Although the plot of this remarkable film by the unforgettable Billy Wilder does not deal directly with ancient Egypt, we can nevertheless discern a reference to Egyptomania. The entire film takes place inside a hotel in the Egyptian desert during the Second World War. German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel arrives there and, in a series of conversations with allies and opponents, explains some of the moves he is planning in order to achieve victory on the North African front. Faced with the possibility that his troops might run short of supplies and weapons, Rommel reveals that he has already solved this problem thanks to the existence of five secret locations in Egypt where such supplies are stored. They were buried in the Egyptian sands in 1937, several years before the outbreak of the war, and consist of enormous quantities of gasoline, water, ammunition, and other supplies. Cleverly, Rommel allows his counterparts to ask twenty questions during dinner, with the question concerning the whereabouts of these locations being the twenty-first and therefore left unanswered.
Regarding the location of these sites, Rommel later reveals that the British are searching for them in vain and that the key lies in the map of Egypt. Davos, the British agent who has inadvertently infiltrated the hotel, begins to reflect on this clue. He then finds a photograph of the German archaeologist Professor Cronstaetter and his team, who had travelled to Egypt to excavate tombs from the Predynastic period. Davos realizes that the mission of this team of archaeologists was merely a cover for burying the aforementioned supplies for the German army in the territory between the Libyan border and Cairo. They were therefore not excavating objects from the Egyptian past, but rather burying supplies for a future conflict. The five locations are thus five ancient Egyptian tombs.
Returning to the question of the map of Egypt, Rommel shows Davos his map of the country, and Davos finally understands that the key is indeed to be found there. The locations correspond to the places where the map spells out the word “Egypt”: one at the E, another at the G, another at the Y, another at the P, and finally another at the T. The supplies are hidden at these locations.
In short, ancient Egypt and its archaeological heritage become intertwined with the intrigues of the different sides involved in the war.

Author: Abraham I. Fernández Pichel