The Golden Falcon

by David C. Clark

  The task of opening the treasury door was given to the French team. The shaft was very narrow and, given my aversion to small dark places, I was quite happy to see others make the descent. Marc and his colleague, Jacques, kitted themselves out with lights, ropes and walkie-talkies, abseiled down the main shaft, reached the side tunnel slanting down towards the treasury and disappeared. It only took a few minutes before Jacques confirmed our thoughts about the construction of the door. We sent down a winch and frame with equipment to anchor eye bolts. Jacques set up a video camera to show us what they were doing. Whilst we waited, I wandered around the burial chamber, now well illuminated with high intensity lamps.

  Another mystery had been solved. Henri rang from the Sudan and said,over the crackling of a bad connection. “I need a small vacation and can get to Luxor in about a week with some specialised equipment. I have an idea about the problems in prising up the basalt plating and you need some more French élan.”

  True to his word, Henri and his colleague, Thierry, arrived toting a small sonar unit and a portable high intensity x-ray machine. “We liberated the x-ray device from our engineering workshop for a few days. It is used to detect cracks in steel and our mechanical engineer, who showed us how to use it, says it may work on stone. If I am correct in my assumptions, you will be buying us a lavish dinner tonight.” Thierry traversed the floor with the sonar scanner and Henri positioned the x-ray machine over several joints. It did not take long to get images on their computer screens.

  “It is as I thought, Dennis. Look at this.” Henri pointed to a fine line running across the screen. “You see a short darker object at right angles to the main joint line. They appear in every scan of the tomb cladding and floor. Now look at these. Thierry, a floor x-ray image, please.” Thierry opened another folder on his laptop. A black and white image showed two short, thin objects bisecting a joint line. “A wall image, Thierry.” The picture was replicated.

  “Do you know what you are looking at yet?”

  “No, not really unless it is an x-ray of a modernistic painting by some obscure Parisian.”

  “Thierry, show us a mosaic. I told you Dennis received his engineering qualifications from the Internet.” Thierry ungraciously laughed as he brought up another image showing six irregular outlines. Along the edges of each outline, I saw the same short bisecting lines.

  “Et maintenant, mon ami?”

  “Enough, Henri. What am I looking at?”

  “Each outline is the edge of a paving block. The bisecting lines are what I believe to be metal locking pins. What metal I don’t know, though probably copper as this, I understand, was the only metal available to the Egyptians. All the floor, wall and sarcophagus plates were locked in place with short metal pins which explains why you cannot prise them up. With modern tools, it would easy to cut through the pins holding one of the plates which would lead to the rest coming out like pieces from a jigsaw puzzle being dis-assembled. For a tomb robber years ago, working with nothing better than non-ferrous chisels, that would have been impossible.”

  Thierry said “The only way you can get the flooring up is to either bring in a rock breaker or a laser cutter. As the sarcophagus is made up of interlocked pieces like the floor, just how many months would you need to cut through four and half metres of plating to get to its centre? That is irrespective of the difficulty of re-constructing the pattern once you dis-assembled it and we cannot discount the use of some form of adhesive having been applied to the pins or the plates. The Egyptians are right. Leave the thing as it was found. The man who conceived this idea was, how you say, ‘un genie formidable’”

  “Formidable genius” translated Jean-Claude.

  “Oui, a formidable genius. Of that I have no doubt.”

  Over a very expensive dinner, Henri and Thierry revealed to the rest of our group what their equipment had revealed earlier in the day. Yousef’s reaction was immediate. “All the more reason for us not to attempt to disrupt the masonry. I wonder if we will ever find out something about the man who built the tomb? So far it seems every possible eventuality had been foreseen and guarded against in the planning and execution of this work and there may be more clever surprises within the sarcophagus itself which we will never learn about.”

  Richard commented “I have been trying to work out how Ramesses, or rather his builder, transported the big granite statue from Aswan to the Ramesseum. I have no trouble working out how to move such an object around on land or manoeuvre it to its feet, even with primitive equipment, but can someone explain how it was shipped? Everything I have learnt about Egyptian water craft tells me it was impossible to move something as large and heavy in the conventional vessels of the time.”

  Yousef offered some information. “I don’t know about what type of boats were used but there is speculation there were two colossi at the Ramesseum. The remains of one now lie in pieces but there are two granite bases flanking the entrance and a few fragments indicate they come from a second statue. A German archaeological team working there unearthed sections of logs of a unusually hard nature. Samples were sent to Dr. Hussein’s laboratory for analysis and they were found to be from a tree native to modern day Tanzania, thousands of kilometres to Egypt’s south. The Germans suspect these logs were used as mechanical timbers for moving and placing very heavy stone objects as they bore traces of palm oil which we know was used to lubricate hauling ropes. These logs could have been used to assist the architect moving these enormous statutes.”

  “I have another snippet of information.” said Tamaam. “There is a broken stela from the Delta recording a narrative written by the king’s son, Ramesses, the commander of the royal navy at the time. Pieces are missing but what is left tells of a naval mission to Aswan with five warships. These were heavy ships manned with oarsmen but I can’t see them being used to carry masonry as they were not built as transport vessels. There is no logical reason for warships to be anywhere except in the Delta and Red Sea ports and their voyage up the Nile is enigmatic”

  “Think about this.” I offered. “Throughout history there was no shortage of massive buildings. Consider some of the seven wonders of the ancient world - the Pyramids, the Mausoleum of Artemisia, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon and the Pharos at Alexandria. Many other buildings or structures can be added to the list but, in most instances, they were just large buildings and large does not necessarily mean clever. Pushing the limits of available technology, yes, though maybe not ingenious.”

  “I see what you are leading to.” said Tamaam. “Many ancient buildings were impressive in size and architectural beauty but did they show the hand of genius? I am immensely proud of the pyramids but my fascination concerns the mathematics involved in getting the design and engineering parameters right, not the tonnage of stone. Load computations for building foundations, soil mechanics, complex lifting problems and buttressing dynamics all calculated without the benefit of mathematical formulae and computers were clever but probably no more than the application of incremental experience to a given project.”

  “The truly creative men were those who met what was seen to be an impossible task in their time and place, or those with vivid imaginations, men who could see something in their mind and then develop an outcome. The man who moved the colossi from Aswan to Thebes and built the fortress for the king’s body was such a man. To the architect, Sennefer, I offer a toast to his brilliance. He would have been a fascinating man to know.”

  The following morning Abdullah flew down from Cairo for the opening of the treasury door. We waited in the burial chamber, heard the faint whirring of the winch motor and watched as the door slowly rose. Jacques jumped down from wherever he had been perched and shook hands with Jean-Claude, who was the first to enter the now open corridor. The photographer moved in and began to document the structure whilst Jean-Claude called for labourers to come down and shovel out the remaining sand.

  The ceiling, with the same granite support pilla
rs, was lower than in the main chamber. The corridor revealed a niche, carved out of the back wall, in which stood a statue of Osiris in his traditional mummiform pose, arms crossed over his chest and his hands holding the crook and flail. Just inside the doorway, flanking both sides of the corridor stood two guardian Ka statues facing each other, their feet still lost in sand.

  Jean-Claude said to Abdullah “It will take about two weeks to remove all this sand and check the chamber for structural stability. Can I suggest you post armed guards at the entrances around the clock? I don’t want robbers thinking they can get in now we have opened the treasury. Word will soon spread that we have begun work in this section of the tomb.”

  “Soldiers are already on their way from the Luxor barracks. I am torn by a desire to remain here or the unfortunate necessity of attacking paperwork in Cairo. If I was a few years younger, I would stay and ask for a shovel but duty calls. When you are finished with the clearance, please call me and I will fly down for the opening of the storerooms. Clean your shoes, gentlemen, and get a haircut as I must warn you, I will probably arrive in the company of President Kamal, who demands daily updates on your progress. Until then, I must away and again, congratulations. From the President down, we are all impressed with your commitment to this work.”

  Armed with this warning, we decided that eye bolts should be locked into every storeroom door and sufficient lifting equipment would be on hand to open them all in the presence of the President. We would either be totally embarrassed if the rooms were empty or display to him one of the greatest treasures the world would ever see. As the treasury was cleared,we had confirmation that all the doors had been let down by the sand hydraulic system, with pottery shards and shattered clay cones providing tangible evidence of the technique. Unusual for a Ramesside monument, the walls offered no decorations or inscriptions though we did uncover two beautiful recumbent figures of Anubis, guardian of the dead, positioned above the storerooms. Both statues, shaped like crouching jackals, were painted black; ears pricked, ever alert with their jewelled eyes staring fixedly at us while we laboured.

  One afternoon, as we sat in the burial chamber eating sandwiches, Jean-Claude said “I am a little confused, Dennis.” “I thought confusion was the natural state of all Frenchman.” I replied.

  “Very droll, Dennis. May I continue? There is one significant difference between both tombs which I cannot reconcile. My team has spent years digging out flood debris from the first tomb from multiple episodes of severe water penetration. Naturally, the wide open entrance allowed water to flood down into the lowest levels. This tomb has a shaft straight up through its roof which should have created a natural funnel for water but I see absolutely no evidence of the ingress of water here. Why is this so? Flood water must have struck both entrances with equal force and we do not consider the shaft backfill an impervious barrier.”

  “Richard mentioned the same thing a few days ago. Two things are of interest. Firstly, there are scant signs of water penetrating Tutankhamen’s tomb despite it being cut down into the Valley floor where water should have produced extensive damage. The two unbroken plaster coated walls across the entrance appear to have prevented the entry of water. It is probable that one or two episodes of heavy rain compacted the chute filling into a similar masonry obstacle. That fairly solid mass may have minimised the absolute volume of water that could have physically run into the tomb.”

  Taking a sip of coffee, I continued. “Secondly, keep in mind our builder’s talent. I am certain he did not plan to rely on the mass in the shaft forming an absolute barrier. He would still have to contend with limestone fracture and a degree of natural porosity. Let me show you something.” I called the foreman over and asked him to bring in four buckets of water from the tanker parked outside. These arrived and I instructed him to tip them on the floor. He looked at Jean-Claude, who nodded in approval. The effect was spectacular. Almost as soon as the water hit the floor and began to pool, it vanished. The foreman looked startled.

  “What magic is this, Dennis? Basalt is not porous. Where did the water go?”

  “The floor looks solid but in reality it is not. All the paving blocks have edges through which water drains. As we have seen elsewhere, if a large volume of water flooded into this tomb, it should have pooled on the floor, risen up the walls and then drained out slowly yet there is no indication of a water mark on the walls. Water probably did infiltrate but it drained out almost as fast. I think an analysis will show some water borne salt deposits on the surface of the floor paving”

  “Bon, but as I know from bitter experience, limestone is only marginally porous and this tomb sits on solid limestone. So where did the water go and why does it dissipate so quickly?”

  “Ah, if you and Henri had spent more time talking about rock mechanics and his sonar results and less time discussing Egyptian women, you would have learnt more about what he thought was under this whole chamber. You remember the images on the screen? Beneath the chambers, there is an area of great discontinuity in the limestone. Obviously, the architect made allowance for subterranean reservoirs to receive sand flowing out beneath the lower block as the mechanism worked and I suspect he also dug drainage shafts beneath the entire structure. Henri told me his sonar equipment cannot distinguish, in sufficient detail, any evidence to support my suspicions but this water test is fairly convincing.”

  “Hmm, an interesting theory and probably a correct interpretation. Maybe something occurred to him about the prospect of water damage from the time he built the first tomb early in Ramesses’ reign and the commencement of this tomb years later? I am still surprised we have found no record of the builder’s name anywhere. If he was half as good as the evidence suggests surely Ramesses would have allowed him to put his name somewhere on this monument? At the moment, we are assuming his name was Sennefer from a brief notation on a temple pylon at Luxor.”

  “Yes, it is a bit of mystery. Maybe Sennefer was an unassuming chap. On another, somewhat delicate, matter. You remember Lord Carnarvon almost ordered Carter to open a hole in the sealed doorway leading into Tutankhamen’s burial chamber before the official opening in the presence of government officials? What do you think about doing the same thing down the corridor? Should we open one of the storerooms before the President arrives to save ourselves possible embarrassment?”

  “My young friend, you have little faith. This entire tomb is untouched and for that matter, unbreakable. We have not detected the slightest sign of an attempt to force an entry. I think you will find whatever is in the treasury is still intact and just as it was on the day the tomb was sealed. I doubt if Ramesses filled his treasury with old clothing, a few biscuits and spoiled wine, do you? Dennis, you are an enthusiastic young man. If you are to mature in the field of archaeology, you must learn some patience and begin to train yourself to think of time as a continuum. Think of time this way. If the average lifespan of people since this tomb was sealed was, say, forty years, then over eighty generations have lived and died since. When you are a student of archaeology as I am, the measure of time becomes almost meaningless.”

  He looked around. “Your principal field, civil engineering, is one based on getting the job done on time and within a budget. You come from a discipline that uses explosives to remove obstacles, heavy equipment to displace thousands of tonnes of material and huge drilling rigs to make foundation footings. The archaeologist uses a trowel to excavate, brushes to sweep soil away and dental tools to dislodge crumbs of matter from artefacts. You know, when my engineers drilled holes to emplace rock bolts I had to leave. The noise destroyed the silence of the grave so profoundly I found it offensive. Listen to the silence, Dennis. It can speak volumes to those who wish to understand it.”

  A little offended I said “You don’t approve of our work?”

  “On the contrary, mon ami. The work you and your colleagues have done and will continue to do is essential. Left alone, the tombs you have repaired would have fallen further into deca
y and, ultimately, all would be lost. That would be an incalculable tragedy. The best archaeologists are those who combine the quest for knowledge with the desire to restore and conserve. You have the ability to be a fine archaeologist. Just let your mind dwell on the historicity of what you are doing.” He looked me directly and said quietly “If you do, you will see the gilded falcon more frequently.”

  His remark startled me. “You know about the falcon?” I said in some amazement.

  “He and I have been watching each other for some time. Casual remarks to my colleagues indicate they have never seen the bird but I believe you have? Am I correct?”

  “Yes, but I thought it was just an aberration or my imagination.”

  “No, it is no aberration. If you make the right decisions about this tomb and how it is to be managed, you may be fortunate enough to see the golden raptor again.”

  Our discussion was interrupted by an excited cry from the corridor and the intimacy of the moment was fractured. The Osiride figure had just been fully revealed and we had no chance to discuss the falcon again.

  A few days later, we watched the Presidential arrival in the Valley, a spectacle I am sure Ramesses would have savoured. Two trucks crammed with soldiers preceded his convoy of limousines, which approached in billowing clouds of dust. Heavily armed security men jumped out of cars and moved to surround President Kamal. Obviously, the assassination of Anwar Sadat remained fresh in the minds of security chiefs. We greeted the President, who had not previously seen the first tomb and courtesy allowed that Professor Dief and Dr. al-Badawi provide commentary as we began our tour. He surprised us all when he asked, in fluent French, for Jean-Claude to explain the nature of his restoration and, as we descended to the lower levels, they carried on an animated discussion. After surveying the burial chamber, the President said, in English.