The Treasure of the Copper Scrolls
A treasure hunter requires various skills in order to find that long lost treasure.
Among these are:
1. Cultivate an eye for detail. Great observational skills are critical to being a competent detective. Pay attention to the details most people miss, such as small objects and slight variations in someone's story. To improve your talents, practice memory games that force you to remember and catalog details. Make a habit of observing your surroundings, even when there is nothing in particular to observe. You never know what you might spot, and you'll be honing your detective skills. If you want to, get yourself a kit containing observational tools. It should include a magnifying glass, binoculars, fingerprint dusting powder, etc.
2. Develop your reasoning skills. Being able to think through a problem without making illogical leaps will help you resolve cases and make more educated guesses. Try practicing cryptograms, nonograms, and Sudoku puzzles.
3. Pay attention to what's happening. Learn how to pick potentially interesting events out of a crowd by noticing subtle cues, such as slightly raised voices or agitated hand gestures. As you pay more attention to human behavior, you'll be better able to pick out odd and inconsistent acts. Look closely at people's facial expressions and the behaviors to which they are connected.
4. Know how to find information. Being tech-savvy and knowing how to find information via the internet can be one of your most valuable skills.
5. Practice asking questions. You should be able to get to the heart of a matter without putting somebody on their guard or making them uncomfortable. Avoid yes-no questions and focus on questions that require real answers - for example, ask "Where were you around 4 p.m.?" instead of "Were you at home around 4 p.m.?"
6. Keep notes. Write down your observations in as much detail as you can. Reading over your notes later might spark your memory and help you recall something you thought you'd forgotten.
7. Be subtle. If you're doing detective work, don't broadcast it to everyone - detectives are supposed to fly under the radar. If you're tracking someone or gathering clues, try to look as normal as possible and blend in with the crowd. If your target sees you, always have something that will make you look less suspicious like a book or MP3 player.
8. Stay safe. Never compromise your safety in the name of solving a case. Avoid putting yourself in dangerous situations or tracking suspicious people to secluded locations - they might be luring you into a trap.
9. Be Patience. Patience (or forbearing) is the state of endurance under difficult circumstances, which can mean persevering in the face of delay or provocation without acting on annoyance/anger in a negative way.
With that in mind I have build this hunt to test you in all of these aspects. Some more than others.
And so the quest begins:
You are on a quest to find the long lost treasure, The Treasure of the Copper Scrolls.
Current Estimated Value: $1.2 Billion +.
Contents: Gold and silver coins, ingots and artefacts.
Location: Israel / Jordon
Located to the west of the northern tip of the Dead Sea and near to the town of Kalya is the Qumran archaeological site. On a desert plateau carved by ravines are the caves where the famous Dead Sea Scrolls were initially discovered by Bedouin in 1946.
The later excavation of 11 caves by archaeologists sponsored by the Jordanian Department of Antiquities uncovered 972 parchment and papyrus texts and two unusual scrolls made of copper. These would turn out to be one scroll that had been divided into two pieces.
This rare find was discovered on the 14th March 1952 at the back of Cave 3, somewhat separate from the other finds. The scroll was badly oxidised and fragile to touch but it was obvious that it was different from the other leather and paper scrolls - it was a detailed list of 64 locations where significant amounts of gold and silver had been hidden.
It was written as if anyone reading it would have familiarity with the places mentioned and is believed to have been created between 110 and 30 BCE. Although many historians believe that some of the treasure may have been located by the Romans during their occupation of the region it is reasonable to think that at least some of the locations were never revealed.
This is the reason why you have decided to make the long trip to Kalya. In order to stay under the radar you decided to join a tour group from the U.S.A. Having done all your homework before the trip you decide to relax a bit before starting your search and join in the group activities.
The first day’s activity was visiting the local beach, Kalya beach, one of the best spots to float in the waters of the famous Dead Sea. While relaxing at the beach, which was busier than normal due to the large tourist group and the extremely hot weather you spotted an animal between the bathers. Strange you think. You quickly take a photo with your IPad and try to figure out what kind of animal it is.
That’s weird you think. What is a $%$#% doing on a beach? You zoom in as much as you can and now notice a very distinct collar the animal is wearing. Looking towards where you spotted the animal you see that it has now disappeared. As you wonder where it might have gone you get the feeling that there was something suspicious about it as it seemed to have been looking at you.
Looking at the photo even closer now you recognize the shape immediately as the same shape you saw on a picture of a cave close to Kalya in your research about the treasure of the Copper Scrolls. You are feeling a bit hot from all the sun and drifting about in the Dead Sea has made you thirsty so you decide to go back to the Hotel and look further into the symbol you recognized on one of the cave photos.
Cave 5A : TCDS DS MOT TCN RDBCT LFVN EUT TCDS LOORIDMFTNS KDBCT GUST CNJP YOU JFTNR SOUTC 208 NFST 594. YOU KFHN F MOTN OA DT.
Cave 5B: TCDS DS FJSO MOT TCN RDBCT LFVN EUT TCDS LOORIDMFTNS KDBCT GUST CNJP YOU JFTNR SOUTC 408 NFST 594. YOU KFHN F MOTN OA DT.
Cave 5C: YRFFBA YRNEARQ: NIBVQ CHGGVAT LBHEFRYS VA QNATREBHF FVGHNGVBAF BE GENPXVAT FHFCVPVBHF CRBCYR GB FRPYHQRQ YBPNGVBAF - GURL ZVTUG OR YHEVAT LBH VAGB N GENC. NYGUBHTU ABG PBZCYRGRYL VA INVA. EBG - 5: A USF'L TWDAWNW QGM XWDD XGJ AL SYSAF.
Cave 5D: SGDQD HR RNLDSGHMF NBB CANUS SGD BCMTDQ HM SGD DKDOGCMS HM ACQTDKNMC. HS HR HM SGD WCY RGD BCMTDR. FN TGDTJ HS NUS. JDDO SGHR TNNQBHMCSD, HS LHFGS GDKO YNU KCSDQ. RNUSG 308 DCRS 694. YNU MDDB SN BDTNBD C CMB A URHMF JDYWNQB “EDKHMD”.
Once you locate the photos you noticed that someone has modified the cave images and the symbols were now blocked out by evidence tags digitally implanted which you can’t remove. You wonder if you can remember on which photo the symbol was but can’t seem to recall.
There must be another way to find the right one, you think and that is when you notice the numbers on the tags placed on the photos, and wonder if it does not have something to do with the symbol you saw earlier. You also notice only one picture has a suspicious looking man on it. You study the page of your research together with the symbol and a thought enters your mind on how to find the correct photo.
You think you have the right cave and then notice at the back of each image you notice some sort of text although you can’t make heads or tails from it. See Cave photo descriptions below.
You type in the text on the computer of the cave you think is the right one. You run some decipher tools and see that you need something else in order to find the hidden message. What could it be? You browse through your notes and photos when you remember what it was that put you on this course in the first place. You try it and wait patiently for the decoder to do its thing when all of a sudden the message becomes clear.
Part of the message reads that you must travel to Barcelona so you make your way there.
One of Barcelona’s chicest nightclubs is the Elephant which is located in the Les Corts neighborhood. Elephant is ‘the place to see and be seen in Barcelona’. The club is housed in a two–storey baroque villa which has different ‘salas’. The lush verdant garden is adorned with colonial style décor and is a mellow chill out zone which has its own outdoor bar. The garden is decorated with large bronze elephants and lush bamboo groves and is the perfect spot to people watch as Elephant is frequented by many ‘beautiful’ people who come to Elephant for its ‘scene’.
There is also an exclusive VIP area which is decorated with plush sofas and many mirrors and mood lighting and a ‘blue’ sala which has a painted blue wall that is decorated with the popular Arabic symbol of the ‘Hand of Fatima‘.
As you enter you notice that there are several dancers but one in particular is dancing in a slight off beat rhythm than the others. As you watch her you begin to notice a certain pattern in her dance and decide to write it down.
[Left , down, right] & [Circle] & [Up, right, down] & [Up, right, down] & [Left, down, right, left, down, right] & [Left, down, right] &[ Left, left, right, down]
[ Left, left, right, down] & [Down, down, up, right, down] & [Left, down, right, left, down, right]
[Left, down, right, up, up] & [Circle] & [ Left, left, right, down] & [Left, down, right, down, left].
You quickly figure out what the dance means but are not sure what to do with it so you decide to ask one of the locals. There are some that look honest and others that look a bit corrupt. One of the honest looking ones is a monk standing outside at a vegetable stall. You give him the message and surprisingly he does not seem at all puzzled by what you have just told him.
He slips you a note that reads:
It does not take long to solve the riddle as you have heard of it before, using the answer to the riddle, message of the dancer and then after working through all the other clues you have collected and still some other documents in your research (see images) you finally discover the hiding place. With the excitement building in you, you hurry to the airport and fly to Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
Will you find the treasure of the copper scrolls or was it just too easy?
