The Expedition - 4. Chapter 4

Arriving back at the University, Mahmoud was there to meet me. I told him I thought the building was a Greek temple. “Howard, why would they build a Greek Temple in such a deflated place?”

“I’m not sure that place was desolated in 332 BC. Suppose it wasn’t desolated. There could have been an oasis here which would make it a desirable place.”

“If it was a desirable place, why a Greek temple? I would think the Egyptians would build a temple here. Under the Persians, the Egyptians were forbidden to worship their gods. It would make sense to build a temple in a place that could be kept secret from the Persians.”

“I don’t have an answer. I do know that the Egyptians highly regarded Alexander. He allowed them to return to their worship of their gods. I’m sure they worshipped their gods under the Persians as well, only they did it in secret.”

“Mahmoud, I’m going to ask for a sabbatical. I have a feeling we are close to uncovering that temple.”

“I wish I could go with you, Howard. I don’t have tenure yet.”

“Let’s see what we can uncover this summer. I plan on leaving as soon as this term is over.”

It was challenging to focus on my classes. Mostafa kept me posted on the status of the dig. Every time he would go to Aswan for supplies, he would send photos, discussing them over the phone. I made sure Mahmoud was with me for these discussions.

I was like a child on Christmas Eve. I found it hard to concentrate. I asked my Dean for a leave of absence. At first, he denied it until I showed him some of the pictures. I think he realized the value of this expedition for the university. I walked away from our meeting with my request approved. My sabbatical will start as soon as I complete my lecture series.

I spent my time preparing review sessions, tests, and, most important, preparing my TA’s to step in for reviews and giving the tests. I gave them a schedule of where I would be if they needed to contact me.

I spent time with Mahmoud. I told my TA’s if they had a problem, and I wasn’t available, to contact him. “Mahmoud, plan on joining me as soon as possible. Fly into Luxor. I’ll see you there.”

Classes will end the first week of June. I was ready to leave on the first of May. Arriving in Luxor, I was anxious to get to the dig. All the way, I kept asking Mostafa questions.

“Howard, you are going to be surprised. We are still working on uncovering the wall. Two days ago, we had a major slide on the temple. The slide wasn’t from the roof but the front of the temple. I think we will find more information concerning the purpose of the temple.”

I knew that if it were a Grecian temple, the front would tell us why it was built. Arriving at the site, I rushed to the temple. Mostafa was right. There was enough of the face exposed that we could determine more about the temple with proper cleaning.

“Mostafa, first thing in the morning, you will find me here.”
Before the sun was up, I sat on the wall facing what we thought was the front of the temple.

As the sun rose, I became excited. I felt like we were going to make an important discovery.