ARCHAEOLOGISTS IN THE WESTERN DESERT
In the western desert, after midnight, a team of six archaeologists were asleep in their tents in a valley with high hills of sand on both sides.
FOUR MEN MOVING STEALTHILY
Two Land Cruisers were moving slowly down the hill towards the tents. They were making no engine noise and with no lights. They stopped 200 metres from the tents. Four foreigners got out and walked 50 metres. Then they climbed down into a big underground passage. There, they switched on their torches and saw paintings on the walls.
WHO THE FOUR MEN ARE
The four men were robbers. The oldest man was their leader. He was followed by a small thin man with glasses carrying a machine. Two other men were strong-looking. The taller was carrying a computer while the other was carrying a large bag.
SEARCHING FOR ROOMS NOT DISCOVERED YET
The four men walked into an underground room where they found five mummies. Then, they moved to an empty room. The oldest man said the two rooms were discovered by the archaeologists the week before. The treasures in the second room had been sent to the Museum in Cairo the day before. He also added that he believed there were other rooms which were not discovered yet. He was planning to find them that night and take the treasures in them. Thus, they would become rich.
GPR DETECTS A ROOM
They had got the Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR). It could transmit radio waves that would penetrate the wall. When they hit something, they would be sent back. The computer attached to it would change them into pictures. The small man connected a wire between the GPR and the computer. Using the GPR, they saw a dark shape on the screen which meant a room on the other side of the wall.
THE MEN REACH THE ROOM
The big man broke through the wall with a pickaxe and a hammer. He destroyed the ancient paintings on it. A doorway appeared filled with stones. Knocking the stones away, they went through a hole to another passage. Spiders' webs were hanging from the ceiling. At the end of the passage, there were two gold doors which they broke down.
THE TREASURES IN THE ROOM
The oldest man was the first to enter. A huge spider's web covered his face and body. He broke through it to get inside. The room's walls were covered with paintings and writing. They found boxes, pots, large gold objects and two mummies with gold masks. They took the treasures out into the passage.
THE ATTACK OF THE SPIDERS
Near the door, the big man cried with pain when he was attacked by spiders and was bitten by their long fangs. The tall man took off his jacket and hit the spiders. Another spider bit the small man three times before he could kill it. Seeing spiders all around them, they hurried out with the treasures to their cars. By the time they drove away, the four men had been bitten by the spiders.
THE SPIDERS' BITES
The oldest man said that the bites were not dangerous as the Egyptian spiders are not deadly. The small man said they might be an unknown species like the fish which was found in an underground lake in South America. However, they felt pain and seated heavily. They were thirsty though they drank all the water they had. Then, their limbs and face muscles made sudden violent movements. They could no longer drive. In the early morning, the big man saw four spiders on the boxes in the back of the car. The tall man couldn't move and fell beside the car. The four men died.
A HELICOPTER FINDS THE DEAD MEN
At midday, a helicopter was on its way to a transmitter that needed repair. It was carrying a telecom engineer and a technician. The pilot saw the two vehicles and the tall man's body on the sand. He brought the helicopter down and the three men ran carrying bottles of water for help. When they found the four men dead, the pilot believed they died of thirst when they lost their way.
A NARROW ESCAPE
The three men did not see the spiders. The pilot's hands were getting nearer toward the spiders. He escaped death when he moved to the helicopter as the engineer asked him to get on the radio.
THE BIGGEST SPIDER ALIVE
The police arrived in a few hours. The great heat of the sun had killed the small spiders in the cars. The two Land Cruisers were taken to a new town south-west of Cairo called Hamdayya. The biggest spider was still alive in one of them
الخميس أبريل 10, 2008 8:32 pm
