( Scroll No 2 )
......when we last heard of Indiana Az, the mighty man of archaeology arrived on site to bear witness to the destruction that had occurred on the site while he was absent. With more building came more of a loss for the heritage of humankind. Even more so, there was an evil force testing the will and strength of Indiana Az. But he would have none of it. Nobody gets in the way of Indiana Az and his holy quest to uncover the mysteries of the past. So off he charged, over the hills of Helwan, looking for the legendary lost stone tombs. With a scrape of his trusty trowel, he caught a glint in the corner of his eye. For there, sticking out of the soil was a ........... .........rock. Yes a rock. (Whaddya expect? A eunuch, a hammock, and a margarita bar?) But this was no ordinary rock. To the untrained eye, this feature would be passed over. But the strange arrangement was what grabbed Indiana Az by the balls. This was in fact the doorway to the tomb - a stone lined tomb. And there blocking the entrance was the portcullis. A sizeable stone that would have weighed at least 1 tonne. Az whipped out his tape measure, and promptly recorded the dimensions of the intricate architecture. This archaeological recording was imperative, for there, less than 15m away, was the southern edge of the village. The edge of which has steadily crept over the site, swallowing everything in its path without remorse. As Indiana Az looked toward the edge of the village, (cue piano accordion overture) a tear formed in remembrance for that lost part of ancient egyptian civilisation. He must act quickly, to save what he can. Turning quick his heels, Indiana Az uncovered the remaining stone lining of the stairway leading down, and promptly photographed their position for the search and rescue survey. For who knows, this tomb could be gone tomorrow.......
Glancing upon the GPS map, Indiana Az hunted down the next lost stone tomb - 365 H4. Rolling over the sandy hills, trowel tucked into his belt, Indiana Az chanced upon a tell tale sign of a staircase visible on the looming mound. Checking the old plans, he yelped "Aha!". This one was gonna be a corker! Climbing into the open tomb, he had to rely on his archaeological 'sixth sense' to know what he was going to be looking for. As most of the tomb was filled with sand, one would not know of what lurked underneath. But by using the staircase as a point of reference, Indiana Az measured into the burial chamber and marked out an area of 3.27m x 4m. With a scratch of his 5 o'clock shadow, Indiana Az crouched down to get his hands dirty. Toiling under the already rising Egyptian sun, it wasn't long before he brought to light the magnificence of tomb 365. Encasing the chamber were 4 gigantic limestone slabs, that by calculations, would weigh at least 4 tonnes each. Now it was getting interesting. As Indiana Az excavated the east side, he discovered the robbers entrance, who had cunningly and with great skill smashed their way through the stone slab. He immediately noted this feature down, for it was with the use of stone that the ancient egyptians hoped would provide better security (Just goes to show how crafty the little buggers were). Excavating north of the chamber, Indiana Az peeled back the layers of fill and discovered four magazines (storage areas) collapsed with mud brick. However, the mud brick had to have fallen from a higher source. Using that archaeological 'sixth sense' of his, Az examined the edges of the chamber, and found his source - the remains of mud brick roofing. After recording and photographing them in situ, Indiana Az backfilled what he excavated (tp protect the tomb until proper excavation) and set off to find the last two stone tombs in the area......
Looking down at his GPS, Indiana Az followed the coordinates in an easterly direction. Looking at the old plans, he could not miss this one.....it was over 35m long! Sure enough, as Indiana Az was busily concentrating on the coordinates, the ground suddenly disappeared from beneath his feet. After tumbling 11 metres, he emerged from a dust cloud amid a most wondrous tomb chamber! One that would have belonged to a person of esteemed standing judging from the expenditure put into the construction. According to the old reports it was stated that the chamber was lined of stone blocks. But looking around, Indiana Az saw nothing of the sort. Walking over to the walls, he scraped his trowel across the surface to find any indication of joins or remaining stone. But the walls were so badly weathered, that there was little chance of understanding or finding out if there were any. Indiana Az asked himself, "what about on the chamber floor underneath all the fill?" But looking around in the chamber, at the masses of garbage and dumped waste from the nearby village, Az promptly answered himself, "It requires a team effort here mate, some large scale excavation. There's only so much one man can do." Remembering that this was only a search and rescue reconnaissance mission, Az duly recorded all the features and dimensions of the tomb, and assessed the danger of the proximity of the village.
With the sun well overhead, Indiana Az wiped the sweat from his forehead, and marched on to the last of the stone tombs in the northern field. Glancing down at the map, all he had was a coordinate next to a large question mark. What was there? The pace quickened in Az's steps, and a tingling crept up his back. He frantically searched the horizon, looking for something, anything. Then something strange caught his eye. Up ahead was a large area of blocks, and mud brick remains. Indiana Az ran. Ran as fast as his little legs could take him. Then from out of nowhere, he stumbled upon a..........