MAYA COSMIC NUMBER PUZZLES VOLUME 108 MAYA COSMIC NUMBER PUZZLES VOLUME 910 | Page 10

resume the final assault to reopen the King’s Chamber.
When the men sat around the campfire that evening eating a good meal, one of the
older men told a story to the others that evil demons would be released if they went any
further. Juan and Jorge tried to discredit the man’s story as being only superstition, but by
the look of the men’s faces, Thomas could see that several were very worried. As daylight
broke, Thomas roused the other men and discovered that five workers were nowhere to
be found. They had stolen some burros and food and left. Superstition had frightened
them away.
After breakfast, work resumed, and by mid-day the last plank was pounded into place
securing the tunnel from collapse. On everyone’s mind was what would they find? The
three leaders slowly crawled into the final resting place of the Maya King. The burial vault
was approximately five meters long, five meters wide, and about three meters tall. The air
was stale, but Thomas had brought a long, rubber hose which, when attached to bellows,
could be used by one man on the outside to force fresh air inside. There, on a half-meter
raised bed, were the bones of a King. A gold mask covered the skull, and a few fragrant
pieces of hand-woven cloth covered the skeleton. Emerald stones, once proudly worn,
were strung on a necklace of gold. There were two more skeletons on lower beds, and
judging from their relative sizes, appeared to be that of a woman and a child. Juan said
they were probably the queen, and one of their children. Thomas shined his lantern on
the far wall, and there lined up in stacks were the other fabled leaves of the Maya book,
the sheets of gold reflecting enticingly. Thomas knew that any museum would be thrilled
to acquire these ancient relics. What knowledge, Thomas wondered, could these plates
contain? As so much of the Maya culture was lost when the Spaniards melted the gold
artifacts and sent the bullion to back to Spain.
Thomas moved around slowly and took some photographs while Jorge began counting
the book leaves. The total came to two-hundred and fifty-nine. With the one in Oaxaca,
that made two-hundred and sixty, a number of special significance to the Maya, it being
the length of a tun, a period of time in one of their many calendars.
The desertion of the men in the night, and the theft of the burros, presented a problem:
could they carry the remainder of the book leaves with them on their return to civilization?
It was going to make the return trip very treacherous. There were other precious artifacts
too valuable to simply leave behind, so the men backfilled twelve feet of the tunnel to prevent animals from using the tomb as a home, and to protect it against the elements. Then
Thomas carefully climbed the heights of the steep pyramid where he took sextant and
compass readings. He wrote them down in his journal to make the return trip faster and
easier. After discarding equipment, not necessary for the return trek, and spending another night in camp; the remaining team members, with smiles on their faces and dreams
in their minds, left the tomb behind and set off for home.
The explorers talked about the future as they walked back to civilization. Two new problems developed: who would they sell the artifacts to, a museum or a private collector, and
would they get a good price? That night the men were very tired. They camped by a small
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