need any more. It is so sad that all the tombs are raided, even though many of the treasures go to museums. Surely we should leave some for future generations to discover, or even to lay in peace as it was intended?”
“Are you sure this is where the tomb is?” Yasmeen whispered, so that Mosi couldn’t hear what she was saying. “Yes” he replied, also in a whisper “I thought about taking them to the wrong place but your life to me is worth more than any treasure. Although I was very young when my father brought me here he showed me how to line it up with the Queen Hatshepsut’s tomb to bring me to this ravine and then it was sixty paces from the end of it. I hadn’t thought about it being covered over though.”
“Stop the whispering – or you ” Mosi bellowed pointing at Yasmeen “will be very sorry. ”
“So how did your father find the tomb?” Yasmeen asked after a few minutes. “Did he discover it with the other man?” “Oh no,” Masud replied “the other man, my father’s great friend Edjo, told my father he knew of it only as a rumour which had circulated in his family from the times of the burials of the Queens in the Valley. He believed one of his ancestors may have worked on the tomb. Many had gone looking for it but without success. Edjo also had searched for it in vain. Then one day he stumbled across the ravine and he said as he came through it the sun shone on a very bright stone in a hole in the ground. Curious he went over to look at it and found that the ground around it was falling away. He marked the spot and came back the next day with a shovel and a pick. He camped here for a couple of days and it wasn’t long before he found an opening to a tunnel. Some of the ground must have been washed away, much as it has now been heaped back on top of it. It doesn’t rain here very often, but when it does it roars down. He told of a long tunnel going down deep into the ground. It opened into a big chamber which was filled with treasures he had only dreamt about. Off this big chamber there were two smaller chambers. One held the sarcophagus and the other more treasures to help her on her journey to the next world. He said the pictures covering the walls were still very vivid and beautiful to behold. He marvelled at the gold car riage, ready but not assembled. There was everything the Princess could need for her journey to the after-life – jewellery, gold combs and hair adornments, urns and pitchers full of food, wine and water, knives, forks, dishes – the chambers were bursting with beautiful objects.
Not wanting to draw attention to his find by taking anything too large, Edjo had simply taken the jewelled dagger, which he slipped inside his robes. He covered the entrance to the tunnel before returning to his village to consider what to do next. He told my father and took him there to see it. This time they took away the golden collar. The next day Edjo took ill. On his deathbed he told my father he believed he
had been cursed for disturbing the tomb. “Take the dagger and the collar” he begged my father “and promise me you will keep the secret”.
A few months later my father took me to see the tomb. He said someone else should know about it. He told me to remember the location of the ravine. Then we paced out the distance from the end of the ravine to the opening of the tomb. He told me never to forget it – to keep it as my inheritance.
My father died the next week – hit by a truck crossing the road in Cairo . You can say this was just an unfortunate accident but I took it as a sign and I never returned to the tomb, nor did I mention its existence to anyone, except once to my wife Waleed. We agreed never to talk of it again, nor to tell our boys”. “Then how did these two clowns find out about it then?” I asked him. “I don’t know” Masud replied. “But there
“Are you sure this is where the tomb is?” Yasmeen whispered, so that Mosi couldn’t hear what she was saying. “Yes” he replied, also in a whisper “I thought about taking them to the wrong place but your life to me is worth more than any treasure. Although I was very young when my father brought me here he showed me how to line it up with the Queen Hatshepsut’s tomb to bring me to this ravine and then it was sixty paces from the end of it. I hadn’t thought about it being covered over though.”
“Stop the whispering – or you ” Mosi bellowed pointing at Yasmeen “will be very sorry. ”
“So how did your father find the tomb?” Yasmeen asked after a few minutes. “Did he discover it with the other man?” “Oh no,” Masud replied “the other man, my father’s great friend Edjo, told my father he knew of it only as a rumour which had circulated in his family from the times of the burials of the Queens in the Valley. He believed one of his ancestors may have worked on the tomb. Many had gone looking for it but without success. Edjo also had searched for it in vain. Then one day he stumbled across the ravine and he said as he came through it the sun shone on a very bright stone in a hole in the ground. Curious he went over to look at it and found that the ground around it was falling away. He marked the spot and came back the next day with a shovel and a pick. He camped here for a couple of days and it wasn’t long before he found an opening to a tunnel. Some of the ground must have been washed away, much as it has now been heaped back on top of it. It doesn’t rain here very often, but when it does it roars down. He told of a long tunnel going down deep into the ground. It opened into a big chamber which was filled with treasures he had only dreamt about. Off this big chamber there were two smaller chambers. One held the sarcophagus and the other more treasures to help her on her journey to the next world. He said the pictures covering the walls were still very vivid and beautiful to behold. He marvelled at the gold car riage, ready but not assembled. There was everything the Princess could need for her journey to the after-life – jewellery, gold combs and hair adornments, urns and pitchers full of food, wine and water, knives, forks, dishes – the chambers were bursting with beautiful objects.
Not wanting to draw attention to his find by taking anything too large, Edjo had simply taken the jewelled dagger, which he slipped inside his robes. He covered the entrance to the tunnel before returning to his village to consider what to do next. He told my father and took him there to see it. This time they took away the golden collar. The next day Edjo took ill. On his deathbed he told my father he believed he
had been cursed for disturbing the tomb. “Take the dagger and the collar” he begged my father “and promise me you will keep the secret”.
A few months later my father took me to see the tomb. He said someone else should know about it. He told me to remember the location of the ravine. Then we paced out the distance from the end of the ravine to the opening of the tomb. He told me never to forget it – to keep it as my inheritance.
My father died the next week – hit by a truck crossing the road in Cairo . You can say this was just an unfortunate accident but I took it as a sign and I never returned to the tomb, nor did I mention its existence to anyone, except once to my wife Waleed. We agreed never to talk of it again, nor to tell our boys”. “Then how did these two clowns find out about it then?” I asked him. “I don’t know” Masud replied. “But there
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