"The water was rising. A world was drowning, a world half as old as time. A huge dam, the newest of the monuments of Egypt, had risen to throttle the Nile, and moment by moment, as the penned-up water mounted, the relics of the past were being swallowed up."

This novel tells of the real-life adventure fifteen-year-old Tom Lloyd steps into when he and his journalist uncle join an archaeological expedition in the Upper Nile Valley. In a desperate effort to unearth all they can before the Aswan High Dam is completed, archaeologists from Europe and America are speeding up their explorations. Dr. Falke's dig begins as a routine excavation of an ancient trading post, but shortly after the young American arrives events take an extraordinary twist: the lost tomb of the fabled Pharaoh Akhnaten is discovered intact. The three-thousand-year-old mystery surrounding this rebel king is about to be solved when a new, more sinister mystery springs up. The tomb is broken into and a priceless relic is stolen. The role Tom plays in the recovery of the treasure provides a climax charged with suspense, danger, and fast-paced action. The author's vivid descriptions of Egypt, archaeological operations, and Egyptian art and history make this adventure tale unusually fascinating and informative.

From the dust jacket