He searched a new box and opened a journal. Recognizing the handwriting of the man he’d assisted for three years gave him some relief. He was on the right track. “I think this is the right box,” he said.

King sat down next to him and spoke in Arabic. “I don’t understand. Most people believe the Tower of Babel is here in Babylon, that it might even be the reason for the city’s name. Why would someone think it was in Turkey?”

As he flipped through the stack of pages inside the box, Rahim said, “Photos. From NASA. They showed evidence of a large, ancient construction project. But where you’d expect to see exactly what was built, there was only a mountain. Furthermore, a reinterpretation of ancient texts also lends credibility to the theory. The Targum Yonathan, an Aramaic version of the biblical accounts, states that the tower was in the ‘land of Shinar,’ which is now the Pontus region of Turkey, near the Black Sea.”

King turned to Knight. Check in with Deep Blue. See if we can get satellite imagery for the Pontus region of Turkey.”

“Will do,” Knight said before exiting.

“Furthermore, many academics believe that this region is also the birthplace of most modern languages. Texts and verbal traditions can be traced back to Pontus.” Rahim saw a folded map marked in red pen. He recognized it and yanked it out of the box. He smiled wide as he unfolded it. “Here it is!”

He laid the map out. It was a modern map of Turkey, but had been written on in Arabic and a small location—a mountain—had been circled in red. Next to it was Arabic text: which translated as Tower of Babel.

“This is a mountain,” King said. “There are no sands to bury a ziggurat. Wouldn’t there be some evidence of it on the surface?”

Rahim pointed out the mountain’s rounded, flat top. “At some point in the distant past this mountain was a volcano. It’s possible the tower was buried, or destroyed, in an eruption.”

“Buried beneath a pyroclastic flow,” King said. “Like Pompeii.”

“Exactly,” Rahim said.

“Is it possible Ridley figured all this out?” King asked, looking at Alexander.

“When he determined that the Tower of Babel was not here, assuming this theory was published, he would pursue it,” Alexander replied.

“Has the theory been published?” King asked Rahim in Arabic.

“It’s not widely known,” the man said, “but I do believe it has been published several times since our search here ended.” He became nervous and fidgeted with his hands.

King noticed. “What is it?”

“You said a name,” the nervous Iraqi said. “Ridley.”

King, Queen, Bishop, and Alexander tensed. “Yes,” King said.

“The man who funded our search here. His name was Richard Ridley.”