Prologue

It was initially found in 1939, forty-four feet underwater, in the ruins of an ancient temple off the coast of Crete. The fetish was encased in a partially intact box made of jewel-encrusted ivory and petrified cedar. The case was elaborately carved with indecipherable 'Linear A' script. The case alone would have made it a remarkable, if not unique, anthropological and historical discovery. As things turned out however, the press of evolving world events caused the mixed Greek and American team that recovered it to box the case and its contents up and ship them off for storage in a warehouse near the airfields of southern Crete. With the outbreak of World War II on the mainland, the American team packed up their work and prepared to leave Crete for the duration of the conflict. Amidst the frenzy and confusion that followed, the crate containing the artifact was mis-labeled with American supply markings.

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