3 October 1976 - Gebel Barkel - Sudan

Taylor sat in the map tent, plotting out the scope of that day's excavations on aerial photographs of the dig. An orderly grid pattern, like a map of Manhatten, was creeping over the landscape. Imposing order on sands that had hid secrets for millenia.

Desert moths swirled around the single flourescent light, their shadows flitting over the canvas. Taylor finsihed the last of the days marking, and looked down at the completed work. The tomb system of Gebel Barkel had turned out to be much larger than anyone had initially thought. From the small collection of Nubian pyramids that lay in the shadow of the massif that gave the site its name, a complex network of outbuildings and tenements stretched towards the Nile river, indicating a large population centre, rivalling some of those centres in lower Egypt.

The door of the tent swung open and tall, swarthy arabic man in a turban entered. Taylor looked up from the photographs.

'No diggers in here, get out' he said, waving the newcomer away.

'Well dear fellow,' said the Arab, 'it's a lucky thing I'm no digger. Nor a leveller, nor a radical communist for that matter. I appreciate you chaps are worried about the red menace, but this is going a little far don't you think?'

Taylor leaned back in his chair, staring at the intruder. 'Who are you?'

'Name's Alexei, dear boy. Alexei Abdul-Mu'id. Although you can just call me Alexei. I am talking with Dr Taylor I take it? Mrs Maxwell told me you would be in this tent.'

'Yes, yes' Taylor stood up hurridly. 'I am Dr Taylor. I didn't. I mean, I'm sorry for my rudeness. I didn't expect to meet a, ahhh,  British national, dressed in your garb. You know, out here.'

'Oh, hardly British. and I am the one who should apologise, Doctor. My apperance does take people off guard, and, I have to admit, do enjoy the reversal on peoples faces when I tell them who I am.' A smile lit up Alexei's face. 'A foible I know, but a harmless one I hope.  I am a professor of egyptology at Cairo university, by way of Cambridge.'

Taylor stood up and extended his hand 'Niall Taylor, archeologist by way of Colombia and Ann Arbor".
Alexei grabbed Taylor's hand, a broad grin across his face. 'Yes Dr Taylor, I have heard much of you. It is a pleasure, a great pleasure'.

Taylor getured to a camp chair at the map table, 'Please Mr Abdulmood'

'Alexei, please'

'Alexei, yes then, please, sit down'.

'Oh no, I shan't keep you, I"m sure you've had a long day'

'No, not at all, I have just finished todays log. Please, I'm curious what brings you to our little project. I had not heard anything about you coming...'

Alexei took the chair Taylor had offered, glancing at the photos scattered across the table. 'It may be easier for you to explain why I am here'

'I'm not sure I follow' said Taylor.

'Here,' Alexei said, pulling forward the photo Taylor had been working on showing the whole site. 'Here is a record of all digs thus far, am I right?'

"Yes' said Taylor.

'Here were your digs from autumn '74,' continued Alexei 'around the original pyramids, and then over here,' pointring to a another crosshatched part of the map 'following the deductive work of Professor Hallen in your team, you continued in '75 along this wadi and uncovered the late kingdom works.'

'That is correct Mr, uh, Alexei' said Taylor. 'You seem to be very well informed of our progress'

'Birds and spiders Mr Taylor, birds and spiders. Archeology is a small world, especially when you are digging up my own backyard. Now, here" he said, pointing to a separate part of the photo 'you dug some sample trenches late last season and early this season, closer to the massif. What did you find?'

'Nothing' answered Taylor.

'Nothing!' exclaimed Alexei, jabbing his finger onto the table. 'Precisely sir. Precisely.' He sat back, grinning.
'Yes, nothing.' continued Taylor. 'In an almost perfect circle, 700 metres from the base of the massif, no buildings, no pits, no rubbish mounds.'

'And does that, as an archeologist, strike you as somewhat odd, Mr Taylor?"

"Why yes it does.' Taylor moved to the opposite chair and drew it up to the table. He took the photo Alexei had been holding.  'There are caves in the massif. Especially large ones here, here and here' he said, pointing at the edges of the mountain. 'If this place originated as a place of permanent settlement, surely those caves would have been the first homes. Any settlement should have extended out from there. It is very odd to have nothing there, but a very large settlement some distance away from the most habitable parts.'

'Very good Mr Taylor' said Alexei, leaning forward and resting his elbows on the table. He continued in a lower voice 'and why, do you think, that is?'

'Well, there could be a number of explanations. It has actually started to become something of a sore point between some of us here. Some say it is simply the place we are excavting is closer to the Nile, and therefore a more convenient place for buildings.'

'Come on Mr Taylor, you don't beleive that do you? The Gerbal Massif is an 800 foot high mountain in a flat desert. It is no coincidence there is a settlement here. Why no buildings on the massif itself?'
'I think it is for the same reason there are no settlements found near stone henge in England, Alexei. It is holy ground'

'Or taboo?'

'Yes, or taboo. Although given the settlement is built closer to the tombs than the massif, I don't see what taboo would be so strong as to require such distance from the mountain, it's almost like...' Taylor trailed off.
'Like what?' asked Alexei, frowning.

'Like... I don't know, like quarantine.'

Alexei smiled again. 'Aha, Mr Taylor, I see my faith in you has not been misplaced. Yes, it is like a quarantine exclusion zone is it not? You can almost see the yellow tape surrounding the massif with hieroglyphs warning 'Onto this ground, do not tread'. Heeding that ancient caveat, none did. Although the pull and attraction of the massif must have still be very great for such a large population to live here. Attraction and fear together in ancient Egypt. Fascinating. And with that, you have perfectly answered your own question.'

'I have?'

'That is why I am here Mr Taylor' cried Alexei'. 'To investigate, to riddle, to pry into the dusty secrets of this place. I meant to come last year, but I could not make it.'

Taylor sat still, looking at the man across the table. He leant forward and began picking up the photos. 'Well, sir,' Taylor said in a cooler tone. 'I am sure we would love to have your expertise on board. I am not sure what digs you have been on before, but they are not so much about solving riddles as the slow accumulation of data. There are no fancy temples or tutankahmuns here I'm afraid. Just an old settlement, which is filling in some of the knowledge of the late kingdom period of the nubian empire.'

'Of course Mr Taylor, of course, I understand this is very important scientific work going on here which I fully support. I apologise if my language is sometimes verbose, I promise I will not get in your way. But if possible, could you spare time tomorrow to show me around the site?"

"It would be my pleasure."

"Capital. We should start ealy to beat the fury of the sun.'

"Of course. Sunrise is at 6:12am tomorrow. I can meet you at six?"

"Splendid Mr Taylor. Absolutlely splendid" said Alexei. "I will leave you in peace, until tomorrow."

With that, Alexei rose and shook Taylor's hand again before disappearing back out into the darkness.