The Einstein Pool - Chapter 1: The Crack between the Worlds

Daily Journal

Daniel Bose

Date: September 29, 2035

Location: No-Man’s Land

Dear Dr. Bose:

 

In answer to your inquiry, the manuscript was discovered on July 19, 1994 at an archaeology dig just outside of Giza and forwarded to our institution about a year later. According to nearly a hundred eyewitnesses, on the day of the find a tomb was discovered nearly 200 feet underground. When it was breached a day later, the interior was found to be a near-complete vacuum and the mummified hands of an ancient Egyptian male were found clutching the manuscript as if reading it. Subsequent investigations were able to uncover no previous breach of the tomb: in fact it was filled with a considerable amount of valuable jewelry that surely would have been taken by any previous entrant.

 

The find attracted attention because radiocarbon dating has consistently indicated that the manuscript itself dates from the 16^th century B.C.E. even though it is handwritten on modern-style paper. Furthermore, it is written in American English and describes places, events and technologies that no ancient writer could have known about. I originally presumed it to be nothing more than an exceptionally clever forgery with no particular significance other than as a rather disturbing challenge to the accuracy of radiocarbon dating techniques.

 

My presumption was dramatically falsified when the manuscript accurately identified historical events that did not occur until after it was uncovered – in fact its text includes the exact word-for-word contents of this very letter. And whenever I try to revise this letter, the contents of the manuscript change to reflect my revisions. Quite frankly, we are all at a loss to explain this.

 

Although we cannot allow the manuscript to leave our archives, we would be happy to allow you to examine it in person as long as you promise not to contact the press.

 

Sincerely,

 

Mohammad Galal

Egyptian Museum of Cairo, Anti-forgery Division

 

I put my phone back into my pocket, scratched my head and stared at the sky through a hole in the brown canopy that covered the back of the boat. The letter was forwarded to me by my sister after she found it in my father’s personal effects a few days after his funeral. It was written about 25 years ago, and my sister has already confirmed its authenticity with the museum.