“Gold? They had a gate made of gold?” Shane asked in disbelief. “For a palace or something? How rich was this city?”
“Richer than you or I can imagine,” Nate responded, then quoted, “?‘Build me there a city of gold and silver, whose gravel shall be chrysolite and rubies and pearls, and for support of its vaults make pillars of jasper.’?”
“What is that from?” Shane asked.
“One Thousand and One Nights,” Nate answered, as he continued excitedly chipping away. “Often mistakenly referred to asArabian Nights. A woman named Scheherazade, a new wife to the monarch, told stories to King Shahryar every night to stay her execution in the morning. One of those stories was about Iram of the Pillars.”
“Did it work?”
“It did. Also, I don’t think this is a palace. I think this is the gate to the city.”
“Pretty fancy gate, yeah?” Wally asked.
“If their front door is made of gold, I’d love to get a look at their palace,” Shane added.
“Help me clear this off,” Nate said, and began prying larger chunks of crusted sand and dirt from the door as bits of sand slowly sprinkled down from the sandstorm outside the hole in the cavern high above them.
They worked for the next ten minutes uncovering as much of the doors as they could, larger chunks of dirt falling from above as they destabilized the bottom. There were two doors, and they appeared to be massive, each one nearly six feet wide and twice as tall. They stood in sharp contrast to the dusty surroundings, the gold dulled from the dirt of the ages yet still shimmering in the reflected light from the hole in the cave roof above. The design was inlaid with concentric squares, giving it a classical Mesopotamian vibe.
“Gold isn’t a very good material for defense,” Nate said. “They mustnot have been worried about being attacked and were more concerned with appearances.”
“They look heavy,” Ana commented.
“I think I know what to do,” Shane said. He walked in front of the doors and dramatically opened his arms wide. “Open sesame!” After a moment of waiting he turned back and shrugged. “It worked for Ali Baba.”
“Another story fromOne Thousand and One Nights,” Ana noted.
“The people of ‘Ad would have had to move these doors,” Nate said. “It was a trade station, which means that caravans would have been coming and going at all hours of the day. Judging by the construction of their pillars and roads, I’m sure they created a smooth track to allow them to open with as little force as possible.”
“So, what do we do?” Tim asked, cutting to the chase.
Nate shrugged. “We push.”
All five of them consolidated their efforts and put their hands on the left door, giving it a hard shove. Nothing happened. They leaned harder into it, yet still there was no movement.
“This bloody thing won’t budge,” Wally said. “It must weigh a ton.”
Something didn’t add up. Why would the people of the city make excruciatingly heavy doors out of gold that wouldn’t open unless extreme force was applied? It was possible that it was locked from the other side, in which case they would need to find another way around. Or perhaps it was eroded from time and accumulation of dirt. Although there was another possibility.
“I have an idea,” Nate said. “Let’s split up. Tim and Shane, you two take the right door. The rest of us will take the left. We’ll push at the same time, on three.”
“Like on three, or one, two, three, and then go?” Tim asked.
“On three,” Nate clarified. “The actual number three.”
“Just checking.” They all got into position.
“Ready?” Nate asked, and they all gave him the affirmation. “One, two, three!”
The five of them pushed with all their might, and the doors began to move. Nate had been right, and the gate was designed in such a way that the space between them was so slim that each door pushed onto the other. Attempting to move one was impossible, as it was stopped by the other. Pressure needed to be applied equally to both doors to break the seal. Once that was accomplished, the hinges and smooth track allowed the doors to move relatively easily, even after centuries of nonuse. It was an ingenious design, and Nate found himself more and more impressed with the builders of the city.
But he was in for the biggest surprise yet.
CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE
As the doors swung open, the group got their first glimpse of the interior of the city, and they all froze in awe. The hole in the ceiling of the cavern was larger on this side of the wall, and light streamed down into the city. The sandstorm above filtered the intense sun to give the light a pinkish hue, and the city was awash in a supernatural glow.
In front of them, the road continued straight for what must have been half a mile. Pillars, just like the ones they had seen outside, lined the road at regular intervals. It was clearly some type of colonnade, though many had collapsed and most of the entablature connecting them at the top had long since fallen away.
