The Secret of the Lost Treasures

Tomb Raider Confessions:

“The Siren.. On a full moon, with the gentle wind of Damietta, my financial anxieties started to kick in and disrupted my sleep. I turned on the radio, to listen to the legend “Umm - Kulthum'' and fall asleep to her powerful, melodic voice. Unfortunately, the electricity went out, or that’s what I thought. So, I went to shut the window, because I was very frustrated even by the beauty of the cloudless sky, sparkling stars, and glowing moon. Then, I decided to go back to sleep when suddenly I heard her calling my name; “Ab-aaal, Ab-aaal” she said. However, this time her voice wasn’t coming from the lake, it was from under my bed!”

These were the last words written by a tomb raider before they found his body torn apart eight meters under his house. Besides his body, a pharaonic tomb was also discovered.

We can’t determine the validity of this story, yet such stories are very much common due to the enormous number of treasured artifacts that exist under the lands of Damietta. Although a fair amount of people abused this fortune for their own interest, the government exerted strenuous effort to eliminate this phenomenon and develop Damietta.

Damietta holds great significance, especially after all these years of tomb raiding, the government is still trying to gather all the artifacts and they aren’t even halfway there. This genuinely large number of monuments and artifacts are scattered all around Damietta, due to the various civilizations that settled there, such as:

• The Pharaonic civilization: More than 4 thousand artifacts were discovered in 2011, some of which are made of gold or gemstones.

• The Greek civilization: The discovery of Zeus’s statue submerged under the Mediterranean Sea.

• The Roman civilization: Ancient Roman bathhouses, residential areas, and coffins were found.

• The Byzantine civilization: They found a piece of Jesus Christ's cross in St. Mary Church. As well as St. George’s bones in his church.

• The Islamic civilization: They found ancient weapons such as spears and leather sheaths, which were used by Jamal Al Din Shiiha during his battle with Louis IX.

Fortunately, the governorate is establishing a new museum in Damietta where they’ll collect all the artifacts and display them for you.