Free Keystone by Luke Talbot Page A

paused. “But then that is probably why he is a Professor
of Egyptology and I am almost failing my degree.”
    “Whatever he
is,” George interrupted them. “I think he’s calling you.”
     
    The Professor
got out of the trench and met Gail half way.
    “I am certain,
Gail, that you have seen or heard stories of archaeologists entering tombs and
crypts over a hundred years ago, haven’t you?” he started.
    “Like Howard
Carter in the Valley of the Kings, you mean?” she asked.
    “Yes,
absolutely. Well, we have come a long way in science, in methods and in
practice since then, but no matter how much technology we have and how many
studies we undertake, the basics of what we are about to do remain the same now
as they were when Carter first took his pick to the mortar that sealed
Tutankhamen inside his tomb.”   He paused
for her reaction, one of mild surprise, before continuing. “I think that with
what has happened over the past few days, you have more than enough material to
start your thesis.”
    She laughed
and looked to her left, at the steps leading down into the depths of the rock.
“I think so,” she said.
    His eyes
followed hers and he looked up at her, smiling. “Your enthusiasm, not to
mention lots of luck, has helped to find something very special in Amarna,
Gail. Some of the most incredible finds in archaeology have been found by luck,
and mostly not by archaeologists. But you have the benefit of not only being
lucky, but also an archaeologist, and as a reward you will be the first student
to enter this tomb.”
    “Thank you,
Mamdouh, but Ben found the site with me and translated the hieroglyphs.” Gail
liked Ben a lot, and thought it unfair to remove any credit from him for the
discovery.
      “This is true, but would Ben have reached this
cliff top were it not for you?” he smiled and looked over at Ben, who was
having an animated discussion with George. “And he is not an archaeologist at
heart, he will find passion in something else. You on the other hand, are an
archaeologist, and always will be no matter what you do.   What lies beneath our feet at this very
moment may be the biggest find you ever make.”
    She looked
over to her Egyptian friend and smiled.   “I will ask Ben, and offer to go down the steps with him,” she decided.
“If that’s alright with you, Mamdouh?” she added quickly.
    Mamdouh
grinned. “Whatever you think is best, Gail, the choice is yours.”   He took a step past her and raised his voice
to get everyone’s attention.  
       The students, engineers, photographer and
George had all been biding their time following the uncovering of the steps
several minutes earlier. The thrill of the unknown, coupled with the Professor’s
desire to control the descent into the tomb, had fuelled their impatience, and
it had been hard for everyone to content themselves with a simple glance or two
into the hole.
    He lifted his
head and addressed the crowd in Arabic as the Al Jazeera photographer took a
flurry of shots. “I will descend the steps first, along with an engineer who
will ensure that the structure is safe.   I will then come back up and we will discuss what to do next. OK?”
    They all
nodded, and watched as he descended with a powerful hand torch, followed by an
engineer with a large black case that presumably held instruments with which they
would assess the structure.
    Gail looked at
George and Ben, who were standing on the edge of the trench, and grinned from
ear to ear.
    Almost ten
minutes passed before anything was heard from the hole. Suddenly, the engineer suddenly
hopped up the steps, out of the trench and over to his two colleagues with
their X-ray system.  
    After a brief
exchange of words, the men gathered their equipment together and carried it
over to the steps. Within two minutes they had all disappeared underground,
much to the frustration of the Al Jazeera photographer, who returned from
relieving himself just in time to see the