I had an exceptional adventure recently. It was at a site in Middle Egypt known as Al-Ashmunein, known in Greek as Hermopolis after the Greek god Hermes, and known to the ancient Egyptians as Thoth, the god of wisdom. The site contained a temple dedicated to Thoth, and a large statue of the god in the form of a baboon can still be seen today. I hold Al-Ashmunein close to my heart because 40 years ago I started my career as an inspector of antiquities only a few kilometres away, at Tuna Al-Gabal.
I spent two incredible years in Tuna Al-Gabal. I stayed in a beautiful rest house in the desert, and in the evenings I was completely alone with my thoughts and dreams in this large, mysterious house surrounded by desert. Every day I would sit in the garden and look up at the sky. I was not a patient man, but living in this spectacular isolation taught me the virtue of patience, and I started to write. I kept a diary and recorded my memories, and I wrote letters every day to the girlfriend I had left behind in Alexandria.
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