The Egyptian Museum – It has no equal in its enormous significance: to the contents of the Egyptian Museum, gathered from the length and breadth of Egypt, by the efforts of the devoted band of international scholars and excavators, we owe half our knowledge of the ancient world [ … ] It is a perpetual wonder. With startling clarity, the life of ancient Egypt is revealed; and even where historical significance is beyond our understanding the pure art and splendour of relics in perfect preservation fills the beholder with amazement.
Cook’s Traveller’s Handbook to Egypt and the Sudan
Fuad picked Clara up from the hotel and took her up the Nile Corniche, beyond the army barracks and into the heart of old Cairo. Beyond the barracks on the Sharia Mariette Pasha, named after the legendary French Egyptologist, Auguste Mariette, and the first Egyptian Egyptologist, Ahmed Kamal Pasha, was the magnificent façade of the Egyptian Museum. Fuad waxed lyrical about the treasures she’d find within, and she chuckled to herself as she recognised an almost word for word rendition of the article in Cook’s. He also told her it had been one of Mrs Christie’s favourite places to visit. Clara rewarded him with a handsome baksheesh and asked him not to wait as she was unsure how long she would be. He expressed his concern that she not try to make her way back to the hotel alone, and she told him not to worry, Dr Rahman from the university would ensure she got back safely. Fuad bowed to her and instructed his pony to ‘Yalla! ’
Dr Rahman was waiting on the steps of the museum to meet her. He was impeccably dressed in a black three-piece suit and a dark red fez which matched his tie. He greeted her with a slight bow and ushered her past a long queue of tourists and into the museum. Stewards stepped back deferentially as he passed, one of them rushing to shoo a small child that was blocking the great man’s path.
Clara allowed herself to be swept along on the wave of deference. She was immensely grateful that Rahman appeared not to have any difficulties working with women; she knew that without that she would not have been able to progress the investigation. She wondered how Rahman and Daphne had first met and how he had grown to admire her so much.
She took a quick glance at his handsome profile and wondered if there was any more to his admiration than professional respect. However, any romantic backstory would only be learned if Rahman was indiscreet or Daphne candid. Clara thought the latter more likely. For now, it was irrelevant to the situation at hand. It was Daphne’s professional connection that paved the way for this meeting, and it was Clara’s professionalism as an investigator that would move it forward.
Dr Rahman led Clara through the foyer and into the Grande Galerie d’Honneur, filled with splendid statuary that easily surpassed the British Museum in volume, and rivalled it in majesty. They passed under the stony stare of a giant Rameses II into the Atrium Central. Clara noted that all the signage was in French. ‘I shall dispense with the guided commentary, Miss Vale,’ explained Dr Rahman. ‘You can visit another time as a tourist, and I shall be delighted to accompany you. But for now, I shall show you the treasures of Tutankhamun and Queen Ahhotep, as these pertain to our case.’
Rahman guided her towards a staircase at the back of the atrium, and up to the second floor.
‘Tutankhamun’s treasures are spread over three galleries,’ he explained, as he wove his way through a giddying array of artefacts spanning over four thousand years of Egyptian history. ‘But I shall focus on the most important items. The reason for this, Miss Vale, is because I think our case has its roots back in 1922.’ He raised his forefinger in emphasis before ploughing on. ‘I’ll explain why in a moment.’
Eventually, after sweeping past treasure after breathtaking treasure of what Howard Carter had so memorably described as ‘wonderful things’, they stopped in front of a gold mask of the famed boy pharaoh. Clara gasped. She had seen photographs of it before – in black and white – and an artist’s sketch in colour, but none of that did justice to the exquisite beauty of the funerary visage. It was around twenty-one inches in height (or half a metre, as the sign in French explained). The headdress and bust were made up of gold lines alternating with blue glass. According to the accompanying French signage, the gold weighed over ten kilograms. In addition to the gold and glass, the mask was inlaid with gemstones, including lapis lazuli and quartz for the eyes, obsidian for the pupils, as well as carnelian, amazonite and turquoise. Clara circled the mask on its pedestal, absorbing its beauty in complete silence. Rahman had arranged for the gallery to be cleared so they could view the treasures and talk in private.
‘It is a wonderous thing of beauty, is it not?’ asked Rahman, his voice softening with reverence.
‘I have never seen anything so exquisite in my life.’ Clara turned to him and saw there were tears in his eyes. This was more than a job to Dr Rahman.
‘Do you see what is on the top of his headdress?’ he asked, pointing to a snake.
‘It’s a cobra, isn’t it?’
‘It is,’ said Rahman. ‘It is one of the symbols of the god Amun-Ra. Note the similarities with the pharaoh’s name: Tut-an-kha-amun. It means “living image of Amun”. He took that name because he restored the cult of Amun worship after his father’s death. I won’t bore you with all the details, Miss Vale, but the key thing to understand is that Tut was believed to be the representative of Amun-Ra, the sun god, and one of his main symbols was the cobra.’
Clara nodded her understanding but was wondering where this history lesson was going.
‘Now, if you’ll follow me, I will show you the next piece of the puzzle.’ Rahman led her through more galleries filled with artefacts, until they reached a gallery labelled ‘Jewels and Funerary Furniture of Queen Ahhotep’.
He drew her attention to a glass case of jewellery. Clara caught her breath. It was almost identical in style and design to the treasure she had carried all the way from England in a hat box, with a characteristic mix of turquoise and gold. There was one particularly striking pectoral necklace of a falcon with outstretched wings.
‘So this is where those jewels came from,’ said Clara.
‘We think so,’ said Dr Rahman. ‘They are currently undergoing comparative metallurgical tests, which, I know you appreciate, is the most advanced scientific method of identification we have available to us.’
Clara nodded. ‘Yes, I have some experience in metallurgy.’
‘Unfortunately, I am unable to take you into the laboratory, for security reasons,’ Dr Rahman continued, ‘however, I would like to draw your attention to something here. Do you see the falcon?’
‘I do.’
‘Well, that is one of the main symbols of Queen Ahhotep. And Ahhotep means “the moon is satisfied”.’
‘I see. How does she relate to Tutankhamun?’ asked Clara.
Rahman smiled. ‘Ah, I see you are already connecting the dots. Well, Ahhotep was queen in the late seventeenth dynasty and Tut in the eighteenth. There were about two hundred years between them, Tut being more recent. Ahhotep’s son was Ahmose, which means “son of the moon” and he was the first king in what we call the eighteenth dynasty that Tutankhamun was a part of. So, Tut was a descendant of Ahhotep.’
‘The sun and the moon,’ mused Clara.
‘Indeed,’ said Rahman. ‘And they alternate in eclipsing one another. But the pertinent connection for our case, Miss Vale, is far more recent. Ahhotep died in 1530 BC, that is fifteen hundred years before the death of Jesus. Her tomb was rediscovered in 1859 in Thebes by the Frenchman Auguste Mariette, who,’ he said, gesturing around him, ‘was one of the founders of this museum. In fact, before the Tutankhamun treasure was found, Queen Ahhotep’s treasure was the most popular attraction for tourists. It was the first, dare I say, “glamorous” find that made headlines in newspapers in Europe. The Rosetta Stone before that was, of course, the most important academically, but didn’t capture the public imagination in the same way. Now there was gold to be found in Egypt. Treasure! And it became easier for European Egyptologists to raise finance for their expeditions.’
Clara nodded. ‘This is very interesting, Dr Rahman, but what is the connection to current events?’
Rahman smiled. ‘Straight to the point. The connection is the looting of Egyptian artefacts, their removal to Europe and the efforts – officially and unofficially – to prevent that.’
‘Are all artefacts in European museums looted?’ asked Clara.
Rahman shook his head. ‘Not at all. Much of it is there by agreement. But that’s where it gets complicated. Over the last hundred years, successive Egyptian governments have attempted to tighten up the laws around partage.’
‘Partage?’
‘Yes, that is the agreement that covers officially sanctioned digs in Egypt which are run by foreigners. Partage ensures they will have to split whatever they find with the Egyptian government. A concession is granted for the dig, but only some of the artefacts are allowed to leave. The rest has to stay in Egypt, and most of it ends up in this museum.’ Again he gestured around. ‘The rules around partage have become increasingly restrictive. But back when Mariette led the dig in Thebes and unearthed Ahhotep’s tomb, they were fairly lax. And that enraged many Egyptians. Not least my father.’
‘Your father?’
‘Mustafah Rahman was my father. He was one of the leading voices in the middle of the last century trying to keep Egyptian treasures for the Egyptians. He was present at the partage Ahhotep and disagreed with it. While much of it, as you see, was kept here, a good deal of it was taken to France and is currently in the Louvre. Some of it is in the British Museum, too – with bits and pieces elsewhere. My father and like-minded friends thought we Egyptians should manage our own affairs and be able to excavate our own sites. So he set up an organisation called the Guardians of Kemet – Kemet is the old Egyptian word for Egypt. And its symbol was the falcon – taken from Ahhotep. The Guardians were a bit like your English Freemasons. A secret society. They pledged themselves to use their influence in various spheres of government, the civil service and academia to tighten the partage laws with the aim of eventually keeping all Egyptian artefacts in Egypt.’ Rahman looked intently at Clara. ‘Are you still with me, Miss Vale?’
‘I am,’ she said, her mind whirring. ‘Do carry on.’
Rahman continued. ‘However, as with most of these things, disagreements emerged within the Guardians. A prominent wing felt they needed to take more radical action. That legislation and persuasion weren’t enough. They wanted to send agents to the European museums to steal the artefacts back. But they didn’t call it stealing, they called it repatriation. They also encouraged sabotage. Infiltrators joined digs and caused problems. And sometimes, and this is important, Miss Vale, sometimes they would abscond with artefacts – not always jewels, sometimes more prosaic pieces, but always items with cultural value. There have been a number of cases where items that appeared on a dig’s inventory disappeared. Or artefacts, which archaeologists say they found, disappeared before they even made it to the inventory.’
Clara’s eyes opened wide in recognition. ‘That’s what my uncle said! That’s what he said he thought was happening at Amarna!’
Rahman nodded in approval. ‘Exactly that. So when he came to me in autumn 1928 and told me of his suspicions, I knew what he was referring to.’
‘So, let me get this straight,’ said Clara. ‘These Guardians of Kemet are like Robin Hoods. They are stealing but only what belongs to the people anyway. Is that correct?’
‘Partially correct,’ said Rahman. ‘Firstly, they are no longer called the Guardians of Kemet. When my father’s wing – the moderates – objected to these tactics, the more radical wing broke away and formed their own group. They called themselves the Warriors of Amun-Ra – and their symbol was the—’
‘The cobra,’ finished Clara, allowing all the pieces to come together in her mind.
Rahman gave an encouraging nod. ‘That is correct. They believed the sun was more powerful than the moon and that the cobra – that could kill and attack predators much bigger than itself – was superior to the falcon which only killed prey to eat. It was all quite melodramatic. But they took it very seriously. However, over the years, my father’s wing prevailed. Laws were tightened up and by 1912, after the discovery of the bust of Nefertiti that ended up going to Berlin, they became very much weighted in favour of the Egyptians. Although my father was no longer around to see it, his approach was ultimately successful. And after that we heard next to nothing about the Warriors of Amun-Ra. They appeared to have lost steam. Until …’
‘Until Tutankhamun.’
Rahman appraised Clara shrewdly. ‘Daphne was right about you, Miss Vale. You have a first-class mind. That is correct – until Tutankhamun. Come, walk with me. I have something to show you in my office.’
Clara followed Rahman to the back of the gallery and through a door marked ‘Personnel Seulement’ and into a maze of back corridors. Eventually they came to a small office. He opened it with a key, saying, ‘It’s not as big and airy as my university office, I’m afraid, Miss Vale.’ It wasn’t. In fact, there was no window at all. But Rahman indicated Clara should take one of the two seats in front of his desk. He then went to a filing cabinet. He returned a few moments later and sat down behind his desk. He opened the file, flicked through it, and extracted a photograph which he passed to Clara.
Clara examined it. It appeared to be a sketch on a wall. Not wall art like she’d seen in the Saqqara tombs, but more like modern graffiti. It was a cobra wrapped around a falcon that lay on its back, and the cobra’s fangs were poised above the falcon’s throat.
‘Good heavens!’ said Clara. ‘Where did you find this?’
‘On the wall of the tomb of Tutankhamun in 1923.’
‘In 1923? I thought it was found in ’22.’
‘It was,’ agreed Rahman, ‘but the excavation took a number of years. They were still working on it in ’25. That’s when the mummy was removed and brought here. But this sketch was found in ’23. Just after a suspected break-in. As you have seen already, Miss Vale, most of the treasure made it here to the Egyptian Museum. The Antiquities Department, run by the government, was very strict about it. But it is well known that some of the smaller items were pilfered by Lord Carnarvon …’
‘Pilfered?’ asked Clara. ‘Didn’t he finance the dig?’
‘He did,’ agreed Rahman, ‘but he and Carter were not happy with their allowance. We know that some artefacts were unaccounted for. However, I do not believe Carter and Carnarvon were solely responsible. I believe – partially on the evidence of this sketch – that it was the re-formed Warriors of Amun-Ra. Or someone pretending to be them …’
Clara cocked her head to the side. ‘Who would pretend?’
Rahman took the photograph from Clara and put it back in the file. ‘That is what I hope to find out. And what I hope you can help me with. You see, since the re-emergence of the Warriors in 1923, there have been a number of artefacts that have been missing for decades that have suddenly emerged – worldwide – on the antiquities black market. These were all artefacts that were suspected of being taken by the original Warriors of Amun-Ra. It was believed that they had been kept in a secret location in the desert. However, because of the dispute between the moderates and radicals, the location was never disclosed to the Guardians of Kemet. But rumours of its existence have never quite gone away. I remember my father telling me about it when I was a young man. He never knew the location, but believed it existed.’
Clara pursed her lips, considering what Rahman had just told her. ‘I see,’ she said eventually. ‘But what I don’t understand is why the artefacts are now appearing on the black market around the world. Wasn’t the purpose of the Guardians and the Warriors to keep the artefacts in Egypt? Why would the Amun-Ra lot re-emerge but then go against their founding principle?’
Dr Rahman raised his forefinger and said ‘Aha! That’s why I said “or someone pretending to be them”. Alternatively, it could be someone who was previously a member who, as they say, has “gone rogue”. Someone who knew the location of the desert horde. Or how else did they manage to find the treasure of Queen Ahhotep?’
He opened the file again and extracted another photograph which he passed to Clara. It was the jewels Clara had returned to him on Thursday. ‘These jewels were believed to have been in that horde. So someone has obviously found it. The question is, who? And, more than that, how far are they prepared to go to exploit it?’
He got up suddenly and walked to the door. He opened it, looked left and right, then closed it, making sure to lock it again.
‘Apologies for the paranoia, Miss Vale,’ he said, returning to his desk, ‘but I thought I heard someone out there. Fortunately, I was mistaken. Now, back to business – and I’m afraid it is very serious. I wondered about sharing this with you – a lady – but I see you are made of stern stuff, very much like Daphne Coleman. However, you may need to brace yourself.’
Clara sat up straight. ‘I’m ready, Dr Rahman.’
‘Good,’ he said and pulled out three photographs. They were of a dead body. The first was a bloated face, the second of a fully clothed body, the third a close-up of the bare abdomen. She noticed the telltale signs of a body that had been submerged in water. But she noticed something else: on the abdomen something had been incised in the flesh – it was the head of a hooded cobra.
‘Good God! Whose body is this?’
Rahman pursed his lips. ‘It is a man who was pulled from the Nile in the autumn of 1928. He was a porter at Shepheard’s Hotel but was known to the authorities as a dealer in smuggled artefacts. He had been caught and arrested and was then working for the Department of Antiquities undercover. Until he was found murdered. I believe he was killed by the Warriors of Amun-Ra. And …’ he paused, taking a deep breath, ‘I have spoken to Daphne this morning on the telephone. She tells me that Giles Mortimer has been in touch with her. They have done further examination of the mummy that we believe is Maryam Hassan. They could not see it on first examination, but now, with Scotland Yard involved, they have gone deeper as they no longer have to preserve the body as an artefact and are treating it as they would any murder victim. I’m afraid, Miss Vale, there are signs that Maryam had something incised into her abdomen too. It’s been masked in the mummification process, but Daphne said it might possibly be the head of a hooded cobra.’
‘Good God!’ said Clara.