definition was not good, the line appeared to start at the floor and go up as far as the camera could see. Yousef and Henri had been watching the images whilst conferring with Marc, one of Jean-Claude’s civil engineers.

  “Richard, hold that image for a minute. We have seen a wall ahead of us, several rows of stacked granite blocks that appear aligned with the outer edges of the well shaft’s greatest width and now what seems to be a red line drawn down the outer side of the wall. To find that, you have had to swivel the camera head around a proud edge in front of us. Marc has a possible explanation.”

  He handed us a rough drawing. “The drill broke through rock at about 300mm yet the camera head had to go out another 700mm before reaching the corridor wall. This is not a solid wall in front of us. Rather, it is a blocking plug moved into an aperture cut through from here into the new tomb. The granite blocks were put in place between the back wall and the block to stop it from being pushed backwards into the co
rridor and against the rear wall. The red line, which I am sure we will find on both sides, was the mark telling the builder that the block, when being pushed home, had reached a position that made it the fourth wall of the well shaft.”

  Marc continued “The builder had all the corners of the shaft bevelled and possibly intentionally chipped to allow for any damage as the block was being forced home. If this theory is correct, it might account for the slight difference Jean-Claude detected in the black border’s edges. The block has caused a minute amount of deformation in the limestone beneath it and it subsided just enough to create a variation in height from the border painted on solid rock.”

  I asked Jean-Claude “Would it have been technically possible for a Ninetieth Dynasty builder to manoeuvre a block this size and weight into an opening with such precision?”

  He replied “The degree of parallelism is not unusual, precision is something ancient builders knew how to achieve and the disguising of the false wall is particularly clever but we would need to measure the block wall and the corridor before I hazarded a guess on how the block was manoeuvred in such a confined space. But, in simple terms, it could be done but what a feat of engineering! If Marc’s hypothesis is correct, it is ingenious.”

  Yousef asked. “How do we get access if the block has dropped fractionally? We cannot drag it out and, if there are granite blocks stacked behind it, acting as a locking device, we can’t push it backwards.”