Recording Log: Text 003
Date: 12 26 3345 Time: 13: 07
Location: P0 - Earth
Under Sea Excavation
South of Sothern Hem Mountain Range
The weather is inhospitable. The mountains are capped with snow and the silence is broken only by icy, nonchalant wind. The sea crushes at the depths and the aqua traversing vehicle makes sounds of pain. This is turning out to be one of the most challenging expeditions ever for me. But this was the legendary land of Meluhas, this is where it all started from; as Grandma tells, this was home once!
There have been some very interesting findings here. Although, in absence of any qualified scientist from the geological and meteorological departments it is difficult to perceive how the changes in the weather occurred. I’ve been trying to find documents (whatever are remaining) regarding changes in the climate here; unsuccessfully yet.
The major discoveries have been in the area just south of the shorter hills, which according to our resources was the base of a major civilization here once. We have found a complex of buildings. There is a stone structure whose rectangular top is visible but is silted at the bottom. After light digging, we found steps of stones receding downwards. It seems an altar for sacrifice. Once the de-silting continued to deeper proportions a steep wall with inscriptions on it was found. Possibly these are the records of the people who were sacrificed here. The script that is used is incomprehensible still. My tablet from the department of ancient languages cannot explain all the symbols in the scriptures. There’s also a dome like structure nearby all covered in coral and sea weed. What the building is exactly shall be known only if the de-silting process is allowed to be done there extensively. I am communicating the requirement for deeper excavations to the PH – Xyne. Until then we’ll remain only on the surface.
Another dome like structure is apparent nearby. This is the only place where sonographic tests have been done and they show the presence of a huge structure underneath. Before we could pull up the apparatus a very strong undercurrent flushed away the equipment. The small 16 TB recording is all that we could get from the place. There is a clear indication of a palace in that zone. Was this civilization a monarchy? If it was than at what time did the idea of republic set in? Was the monarch despotic or did he/she take care of the interest of the people? There are unanswered questions all over…
There are tall structures that have sustained the pressure of water and the flow of undersea currents. The bases are silted with mud and sand. It will take time to remove the silt from the bases and identify the complete structures. I tried to break in using one of the flexible arms of the vehicle but could only reach some couple of meters. The optical wires however showed a pattern of cubical structures amongst the jungle of sea weed and coral. The entire floor is surrounded by windows and there are a couple of rooms also. The windows show the requirement of light at all times which suggests that the utilization of place as a place to read and write. This could be a library or a center for philosophy. We still require a solid proof for that. There are more than one such building juxtaposed to each other. And thus there seem to be multiple complexes of such buildings. Were our ancestors so deeply engrossed in questions concerning philosophy? Or did this civilization spent most of its time reading? If yes, then there appears to be widespread economic sufficiency.
Surprisingly these tall structures have gypsum, silica, calcium carbonate as their composing material. Possibly the buildings made of stone are of another era. The initial L-3 tests show that the stones were put together somewhere in 18th century, but I maintain that L-3 is not reliable especially in salt contaminated samples.
A couple of KE’s from these building complexes, we found an elevated area. The area is relatively clear from the buildings. There stands a stone statue in the center of what I believe to be a Goddess. There seems to be a goddess cult prevalent in the civilization, although, I am surprised by the simplicity of the pantheon. A statue in open surroundings could only be to facilitate mass gatherings around the figure. This figure also echoes my earlier guess of economic sufficiency of the civilization. The idol shows healthy proportions implying the abundance of food and a sufficient civilization. There are also statue figures of an animal of giant proportions lining the way to the cult figure. Possibly this animal was the vehicle of this goddess.
I am yet to find any details of settlements here. Perhaps, their story is sealed much beneath this sand. In absence of a corroborative text, we cannot guess about the social stratification or economic activities either. If PH doesn’t agree to excavate deeper here, perhaps we’ll move northwards in order to explore more of this lost civilization. The synchro-sat diagrams show possibility of abandoned settlements to the north-east of the civilization here.
It has been 36 hours since I last slept. So, until the next excavation and the next entry, signing off…
Arpit Bharat, XII
Sr. Archaeologist
Office of Ancient Planetary History,
PH – Xyne
Glossary
P0 – Planet ZERO (Earth)
PH – Planet Home (Xyne)
L-3 – Element 3 (based test for understanding the life of an object)
KE – Unit for distance (K – Echo)
