The Exodus Quest

II

'Seti the First?' asked Lily.

'An early Nineteenth Dynasty pharaoh,' answered Gaille, digging up more sand with her fingers. 'He came to power about fifty years after Akhenaten. He's buried in the Valley of the Kings.'

'What about him?' asked Stafford.

'His tomb appeared relatively simple at first. An entrance shaft leading to a burial chamber with a sump directly in front of it.'

'Just like this, you mean?'

'And the Royal Tomb, yes. But the thing is, it turned out that the sump wasn't actually a sump at all. It was a shaft that led down to the real tomb chamber. It was just made to look like a sump in an effort to fool potential tomb robbers. Not that it worked, of course.'

'You think that's what this is?' asked Lily. 'A burial shaft?'

'It has to be a possibility,' nodded Gaille. 'I can't believe I didn't think of it before.'

'How deep would it be?'

'The shaft in Seti's tomb was a hundred metres. But that's exceptional. Shaft tombs are usually just a few metres deep. And these hieroglyphs must mean we're near to something.'

'What use will that be?' muttered Stafford. 'It won't lead us out.'

'Probably not,' agreed Gaille. 'But it'll give the water somewhere to drain off to. Unless you've got a better idea?'

'No,' admitted Stafford. 'I don't.'