Missing in Egypt (15 page)

Gahiji pricked his ears when he heard our whispers.
 
 
“Be quiet” he yelled out.
 
“You no talk good”.
 
We left it at that.

4.
Golden Treasures

Early the next morning Rashidi, Mosi and Mohammed were back to collect us.
 
The truck had acquired a cover overnight – a high canvas affair similar to an army truck.
 
They obviously planned to pack a lot of treasures into it.
 
When Mohammed opened the gate to the tomb he signalled to us to go in.
 
“Come and see what you are going to move for us” he said.
 
He handed us each headgear with a torch in the middle of it.
 
Whilst Rashidi and Mosi remained at the top we made our way down the roughly-hewn steps deep into the ground.
 
Masud led the way, keen to see what he had first seen so many years before.

At the bottom of the tunnel there was a huge chamber.
 
Yasmeen and I gasped in awe as we saw the treasures it held.
 
The gold carriage which Masud had spoken of was as breathtaking as he had described.
 
The chamber was filled to capacity with the most amazing objects.
 
As we turned around our torches picked up more and more artefacts and the golden objects glistened in the beams of light.

We made our way into one of the two smaller chambers.
 
This was also filled with treasures.
 
The other smaller chamber, as Masud had to
ld us, held the sarcophagus.
 
It was very small – similar in size to that of Tutankhamun, the boy King. It too was surrounded by treasures. “By the work that has gone into the tomb it seemed they had known she was going to die young and had been busy preparing it for her.
 
Although it could have been prepared for someone else and she died first” Mohammed explained.
 
“No matter, it is going to make us very rich.
 
Now it is time for you to make yourselves useful.
 
Start with the largest chamber and make sure you don’t damage anything”.

I wasn’t sure how Masud was going to manage this.
 
The steps were very crudely cut and it was a steep climb back up the tunnel.
 
Then it was long walk to the truck.
 
We obviously needed either more people or some other way of getting the treasures to the truck.
 
Apparently Mohammed had thought of this.
 
“You” he said, pointing to Masud “come with me, you will drive the donkey cart”.
 
Obviously he didn’t want anyone else knowing about the tomb!
 
The donkey cart was of long, thin construction and would just fit through the gap in the ravine.
 
“Well” I thought, “that suits us because as long as we are needed we are safe,” although I still harboured strong doubts as to whether they would let us go once the job was done.

Some time later Masud and Mohammed returned with a mule and narrow cart.
 
It was Masud’s job to load the cart, drive the mule to the truck and unload on to the truck.
 
Sometimes Mosi would help him.
 
Mohammed would then drive the truck to wherever they were storing the treasures and unload them by himself.
 
It was up to Yasmeen, myself and Mosi to bring the treasures out of the tomb.

We constantly marvelled at the objects we were moving.
 
They dazzled in the sunlight when we brought them to the surface.
 
Mohammed had provided bags in which to load the jewellery and smaller items.
 
The larger items, such as the carriage pieces, urns and even a raft, Mosi and I had to manhandle up the steps.
 
Yasmeen would be in raptures over some of the treasures.
 
“This piece alone” she said, holding up a golden necklace “would be worth more than £E100,000.
 
Can you imagine what they are going to get for all of this?” she exclaimed, waiving her hands at everything around us.

We spent many days just emptying the large chamber.
 
Then we started on the smaller one which held the sarcophagus.
 
These were mainly small items such as combs, jewellery and even a mummified dog and cat. “What are you going to do about the sarcophagus?” Rashidi asked Mohammed.
 
“We will leave it here” he replied.
 
“I do not want to draw attention by selling a mummy and, if there is a curse on the tomb, maybe it will be placated if we leave the sarcophagus in tact.”

I was very relieved to hear that – not so much in relation to the curse but more the fact that I very much doubted Mosi and I were up to the task of removing it – even if we used rollers and tried to drag it up the tunnel.

We only knew what day of the week it was because on Sunday we were given a rest day as our Christian Egyptian captives thought we would work better if we had a day of rest.
 
Although it was nice not to have to break our backs in the sun it was a very long day with nothing to do – no TV, unable to go out and only Gahiji for company.
 
Yasmeen and her father slept most of the afternoon whilst I tried to devise a way of getting us out of this mess.
 
Our only chance was to get hold of the truck but our captors were very alert to our every move and very careful about not leaving the keys in it. I could see no way of getting us all out together.
 
So far I had not been game to try and implement my plan to lock them in the tomb whilst we made our escape.
 

They were very careful to leave Rashidi outside the tomb at all times to watch over us.
 
He helped to load the cart but apart from that his main duty was to keep an eye on us. “Perhaps” I though
t “
once they have what they want they will just let us go.
 
Although we know their names, we have never seen their faces, as they keep them covered at all times and they could easily be using false names to protect themselves.”

The final chamber had larger objects and it took us a few days to empty it.
 
But eventually everything had been removed.
 
I had no idea where all the treasures had been moved to but I figured Mohammed had a big storage area somewhere and would sell the items gradually so as not to flood the market and draw too much attention.
 
No doubt he had buyers lined up for items for private collections.

After we removed the final objects Rashidi ordered Mosi and I to cover the tomb entrance with rubble.
 
We toiled in the heat to conceal the tomb without moving any more rocks than we needed.
 
With the job almost complete, Rashidi went off to help unload the donkey cart leaving Mosi to guard us.
 
He ordered Yasmeen and Masud to help me finish covering the entrance.
 
As they came to join me I took the chance to
 
stretch my aching limbs.
 
Then I moved to the side to make more room for the others. I made my way almost behind Mosi and picked up a good sized boulder.

Suddenly, in the heat of the day, three shots rang out across the desert.

Section III
 
 
Life Decision -
Mine

1.
Valley of the Queens

Kareem and I spent the rest of the day planning our next move.
 
Early the next morning Kareem went out and hired a car.
 
We took water and some bread, cheese and fruit and set off for the Valley of the
Queens
.
 
With some difficulty we located the track that served as a road to go up into the hills behind Queen
Hatshepsut’s
tomb.
 
Far away from the tourists there were tracks into a small village and it was there we stopped at the local bakery to ask if they knew the family of Edjo.
 
Our request was met with a blank stare – they didn’t understand English and if they understood the word “Edjo” they were not letting on.
 
You couldn’t always tell with the Egyptians whether they really didn’t understand or were using the language barrier as an excuse not to help.

The village was very small.
 
Kareem wandered around, asking the same questions at the local shop and also of a couple of very old men sitting on a bench in the square. They raised their wrinkled faces and squinted at us through half closed eyes.
 
Then one of them shrugged his shoulders, raising his hands as if to say “who knows, who cares?” All his inquiries were met with the same blank look.
 
“Okay,” he said “this is obviously not going to get us anywhere.
 
We need to find the Imam for this area and ask him.
 
If he hasn’t heard of Edjo he may be able to check their records”.

The village wasn’t big enough for its own Imam so we returned to
Luxor
to inquire there.
 
We went to the main mosque and sought out the Imam.
 
We were told he wasn’t available now but to come back at 2 pm and he would speak with us.
 
We were glad to have our lunch and to discuss how we would broach the subject.
 
After some deliberating, we decided to tell him that Ramy and Yasmeen were missing and we believed that Edjo, a friend of Yasmeen’s late grandfather, might be able to help us find them.

Promptly at 2 pm we presented ourselves at the mosque and soon after the Imam appeared and greeted us.
 
“Welcome” he said in good English.
 
“How can I help you?” Kareem explained he was looking for his brother and girlfriend who had disappeared.
 
The Imam made the appropriate sympathetic noises.
 
“We think the family of a close friend of the girl’s late grandfather may be able to help us find them but we do not know where they live now” Kareem said.
 
“We thought you may be able to help us – either from personal knowledge or from the Mosque’s records”.
 
“I will do what I can” the Imam replied.
 
“Tell me what you know”.
 
“Very little, I’m afraid” “Kareem replied.
 
“The girl’s father is Masud Ahmose and his father’s friend was called Edjo and he came from a small village behind the Valley of the
Queens
.
 
That is all we know”.

“I will go through the records tonight and see if I can find anyone named Edjo around that age.
 
I myself have only been her for 10 years and am not aware of him, but I will do my best to help you.
 
Come and see me again tomorrow at 9 am.” We returned to
Luxor
, fervently hoping the Imam would be able to give us a lead.
 
Without this, we really had no idea how we could proceed.

The Imam arrived at ten after nine and again greeted us courteously.
 
“You will be pleased to know I have some good news for you” he said.
 
There was only one person named Edjo in the records for that area who would be the right age.
 
His family name is Ahmad and they live in the village behind Queen
Hatshepsut’s
tomb.
 
As you know Edjo died some time ago but he had two sons, Rohmald and Gahiji.
 
As far as I know, they still live there”.

We thanked the Imam profusely and returned to our room to consider our next move.
 
Edjo’s sons lived in the village where we had asked about Edjo and it seemed odd that no-one had recognised the name and directed us to either Rohmald or Gahiji.
 
Not being able to think of any explanation other than our bad pronunciation, we decided to head off back to the village and start again.
 
As we were about to leave the hotel, Hamidi called out to us.
 
“Where are you two off to in such a hurry?”
 
 
Kareem and I exchanged glances.
 
We were not sure how much to tell Hamidi.
 
“We are going to the village behind Queen Hatshepsut’s tomb to find Rohmald and Gahiji Ahmad, who may know something of my brother’s disappearance” Kareem replied.
 
“Wait a minute and I’ll come with you” Hamidi replied. “It will be much easier for me to translate for you – most of the villagers don’t speak any English you know”.