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228 "burst open by a tremendous force"; in the words of the ancient text, "Getting near, into its midst they will break through." The fragments of the limestone block slid down the Ascending Pas- sage, down all the way to the granite plugs; that is where Al Mamoon's men found them. The explosion also covered the Grand Gallery with the fine, white dust the Arabs had found covering the floor of the Grand Gallery—mute evidence of the ancient explosion and the gaping hole it had left. Having broken through into the Grand Gallery, the rescuers led Marduk back the way they came. The entry from the Descending Passage was sealed up again, to be discovered by Al Mamoon's men. The granite plugs remained in place with the triangular junc- tion stone hiding the plugs and the Ascending Passage for millen- nia. And, inside the pyramid, the original upper and lower parts of the Well Shaft were now for all future days connected by a twisting, harshly tunneled segment. And what of the rescued Prisoner of the pyramid? Mesopotamian texts relate that he went into exile; in Egypt Ra acquired the epithet Amen, "The Hidden One." Circa 2000 B.C., he reappeared to claim again supremacy; for that, mankind ended up paying a most bitter price. THE WARS OF GODS AND MEN