The name's Jones, Jedidiah Jones. Fifteen years I've worked as an archeologist in Iraq and Israel, but never had I seen anything like it.
It happened in the middle of June: about a year ago, I suppose. I was digging near Baghdad, when suddenly I hit something marble. I can remember that day as if it happened yesterday: the hot sun beating down upon me, the seemingly endless sands stretched out as far as my eye could see.
"Hey Joe" I said to my partner
His name was Joe Stubs, and he had been helping me for many years. He was smoking a cigar, as he always did, and was leaning against a large rock. He was dressed in a white t-shirt and was wearing some thick camo pants.
"Whatcha got there, Jed? Marble?? That's odd, don't see stuff like that this far South. . ."
He picked up a shovel and began digging out the whole area. Took us three days, but at last we uncovered a large opening I assumed to be a door. The sands had not flooded the giant marble structure, and there was nothing but a hollow darkness as I peered into the hole
"I'll go in" I said briskly "Throw me that flashlight, will you, Joe?"
I caught the flash deftly, and shined it into the black depths of whatever we had uncovered. I saw something unlike anything I had ever seen before. The opening we had found was not a door, but a balcony many floors above ground level. Great white pillars stretched down what seemed like leagues down until they disappeared into darkness my flashlight could not penetrate.
"Joe, do we still have that tow cable?"
There was no going back. Tying the cable around my self like a makeshift harness, I repelled down into the darkness. I lost count of how many floors I had gone down when I finally hit bottom! The well-worn floor was made of white stones, and as I shined my flashlight, I could see that there were great patterns of men and swans. I had clearly found something different and much more ancient then had ever been discovered in the Middle-East before!
My footsteps echoed loudly as I walked around the seemingly endless room. Finally I found something: a white chair set upon a podium. A throne, most likely!
I shined my light upon the throne to see a swan with its wings outspread carved into the back. . . But there was something else. A writing I had never seen before: it looked Arabic, but somewhat Greek. Suddenly, to my uttermost surprise, I recognized it! Not from my years of education, but from a book I was reading.
I reached into my knapsack and pulled out a worn copy of Return of the King. Looking between the key for elven script and the letters on the throne, I was utterly stunned: they matched! What was this??
I used the key to decode the lettering, and used a copy of the Silmarillion to translate the words. Finally I had it:
The throne of Imrahil son of Starious, set into the Sea-ward tower in 3000 of the Third Age of the Sun. By the blessings of the Valar, let this throne stand forever.
What was this?? Could Tolkien's "lore" be true?? I shone my flashlight around the room, marveling at the finely made columns. It had to be!
I was eager to explore, and I raced the opposite direction of the throne, and came to a smaller room. It was here that I almost fainted. Upon the walls were row after row of armour more beautiful and more amazing then anything I had ever seen. Helms finely crafted, with gull wings outspread. Swords and daggers hanging on the wall, glimmered and shimmered in the light of my flash. Was this made by elves?? What else could it be?? Taking a helm with me, I departed back towards the throne room so that I could get back up to the surface and tell Joe about my finds. But alas! I couldn't hold the helm and climb up. Nor could I wear the helm, it was much too heavy to climb with! Leaving the helm on the ground, I scrambled up the rope and soon found myself blinking in the bright sunshine.
"Joe!" I shouted "Come here! You'll never believe this, nobody will ever believe this!"
but even as I spoke, I heard a low rumble followed by a great crash. The palace had caved in behind me, destroying everything inside and erasing memory of a past age forever.
I was devastated, but I never told anyone about what I found down there. After all, who would believe me?
. . . . Do you?