In June 1997, Max Valentin was driving along the bumpy west bank of the Nile, between Quattah and As Sabu’ in Nubia where he was going to meet a photographer friend who was working on an article for a german magazine.

It was ten o’clock in the morning when he noticed a man lying in the sand at the bottom of a hollow. He stopped. The man, of about fifty years old, seemed to be in a bad way and was breathing with difficulty. Thinking that he had been stung by a scorpion or bitten by a snake, Max asked him what had happened so that he might help him. From his confused explanations, he understood that the man had fallen and sprained his ankle. He had been trapped there for two days without food and water, unable to climb the sandy slope which crumbled under his weight. After giving him water, Max dragged him to the top of the slope and helped him into his 4X4, then drove him to the village of Tumas Wa ‘Afiyah, where he lived.

In the evening, Mahmoud, for that was his name, restored to form following some care and attention, asked one of his sons to go and fetch a wooden box and to give it to Max. He told him that it was a present. Within it, rolled up in a small piece of cloth, he discovered a dark stone of singular beauty. He had never seen anything like it. He placed it in the palm of his hand and studied it more closely. The size of a marble, it was both opaque and translucent, dull and shiny. It seemed able to absorb light as a dry sponge absorbs water, and to saturate itself.

A pragmatic man not easily given to irrational thoughts, Max Valentin was unprepared for the strange mixture of fascination and fear which overwelmed him at that precise moment.

He had a very clear impression that, in an instant, the blood in his veins was turned into a glacial fluid. Perhaps this unpleasant feeling was due to the fact that, turning towards Mahmoud, he caught his subconscious mouvement away as if, dazzled by the light from the door, the stone provoked in him terror or repulsion.

Max found this reaction disconcerting because, after all, Mahmoud had just offered him the stone. It made him think of the head of a household holding his nose while serving his guests at table!

Then the Egyptian gestured to him, indicating that there was something else in the box. Max took out three papyrus scrolls and carefully unrolled one of them on a little table. It was covered in hieroglyphics. Max did not know anything about papyrus, and even less about hieroglyphics. He had of course often had the opportunity to see some close at hand, but never to touch them. However, he had handled some dreadful imitations in tourist shops in Cairo, and he thought that these scrolls were probably the same sort of fakes. With some difficulty Mahmoud explained that the stone and the scrolls belonged to his father, to his father’s father, to his father before him and so on for generations. Max understood that, in offering them, the Egyptian wanted to please him but that he was most especially anxious to rid himself of these objects which he believed carried a curse! In which case, thought Max, why had he not simply buried them somewhere in the desert? A mystery. The only explanation that he could think of was that Mahmoud wanted to distance himself as far as possible from the "curse". The man seemed visibly relieved when Max put the box into his car.

After having thanked and said goodbye to his host, Max started his car and set off into the setting sun, leaving clouds of dust behind him. He could not have realised that this episode would be the starting point of an extraordinary adventure!

A week later, back in Paris, he put the stone and the scrolls in his desk drawer and thought no more about them. It was only in January 1998, just before meeting a diamond merchant from Antwerp, that he decided to take the stone with him so that he might examine it. The man walked towards the window and put a magnifying glass to his right eye. Having studied the stone for a few moments in the sunlight, he straightened up and stared at Max in silence. Then he asked:

"Where did you get this stone, Mr Valentin? "

Ignoring the question, Max asked

"What is it, exactly?"

"What is it? It’s a genuine black diamond!" exclaimed the other man waving his arms in the air "Magnificent, my dear friend, absolutely magnificent! Of exceptional quality!"

"A black diamond?" exclaimed Max, surprised "Such a thing exists?"

" Oh yes they exist! They’re very rare, especially of this size!"

Max was wide eyed.

"My God!….and what is the value of this stone?" he asked.

"I’ve no idea. The value of black diamonds is difficult to evaluate, precisely because of their rarity. This one has a perfect form, which makes an estimate even more difficult…but I can tell you that what you have here is an astonishing stone!"

On his return to Paris, Max telephoned a friend living in Assouan and asked him to tell Mahmoud, in Tumas Wa ‘Afiyah, the good news: The stone, that he wanted to return to him, was a diamond! Three days later, the reply reached him. Max could not believe his ears. Mahmoud declined his offer and even refused any recompense. The Egyptian had satisfied himself that he was relieved of the stone for good and he never wanted to hear of it again!

Max contacted Professor S. in Paris, an eminent specialist of ancient Egypt. The next day, he visited him at his office and showed him the scrolls. The Professor cast his eye over the scrolls and his excitement was clearly visible in his face.

"I need to study them more closely," he said, "but these scrolls seem to be authentic."

"What do you mean, exactly?… that these are made of papyrus which has been artificially aged in the depths of some workshop, and were destined for gullible tourists, or that these scrolls really are ancient?…"

"It’s very surprising. I think that they’re between two thousand two hundred and two thousand five hundred years old. They’re exceptionally well preserved!"

"What?" said Max, taken aback.

"I would like to examine them. The fact that the text is in hieroglyphics and not in demotic is proof of their importance… Leave them with me and I’ll translate them for you"

A few days later, the professor sent Max an e-mail informing him that the scrolls could be dated to the XXIXth dynasty. The translation of the hieroglyphics followed. Max read:

"In order that his features be preserved forever, on this day an impression has been taken of the noble face of the young Nefer, wise, erudite and courageous, already taken to every heart, now fallen under the blows delivered by his enemies. We have tied around his mask a plaque of gold bearing his name. What sadness! Nefer was the guardian of the Stone of Soleb. In his hands, the power of the maleficient stone was annihilated, and its corrupting actions were to no avail to us, respectable subjects of Horus Nepherites, King of the Two Lands. But alas! The Stone of Soleb has been taken from Nefer by those who dared take his life. Who knows within whose vile and ungodly hands it lies today? I, Ptahmes, priest of Anubis, swear that the world will know hatred, pain and tears until the day the redoutable Stone of Soleb is recovered and hidden from the eyes of mankind. This day will come to pass in two thousand four hundred years hence. Then it will be entrusted to the one of greatest merit of all beings who live beyond the four horizons. Only he will be worthy to succeed Nefer as guardian of the maleficient stone. When, thanks to him, it is once again in obscurity, the curse will be at an end. The world will again know love, peace and prosperity. It will be the dawn of a new age."

To say that this text fired Max Valentin’s imagination would be some understatement!. He could not stand still! Was it possible that the black diamond in his possession once belonged to Nefer? He unfolded the piece of cloth protecting the stone, took it out and held it up to the daylight. He wondered how it had come to rest in the modest village of Tumas Wa ‘Afiyah; how many hands had touched it, how many eyes, over all these centuries, had gazed upon it. Suddenly, as he stared at it so intensely, Max had the impression that the stone was throbbing in his palm and that it was becoming warmer and warmer. Was he the victim of his own imagination?… He stirred himself and quickly returned the stone to the darkness of his desk drawer. Then he wiped his hand on his trousers, as if he had touched something poisonous. For a week afterwards, he was afflicted by an illness which his doctor found impossible to diagnose. When he had recovered, he learnt that the diamond merchant from Antwerp had died after having shown the same symptoms as himself; terrible migraines, nausea and nose bleeds. Max felt sad for the man and was surprised by the similarity of their illnesses.

Two weeks later, the adventure took a really extraordinary turn and even today. Max Valentin interprets the events as a sign. That morning, at about ten o’clock, he received a visit from a friend, J.T., an enlightened art lover empassionned by egyptology. Of course, Max recounted the whole story and let him read the translation of the hieroglyphics of Ptahmes sent to him by Professor S.

"Nefer???" exclaimed his visitor. "I know where to find a mask from the era of Pharaoh Neferites I which carries a gold plaque of that name around its neck!…"

"What?…Are you sure?", asked Max, suddenly feverish.

"You bet!", replied J.T. "I’ve had the opportunity to hold it in my hands and admire it on many occasions. This mask, covered in a fine gold film, represents a young man, eyes wide open and drawn towards his temples. He has a hint of a sad smile which is reminiscent of the smile of the Mona Lisa. When you’re in front of it, you could swear that it’s listening to you benevolently. Its entire physiognomy radiates goodness and serenity. Absolutely magical!… It’s one of the most entrancing masks that I’ve ever seen. It’s unique, magnificent!"

"And where is it ?"

"In a private collection, in London. The owner is a Lord, very friendly, old family, venerable coats of arms and all that stuff… Hang on, I’ll note down his phone number for you."

J.T. wrote a name and telephone number on a page of his notebook.

"Phone him on my behalf", he added, tearing out the page and handing it to Max, "I scarcely believe it…What a story!"

Then he wanted to admire the Black Diamond of Soleb. He walked towards the window and examined it in the light before placing it on the table with a pained expression which, at the time, Max found perplexing. Two days later, J.T. was confined to his bed, suffering from migraines, dizziness and nose bleeds, accompanied by a high fever. When asked, he confided that he had felt a kind of severe nausea when he had handled the stone, two days earlier. A coincidence? Max Valentin woulds like to think so:

"I never believed in all that gobbledigook surrounding the discovery of the treasures of Toutankhamon", he said "and I’m not about to accept the idea of the magic powers of an allegedly cursed diamond reacting to sunlight!"

But you never know …..

To recount here just how Max Valentin succeeded in persuading the english lord to let him have the mask of Nefer would take too long. As soon as he was in possession of the mask,

Max decided to do everything in his power to ensure that the prophecy of Ptahmes would be fulfilled.

He made up a series of riddles, the solution to which would enable "the one of greatest merit of all beings who live beyond the four horizons" to become the worthy successor to Nefer, that is to say the guardian of the Black Diamond of Soleb. Max’s intention was that astuteness, intelligence and tenacity would be insufficient. In addition, he ensured that, for an isolated individual, it would be extremely difficult to solve the riddles without the help of other participants around the world. Mutual aid, up until the moment at which the final part of the treasure hunt had been reached when each would play for himself, would be the key to success in this quest.

Then he commissioned a jeweller of repute to make a sumptuous gold reliquary, enhanced with precious stones, resonating hommage to the splendour of ancient Egypt and destined to receive the mask of Nefer. In the pedestal of this reliquary, a drawer with a secret combination was created to accommodate the Black Diamond of Soleb, so concealing it "forever from the eyes of mankind", just as the wise Ptahmes had hoped. Perharps the winner, some years later, might be tempted to open this drawer and remove the stone.

"He should appreciate", stated Max "that it will not be easy: He will have to find the secret combination which will allow him to slide open the drawer. Should he be unsuccessful, the challenge could be taken up by his children, his grandchildren or his great grandchildren… at their own risk and peril!"

Finally, Max Valentin made contact with CRYONETWORKS, the company for which he had already created twelve treasure hunts on the theme "Venice, fortune and glory in the city of the Doges". He asked them to create a site specifically for this worldwide hunt for treasure, and to employ their astonishing SCOL technology, it alone being capable of giving the riddles the realism that he hoped for. The result surpassed his highest expectations!

I hope that you will derive great pleasure from "breaking" these riddles!

Some additional information

This treasure hunt will enable you to identify a final zone in which a golden key has been hidden. This key opens the door of the strong-room which contains the treasure. To notify us that you have reached this stage, you need only follow the instructions given in the last riddle.

We will then invite you to this zone, and will provide you with an envelope containing the instructions which must be followed, under the scruting of journalists from all over the world, who will be there to witness your triumph, and which will enable you to pinpoint the exact location of the golden key!

You have just joined the biggest treasure hunt ever organised on the Web. Your goal is to find a fabulous treasure worth 1 million dollars, which is in a secret hideaway somewhere in the world. To locate the final zone, you have to travel through time and through space! The riddles of this treasure hunt will take you into geographical zones and throw you back into centuries gone by. There are however links between each stage of the game. These are not always easy to spot, so watch out for pitfalls!

Join AN INTERNATIONAL team of hunters 

Isolated players will find it very difficult to resolve the riddles all by themselves and without any help. Remember that the aim of this treasure hunt is to bring together players of all nationalities, without any racial, political or religious prejudices. We strongly advise you therefore to create occasional or permanent alliances with players from other countries, who will be able to help you. In exchange, you will also help them when there is a riddle concerning your own country and history.

Always stick to your word and play fair: if a player helps you on the understanding that you will also help later on, keep your promise. If you don’t do this, the other web surfers will soon find out about you and put you in quarantine. Once they do this, it will be very difficult for you to obtain any favours! This treasure hunt contains so many stages that you have more than enough time to create associations and international hunters’ clubs, before having to think of the end of the game where each player is on his/her own. In any case, you’ll be able to guess the exact moment where you go into the last phase of the game, and where you’ll have to start searching all by yourself. But till then, create international alliances!

At a certain level in the game, you’ll be invited to get on board a sailing ship that will take you on a crossing to the next stage. Did we say virtual? Not so fast! During the crossing, you will depend on real-time climatic conditions. So long as you don’t stop your boat, it will continue to move ahead even when your computer is switched off and when you’re not playing. So watch out for sea-sickness when the strong winds blow!

To solve each riddle, you will have to enter a correct answer as well as define a precise location on the map. But you will not be able to keep on guessing indefinitely. At the beginning of the game, you will have a capital of 10 credits to answer and you will win a new credit for each 24-hour period you connect to the riddles (begins at 0000 GMT).

This is where you can find everything in the game that is physical. This area has been specially designed to enable hunter from the whole world to meet, exchange information, and build their teams. It is really the best you can ever get in terms of online communities. You will have many tools (chat, messengers, voice, private chat-room, video, etc.) at your disposal.

To advance in the game, you have to solve the riddles presented by Max Valentin. You can access these through the Great Door of the Forum. You will also need your login and password to step into this mysterious universe.

To move around with the mouse, click on the left button and at the same time push the mouse in the direction you want to go (forward, backward, right or left).

To move about with the keyboard, use the arrow keys.

à  : left

ß  : right

á  : forward

How do you raise or lower your head? When you press on the "shift" key and move the mouse to the bottom or to the top (or "shift" and top or bottom "arrow" if you’re moving with the keyboard), you make a simulation of a "head raising" or "head lowering" effect. When you hold down the "shift" key and the "left click" of the mouse you can change the movement of the camera.