( Scroll No 3 )
Last time we heard of Indiana Az, the seasoned academic had embarked upon a reconnaissance mission to find the legendary lost stone tombs of Helwan. With a state of the art GPS system in his pocket, and his forever hungry search for the mysteries of the past, he had in fact discovered a number of them in a decayed and neglected state. But his hunger and persistence had also brought to light the formidable danger they were in from the evil forces of nearby illegal construction. The race was on. So off he searched, and one by one, recorded and photographed their positions. But there was one left in the north area. One that was marked by a question mark. So running as fast as his legs could carry him, he stumbled upon a.............. ............giant, massive, awe-inspiring stone shaft! (I see a running theme here.) One whose likes had never been seen before! The engineering of this monster was jaw dropping, spine-tingling and exhilarating all at the same time. But it was full of rubbish and waste. Indiana Az dropped his tools and scanned the area around him. He could make out the dimensions of the stone superstructure remains, that were highlighted by the precision in the stone cut walls. Az grabbed his tape measure, fastened it around the corner of the stone remains, and ran the length of the tomb with the tape measure.
10m.......20m.......30m......40m.....45m.......48m.....(man this is one big mother!)...49.50m......50m!!!!! This tombs' length was 50m! Damn. Indiana Az ran the tape measure along the width of the northern edge of the tomb...........10m......15m......20m.....25m.......26.50m.....27m!!! Good lord! As he lay the tape measure down, he noticed the rather large dark discolouration that ran at a right angle to the length in the north. And bordering this dark discolouration, were large uncut stones on the exterior, while on the interior were there existed a buttress of large cut limestone slabs. With a scrape of his trowel , he realised that the discolouration was in fact the original mud brick wall remains that lined the exterior of the stone tomb. Carefully examining the other sides, he noticed too, that all but one side included this same architectural feature. Indiana Az had a hunch. To comprehend how this structure would originally have looked in its day, Az put two and two together and drew a diagram in the sand...
If three sides were of mud brick, they would have been vertical. However, the lack of mud brick on the east side, with just cut stone slabs rising in a step fashion, would have created a stepped incline. In fact, this side would have looked like a pyramid if someone was looking at the tomb from the east side. Well whaddya know! This immense tomb could only have been built by a person of considerable wealth and standing, to employ such craftsmanship in the architecture of his/her resting place. Aha! The resting place! Indiana Az raced back to the large shaft, and fount the immediately noticed the intricate engineering of stone cut blocks that resembled mud brick architecture. Once again this feature lined three sides of the shaft. But on the south side, there was a whopper of a stone slab situated on its side, that Indiana Az jumped up on top of. A wild gebel Dog - basking in the sun on his back - was startled, and ran off with his tail between his legs. Hmmmm, Indiana Az thought, Guardian of the tomb my ass. Az crouched down and whooped out a few measurements of the stone slab. But there behind him, lay another 8 all in line varying in length. By calculating the dimensions of the visible slab in the shaft, he worked out that each slab would weigh at least 1.8 tonnes. Gadzooks! Indiana Az promptly recorded the tomb, and then photographed it. So half of the tombs had been found. Now there were only 6 more to find in the far south of the site......
Indiana Az looked at his GPS coordinates, and found that he would have to walk through the southern village to get through to the tombs - if they were still there. It had been nine years since anybody was last down in this area. And as Indiana Az walked through the congested back streets, his grim fears were getting the best of him. Through makeshift shanties, and over construction materials, it didn't look pretty. On and on he walked. Then he walked some more. Indiana Az stopped and wiped his brow. Then he kept on walking. He came onto an intersection, and whipped out his map. Judging by the coordinates, he was standing on top of the area. Village children crowded around the statuesque figure, thinking Indiana Az was some lost Hawaga (foreigner, infidel.) But Indiana Az knew where he was. As he looked around, there stretched an expanse of illegal building and bulldozed areas. The tombs were gone. Built over. Forever lost. He knew where the stone tombs lay exactly. One was definitely under the houses, and the other two were covered by construction rubbish. A sign stood in front of him, declaring this land the property of a building company since 1992. Bollocks he said. No-one owns this land except the antiquities department. Some evil forces were back-dealing, selling off the land that wasn't theirs. This was wrong........
But there lay one more vain chance that the 3 most southern stone tombs existed. Indiana Az walked on, GPS in hand, and the sun on his back. Within ten minutes, he came to a large wall that blocked his path. The GPS indicated that the area he was looking for was just behind it. This could be promising he thought. Az glanced behind him like a shifty criminal and then scaled the fence. Indiana Az fell to the ground. Hard. Quickly jumping to his feet, he brushed himself off and braced himself for what he was about to see. From beneath his hat, Az's deep brown eyes rose ever so slowly. But what lay before him crushed his spirit. He fell to the ground and cursed all within earshot. This was murder, mayhem and degradation all rolled into one. The site, enclosed by the wall..........was a rubbish tip. Endless mounds of broken concrete littered the site. As far as the eye could see, the place had been bulldozed before many a pick up truck had dumped endless shite upon an ancient burial ground of the ancient egyptians. Just in this area alone, there were over 200 burials found. 3 of them stone tombs. But nothing was left. Not even the slightest indication of a hole for a burial. Sadness welled up in Indiana Az. This had to be heard about. Lessons needed to be learned. Someone was gonna go down for this. He needed help. And Indiana Az knew just who that might be............but it was 4pm. And Az needed to unwind over a few quick drinks.
Jumping in a taxi, Az headed the Cairo Jazz Club, where he was to meet some fellow visiting Academics from Australia - Dr Damo Jalili & His Hon. Dr. Jason Tolmie. When Indiana Az arrived there he found his fellows waiting. Over a few (ok, maybe 6-7 each) cold frosty Stella beers, Indiana Az told them of the tombs that had been lost. Of course they were shocked, and couldn't believe what they were hearing. But the music was jiving, and Indiana Az got up for a boogie on the dance floor. Feeling straight as a tack, Indiana Az glanced at his watch and realised he had to meet his contact. Az said goodbye to his fellow academics, wished them well in their travels, and headed off downtown.
As Indiana Az pulled up to the Australian Embassy in Zamalek, he saw the proud Australian flag holding strong against the wind. Gracing the marble steps up to the front door, he was let in by two butlers, and ushered into the residence. Greeted upon entry with some fine australian beer, he was greeted by the Australian Ambassador, Robert. Indiana Az told him of the ills, and the evil forces at work in Helwan. Always supportive of the Australian archaeological team, the Ambassador vowed to lend a helping hand in the fight and the race against time. Over many laughs, great hospitality, and exchanged words on the subject, Indiana Az made way home. The Ambassador showed (shooed?) him out, and let Indiana Az know that he would hold a party for the team on the 9th of January, and that he would shortly visit the site of Helwan after with the diplomatic esky. A smile stretched across Indiana Az's face, and he nodded in thanks. But it was time to hit the sack. It had been a long day, and tomorrow he was going to begin actual excavation on the site of Helwan. The past was calling out to him, whispering sweet nothings, begging to see the light of day again. The past needed to be heard, needed to be seen, and needed to be remembered, before it disappeared forever - lost, gone.........not ever known. The story of the past needed to be told. But first, it needed to be found........................... Adios Amigos, till next time. Indiana Az.