So this is the man whose blood runs through the history of ancient
Egypt."
"In his way he was as great as any Pharaoh," Nicholas said quietly.
t was Royan who roused herself first. "The river!'
aT
she cried, with a razor edge to her voice. "We cannot let all this go
again, when the river rises."
"Neither can we hope to save all of it. There is too much. A great mass
of treasure. Our time here has almost run out, so we must pick out the
most beautiful and important pieces and pack them into the crates. Lord
alo'the knows if we even have time for that."
So they worked in a frenzy in the short time that was left to them. They
could not even think about saving the eapons, the statues and the
murals, the furniture and the banqueting. utensils and the wardrobes of
costumes. The great golden chariot must stand where it had stood for
four thousand years, They removed the golden death'mask from over
Tanus's head, but they left his mummy in the innermost of the golden
coffins. Then Nicholas sent for Mai Metemma. The old abbot came with
twenty of his monks to receive the lie of the ancient saint that he had
been promised holy re as his reward. Reverentially, chanting deep and
slow, they bore Tanus's coffin away to its new resting place in the
maqdas of the monastery. ect,"
"At least the old hero will be treated with resP Royan said softly. Then
she looked around the tomb. "We cannot leave the site like this, with
the coffins thrown Royan protested. "it looks as about and the lids
discarded, though grave-robbers have been at work here."
"Grave-robbers is exactly what we are." Nicholas smiled at her.
tly, "and we
"No, we are archaeologists," she denied ho must try to act like it." ing
coffins one within So they replaced the six remain the other, laid them
back in the great sarcophagus, and finally replaced the massive stone
lid. Only then did Royan allow them to begin selecting and packing the
treasures they would take with them.
The death'mask was without any doubt the premier item in the entire
tomb. it fitted neatly into one of the the wooden ushabd of Taita laid
alongside it, crates, with until it was firmly secured, Royan packed
with Styrofoarn waterproof wax crayon: "Mask & scribbled on the lid in
Taita Ushabti'.
Their final selection was, perforce, hurried and superof the cedarwood
official. They could not rip open every one chests that were piled high
in the alcoves of the arcade.
The painted and gilded chests themselves were priceless artefacts, and
should be treated with respect. So they allowed themselves to be guided
by the illustrations on the lid of each. They discovered immediately
that these were indeed an accurate inventory and catalogue of the
contents. In the chest which showed Pharaoh decked in the blue war
crown, they found the actual crown laid on gilded leather pillows that
had been moulded to fit it exactly and to protect it.
Even in the short time left to them they became almost surfeited by the
magnificence of the items they uncovered as they selected and opened the
cedarwood chests. Not only the blue crown, but the red and white crown
of the kingdoms united was there, and the splendid Nemes crown, all
three in such a miraculous state of preservation that they might have
been lifted from Pharaoh's brow that morning.
From the very outset it had to be a prerequisite that any artefact must
be small enough to fit into one of the ammunition crates. If it were too
large, no matter what its value or historical significance, then it had
to be rejected and left in the tomb. Fortunately, many of the cedarwood
chests containing the royal jewellery fitted snugly into the metal
crates, so that not only the contents but also the chests themselves
could be saved. However, the larger items, the crowns and the huge
jewelled gold pectoral medallions, had to be repacked.
As the ammunition crates were filled, they carried them down and stacked
them on the landing outside the sealed doorway, ready to be carried out.
Including the.
crates that contained the eight statuettes of the gods from the long
gallery, they had packed and catalogued forty-eight crates when they
heard Sapper's unmistakable accents floating up the staircase.
"Major, where the hell are yOU7 YOU can't bugger about hairy arse out
in here any longer. Come on, man! Get you of here. The river is in full
spate, and the dam is going to burst at any minute."
Sapper came bounding up the staircase, but even he stopped in wonder and
awe as he looked for the first time pon the splendours of the funeral
arcade of Pharaoh Mamose. It took some minutes for him to recover from
the shock and to revert to his old prosaic self again.
"I mean it, major! It's a matter of minutes, not hours.
That ruddy dam is going to go. Apart from that, Mek is fighting in the
hills at the head of the chasm. You can hear the gunfire even at the
bottom of the cliff in Taita's pool.
4 Al You and Royan have to get out and fast, I kid you nod'
"Okay, Sapper. We are on our way. Get back to the chamber at the bottom
of those stairs. You saw those ammunition crates down there?" Sapper
nodded, and Nicholas went on quickly, "Have the men lug those crates out
of here. Get them down to the monastery. I want you to supervise that
part of it. We will follow you down the trail with the rest of them."
"Don't mess around, major. Your life isn't worth a pile of old junk like
this. Get moving now."
"Get on with it, Sapper. But don't let Royan hear you call it a pile of
old junk. You could be in really serious trouble."
Sapper shrugged. "Don't say I didn't warn. you." He turned and started
back down the staircase.
"You know where the boats are stashed, Nicholas shouted after him. "If
you get there before me, get them inflated and the crates lashed down.
We will be right behind you."
The moment Sapper was gone, Nicholas raced back
down the arcade to where Royan was still at work in the treasury.
"That's it!" he shouted at her. "No more time. Let's get out."
"Nicky, we can't leave this-'
"Oud' He grabbed her arm. "We are getting out now.
Unless you want to share Tanus's tomb with him on a permanent basis."
"Can't I just-'
"No, you crazy woman! Now! The dam will go at any moment."
She'broke away from him, snatched up some handfuls of left-over
jewellery from the open chest at her feet, and began stuffing them into
her pockets.
"I can't leave these."
He seized her around the waist and swung her over his shoulder. "I told
you I meant it," he said grimly, and ran with her down the arcade.
"Nicky! Put me down." She kicked with outrage, but he continued running
down into the chamber at the foot of the staircase.
Hansith and his men were carrying the last few packed ammunition crates
up the staircase on the far side of the chamber. They balanced the
crates easily on their heads and went up the steps with alacrity.
Here Nicholas set Royan down on her own feet again, "Will you promise to
behave now? We aren't playing games.
This is deadly serious - I mean deadly, if we get trapped down here."
"I know." She looked contrite. "I just couldn't bear to leave the rest