"This should be a copy of some files we found in the Russian archives," the elderly lady named Hannah said to Liang En, who had come to inquire. "The original should still be stored in the National Archives."
"Although it's almost impossible to borrow or copy those old materials now, if we look back twenty or thirty years, it was possible to make copies of such things with the right identity and money."
These files came from the secret archives of the former Soviet Union. During the era when the Soviet Union had completely disappeared, copying these non-core files was evidently not a complex task.
The file is related to Tsarist Russia, documenting an archaeological report on a tomb they excavated in the last years of Tsarist Russia on the Crimean Peninsula.
The Crimean Peninsula has a long history, with human civilization dating back to around 1000 BC. There is enough evidence to show that the earliest settlers on the peninsula were the Celts.
However, as history progressed, the owners of this peninsula changed continuously. In the 7th century BC, the Scythians, active in Central Asia and West Asia, replaced the Celts as the main inhabitants. To this day, Scythian tombs remain on the peninsula's grasslands.
Then, from the 6th century BC, it was inhabited by Greeks and was known as Tauric Chersonesus, while the inland areas were occupied by the Scythians.
In 438 BC, the Bosporan Kingdom, which had good relations with Athens, was established here, providing Athens with grain and other goods. In 15 BC, Crimea submitted to the Roman Empire.
However, the Bosporan Kingdom in Crimea collapsed during barbarian invasions. Over the following centuries, Crimea was successively occupied by Goths (250 AD), Huns (376 AD), Khazars (8th century), and Byzantines (1016 AD).
Because the owners of this land changed like a revolving lantern, artifacts from different eras and civilizations were naturally buried underground.
The excavation record marked in the files brought by Hannah came from a tomb clearly belonging to Greeks in a commercial city dominated by Greeks during the Hunnic rule.
At that time, this tomb, along with over two hundred others, was discovered simultaneously. These tombs were located near the settlement, likely part of the settlement's associated cemetery.
Since the southern part of Crimea was inhabited by those Greek merchants, the burial goods indicated that most of the tombs belonged to Greeks or Hellenized locals.
Although the land had been conquered by the Huns, the southern trade cities of Crimea were still managed by Greeks and Hellenized locals.
For nomadic tribes, their rule generally followed two patterns: either gradually localizing and being fully absorbed by local civilization or maintaining their original state and ruling in an extremely laissez-faire manner.
The ancient Greek communities in the region were subject to the latter type of rule. After the Huns conquered the area, apart from paying an additional tribute, everything remained largely unchanged from the past.
Thus, in this corner of Western civilization, the Greeks continued to preserve their ancestral customs. For example, their tombs differed very little from those in mainland Greece.
The marked tomb was largely similar to the surrounding tombs, but an ancient clay seal truly caught the attention of the excavators. The Greek letters on the seal indicated the Library of Alexandria.
Such clay seals were often used on books, implying that among the burial goods of this merchant, there was at least one book or document from that famous library.
Unfortunately, because the tomb was near the sea, its preservation was terrible. The remains of the tomb owner and most of the burial goods were eroded by the salty groundwater, leaving only the clay seal intact.
According to Liang En's knowledge, very few items from the ancient Library of Alexandria remain. Thus, this piece could be considered one of the few surviving relics from the library.
"That was a very chaotic era, so I later bought this clay seal at an official Russian auction. Now, if you're willing to help me with a task, I'm willing to give this to you," Hannah said to Liang En.
That period could be described as the most chaotic time in Russian history. Many national treasures were sold out of Russia under legal pretenses, such as this clay seal.
More precisely, compared to the truly significant national treasures sold, this clay seal, slightly larger than a ping pong ball, was hardly considered a top treasure.
"What should I do if I want to obtain this clay seal?" Upon hearing the elderly lady's condition, Liang En immediately asked.
He was indeed very interested in this item, as it was valuable enough to potentially help him find something extremely valuable with the help of his cards.
From this perspective, it was reasonable for Hannah to set some conditions. After all, giving away such a precious item for free would more likely arouse suspicion.
"Your task is simple: help me find my grandfather," Hannah smiled and began to tell her grandfather's story.
Hannah's family rose to prominence starting from her grandfather's generation. Her grandfather was a well-known polar explorer at the time, having ventured into the Arctic Circle multiple times.
During these explorations, her grandfather found many valuable items, including several gold mines, marking the beginning of the Smith family's rise.
However, during an expedition in 1923, Hannah's grandfather completely disappeared. Despite the family's efforts to find him, they were unsuccessful.
The Smith family suspected that Hannah's grandfather was murdered because, in his last letter home, he mentioned finding clues to a huge gold mine and needed to conduct an on-site investigation.
As the saying goes, "Money moves the heart." Considering that even today, the northern wilderness of Canada is sparsely populated, it's not surprising that someone in the expedition team had bad intentions upon learning about the gold mine and killed him to monopolize the gold.
Of course, it's also possible they perished in some adverse weather, especially considering the dangers of the northern Canadian wilderness, which would have been even more treacherous nearly a century ago.
Due to the lack of information, the Smith family never figured out how Hannah's grandfather and the twelve-member expedition team disappeared.
Although the Canadian authorities conducted a search at the time, they gave up after two months, finding nothing except two supply depots left by the expedition.
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