Nina, however, moved closer as an opening appeared. More dust swirled out as air flowed freely through the underground tunnel for the first time in sixteen centuries. ‘Get some more lights on it,’ she said.
Assad pre-empted another stinging comment from Banna. ‘That was part of our plan, Dr Wilde,’ he told her with a gentle smile. ‘We have been preparing for this for quite some time.’
‘Okay, okay,’ she said, reluctantly stepping back. ‘And you can wipe that grin off your face,’ she told Eddie, without looking around at him.
‘I’m not grinning,’ Eddie lied. Macy giggled.
Another minute passed — then Banna suddenly cried out in Arabic as something gave way. The door jerked open wider before crunching to a halt, wedged against an uneven paving slab. He hurriedly switched off the winch. ‘Is it damaged?’ Schofield called, going to the machine.
‘Forget the winch,’ said Nina, trying to control her breathing in her excitement. The gap was now wide enough for a person to fit through. ‘It’s open, the door’s open.’
Banna recovered his composure. ‘I shall enter first,’ he said, going to a box of equipment and taking out a large LED lantern. ‘Dina, Bill, we must record this.’ Schofield detached the larger camera from its tripod.
Macy tried to peer through the gap. ‘Can you see anything?’
‘The back of Banna’s head,’ said Eddie. He watched as the Egyptian raised his lamp, then cautiously slipped through the new opening. ‘Okay, three, two, one — kashung! Death trap.’
The archaeologists all gave him unimpressed looks. ‘That’s not funny, Eddie,’ Nina told him.
‘Tchah! If there is one, don’t blame me, then.’ By now, the other Egyptians and Schofield had collected their own lights and made their way to the door, Nina following suit. Eddie shrugged and joined Macy at the back of the line. ‘Okay, what’s inside?’
Nina waited for Schofield to manoeuvre through the gap, then squeezed after him. ‘Ah… a lot of impressive stuff,’ she called back in awe.
Banna’s belief about what lay beyond the bronze door had been correct. They had entered a treasury, a space to display the tributes paid to the dead king. The entrance was in one corner. The room was almost as large as the antechamber, more rows of pillars supporting its vaulted roof — and everywhere the eerie blue-white glows of the lanterns reached, they revealed wonders.
Statues gazed back at the new arrivals, the figures of men and animals surrounded by weapons and armour, furniture, chests and vases… all of it glinting with gold and silver, multitudes of inset gemstones winking like stars. ‘Whoa,’ Macy whispered, astounded.
‘Whoa indeed,’ said Assad as he advanced. His light revealed clear paths through the carefully arranged treasures. Banna was already following one across the vault, turning up a wide central aisle. At the far end was a broad flight of stone steps leading to a large and ornate opening in the wall. Statues holding spears and swords stood guard on each side.
He was about to ascend the stairs when he paused to examine something, then brought his light around to survey other parts of the gleaming display. ‘You see?’ called the Egyptian, looking back at Nina with a mocking smile as he pointed out a statue of a horse. ‘Bucephalus.’ Another jab at a different sculpture. ‘Bucephalus.’ And another. ‘Bucephalus. The treasury is full of them.’
‘That doesn’t mean these people aren’t after one in particular,’ Nina replied, but Banna was no longer listening.
Dina and Schofield spread out to catalogue the incredible sight on video, while Habib peered at his reflection in the gilded face of a replica of a Macedonian warrior. ‘It is more incredible than I ever imagined,’ he said. ‘A find for the ages.’
‘Yes,’ Assad agreed. ‘Well done, Ubayy! Well done! This is truly one of the greatest discoveries of our time.’
‘I would say the greatest,’ Banna answered, ‘and it is entirely an Egyptian find.’
Schofield gave Nina a look of long-suffering amusement. ‘What am I, chopped liver?’
Assad chuckled. ‘It is something to be proud of, that is for sure. Another wonder of the world to add to our collection! But we have not even seen the greatest wonder of all.’ He waved a hand towards the dark passage at the top of the stairs. ‘The burial chamber of Alexander the Great. Lead on, Dr Banna!’
Banna puffed out his chest in pride and went up the steps, stopping at the top. ‘Dina, Bill, come on! This must be filmed.’
‘No point making an amazing discovery if you can’t put it straight on YouTube, is there?’ Eddie said as the group marched up the central aisle.
‘He’s probably going to take a selfie with Alexander’s body,’ said Macy.
Assad smiled. ‘I know he can be very… what would be the best word? Intense.’
‘Not the word I’d have picked,’ said the Englishman.
‘But he is very dedicated, very thorough, and very knowledgeable. I would not have put him in charge of the dig if he were not. Just because he is young does not mean he does not deserve respect.’
Macy blushed. ‘Sorry.’ Eddie merely shrugged.
‘Dr Banna is right, though,’ said Habib. ‘There are many statues of Alexander’s horse. If somebody really does plan to raid the tomb, which one do they want to steal?’
‘I don’t know,’ Nina told him, ‘but they seem to have knowledge of the tomb that even we don’t. I’d guess they know specifically which one they’re after. And there’s still the matter of how they got hold of the map of the outer tomb — or rather, who they got it from.’
‘It is troubling, yes,’ said Assad. ‘You are certain it was an up-to-date plan?’
‘I’m positive. It showed more detail than the last version I saw when I was still at the IHA.’
‘Too bad you didn’t manage to keep it,’ said Schofield. ‘They’re time-stamped; we’d be able to work out who accessed it from our server.’
‘Yeah, too bad. It was kind of on fire, though.’
They headed up the stairs to meet the impatient Banna. He was already shining his light into the new tunnel, its walls decorated with reliefs. Unlike those in the outer tomb, these were painted, adding rich and vivid detail to the carved scenes. ‘At last,’ he said. ‘Now, I want both cameras to follow me so they see the inner tomb as I do.’
Nina peered past him. ‘You’re not going to make a complete survey of the treasury first?’
‘There will be plenty of time to do that once we have found Alexander. Now, the cameras.’ He clicked his fingers. Schofield and Dina took up position behind him. ‘It is time to meet the great king.’
‘Not playing up his part or anything, is he?’ Eddie said to Nina in a fake whisper.
Banna set off, lantern raised high. ‘I can see another room ahead,’ he narrated. ‘It is smaller than the treasury, but… it is definitely the burial chamber.’ Excitement rose in his voice. ‘I can see the coffin!’
His pace quickened, everyone else hurrying to keep up. Banna crossed the threshold and stared for a moment at what his lamp revealed, then turned to the cameras with an expression of almost childlike joy. ‘It is Alexander! We have found him!’
Nina entered the chamber with the rest of the group, and was struck by the same amazement as the young Egyptian. The room was dominated by a dais, on which stood an ornate sarcophagus. Unlike the solid stone or metal of the coffins of Egyptian pharaohs, this was made of a greenish glass, the individual panes supported by a gilded framework. The surface was far from smooth, distorting the view of what lay within… but it was still clear enough to reveal its occupant.
‘It’s really him,’ she gasped, creeping closer to get a better view through the rippled crystal. ‘It’s Alexander.’