In 1932 Patrick Clayton, a surveyor with the Egyptian Geol Survey stumbled upon a fantastic discovery. He was bumping across the dunes towards the red rocks of the Saad plateau when he felt the tyres of his car crunch across chunks of glass. An incredibly clear, green-yellow glass that glittered like gems. Over the next few years he returned & took samples of this strange material, marking his last visit in 1934 with a scribbled message that he put into an empty bottle & left amongst the glass. 50 years later, explorer Giancarlo Negro stumbled across Clayton's bottle as he picked his way across the site. Negro's expidition was the first in a series aimed at unravelling the site's secrets. The glittering shards turned out to be the purest natural silica glass anyone has ever found (98% silica) & there may be some 1400 tonnes spread across vast areas.
