CAIRO — A recently unearthed ancient tomb near the Valley of the Kings has become a new source of mystery in the archaeological world. “The technological wonders found here far exceed what we thought Egyptian civilization was capable of at the time,” said on-site historian Dr. Timothy Bathos.
Bathos and the crew described each chamber as being more surprising than the previous one. Even the method granting entry into the initial room was a first for any Egyptian tomb. According to Bathos, the team was inspecting a pair of unusual hand-shaped hieroglyphs on either side of a sealed door they had been unable to open. During the examination, the door mysteriously slid open. “Video footage of the survey showed that the doors opened when the team happened to touch both hand glyphs at the same time. We’re not sure what happened and we’ve never seen anything like it,” Bathos said.
The mystery continued in the first chamber, where the dig team found two rows of stone columns. This would not be out of the ordinary, except that each column had a series of rotating sections marked with hieroglyphs. Researchers admit that they began to “idly spin” the columns “completely randomly” hoping to effect some change — and it worked. Their flashlights flickered and dimmed, a phenomenon currently being blamed on an unexpected electromagnetic field distortion. When the lights came back on, a previously unnoticed doorway had appeared in the stone wall.
In this third and final chamber, Bathos described seeing “the most unbelievable piece of ancient Egyptian technology.” He went on to talk about a beam of light emanating from an unseen source. “It was so concentrated, we ordered eye protection. One of our graduate student interns made the mistake of looking directly into it. She may never regain vision in that eye.”
The team describes moving very carefully throughout the room after that incident. Further examination revealed two handheld polished bronze discs capable of redirecting the beam of light. After carefully illuminating a gem inset into the wall, another unseen door opened, this time into a long corridor. Says Bathos, “That hallway just led us right back to the entrance of the tomb, as if enticing us to go through the chambers again.”
The sheer novelty of this newly explored tomb led one forward-thinking researcher to write down everything that had happened to him. Unfortunately he reports that he lost track of the notebook somewhere in the tomb. “With the doors sealed again, my only hope is that another group finds it and uses my notes to guide them safely through.”
Another team member reported feeling elated after helping to uncover the tomb’s mysteries. “I had fun! My only complaint was the sand. It got everywhere.” When asked if she planned to continue with the dig team and potentially uncover more strange tombs, she was hesitant. “I’m more of a water person than a desert person. Do you think there are any pirates that have ever set up elaborate traps and puzzles like this?”
The RECON Observer
This piece was first published on August 18, 2024 in The RECON Observer, a print publication distributed at RECON Los Angeles. While the complete newspaper and all of its secrets were only available at RECON Los Angeles, we’re making a few columns available on Room Escape Artist for all to enjoy.
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