The Basin of Rameses II is one of the Six Sacred Stones, used to cleanse the last three Pillars a second time before their placement in the Machine.
History[]
Early History[]
Though unconfirmed, the Basin, like its fellow Sacred Stones, was most likely made by the super-ancient beings rather than humans, since they included it in their second trial.
At a currently unknown point in Earth's history, the Super-Ancient Beings discovered the Dark Sun and set about constructing a machine that would repel it before it came too close to the planet. Among the tools they created was the Basin, which was to be used to perform a second cleansing for the final three Pillars before they were meant to be placed in their corresponding Vertex, due to the harsher light threatened by the Dark Sun during its final approach. To accomplish this, the Super-Ancients used a special type of water found only in a single spring in the Basin to perform the second cleansing in conjunction with the Firestone. Though they were able to prevent the Dark Star from approaching in their time, the Super-Ancient Beings realised that even after they were gone from the Earth, there may yet be intelligent life, and so left the Basin so that human kind could use it to aid them.
Eventually, the Basin and the rest of the Machine components came to be kept in Egypt under the Pharaoh Khufu's keep. When he rose to power, Rameses II came to refer to the Basin as his own, thus people came to call it the Basin of Rameses II. Eventually, however, the priest Thuthmosis stole the Pillars and the Sacred Stones, unwittingly putting the Earth at greater risk of being destroyed by the Dark Sun as they were scattered around the world.
The Basin would eventually be discovered by Napoléon Bonaparte and his men during the French Emperor's search for Bekhen monuments. However, Bonaparte would incorrectly determine that the Basin had belonged to one of Rameses II's governors, Monutuemhat, and had it labelled as his in the collection of antiquities he had gathered aboard the L'Egyptienne.
While the L'Egyptienne was transporting the Basin, the French warship was captured by the British and, along with several other artefacts in Bonaparte's collection, the Basin was appropriated by them. The British archaeologists who examined the Basin noted there was no evidence that the Basin had ever belonged to Monutuemhat, but didn't seem to care enough to investigate the artefact further. Eventually, the Basin was transported to the British Museum, where it was set on display as the Basin of Monutuemhat.
Because of Bonaparte's error in identifying the Basin, no one could find any evidence as to where the Basin of Rameses II had ended up, to the point that most archaeologists believed it lost to history.
During his research into the Machine, Max Epper concluded that the Basin was one of the Six Sacred Stones, but could not determine its function or whereabouts.
The Six Sacred Stones[]
Shortly after the mission to restore the Machine was underway, Jack West Jr inquired the British royal Iolanthe Compton-Jones if she might know where the Basin was, however she could only reveal that she knew neither its location or what it did.
The Five Greatest Warriors[]
In the course of the Coalition of Minnows research into the Five Greatest Warriors and their relation to the components of the Machine, Alby Calvin's investigations into Napoléon Bonaparte led him to question why his discovery, the Rosetta Stone, was kept at the British Museum. Upon further investigation of the finds of Bonaparte's that had ended up there, Alby discovered a picture of the Basin of Monutuemhat and spied a inscription written in Thoth on its flank. After having Lily West translate it, Alby learned that it read "the cleansing basin", and shared this revelation with the Coalition team.
As a result, Pooh Bear, Stretch, Julius and Lachlan Adamson were dispatched to steal the Basin from the Museum. While Pooh Bear caused a fake bomb scare, the Adamson twins, disguised as museum gardeners, retrieved the Basin while everyone was distracted. After disguising the Basin with moss to make it appear as though it had come from a fountain and was in need of cleaning, Julius and Lachlan wheeled the Basin out of the museum during the commotion and took it away.
The Basin was held by Pooh Bear's group as they sought the Spring of the Black Poplar, and once they secured enough water to use within the Basin they started making preparations to reunite with their allies. However, they were intercepted by Iolanthe and her troops, but the British Royal instead set up a video-link with Carnivore, who was blackmailing most of those involved in the Machine restoration into working for him. As a result, the Basin was used with Carnivore's appropriated Firestone to give the Fourth Pillar its second cleansing, and Iolanthe then proceeded to take it and some of the Spring water with her to Diego Garcia, where she then gave the Fifth Pillar its second cleansing.
The Basin was kept on the Halicarnassus as Jack, Lily and Iolanthe made their way into the mine containing Jesus's tomb. While they were inside the mine, however, Carnivore and his forces arrived at the Halicarnassus after being led there by Cieran Kincaid, and took from it the Basin, which was put aboard his Tupolev. As Carnivore's group made their way to the final Vertex on Easter Island, the Basin was once again used in order to cleanse the Sixth Pillar.
As Carnivore and his forces made their way into the Vertex, they took with them the Basin, and Carnivore had it laid out with the first five Pillars and the Sacred Stones on an altar while awaiting the moment to place the sixth Pillar.
The Basin and the other Sacred Stones and Pillars were gathered up by Jack before he left the Vertex, and several weeks later he stored them within an abandoned salt mine on his new farm with the intention of keeping them hidden away from the rest of the world.
Purpose[]
The Basin of Rameses II performs a second cleansing of the latter three Pillars, due to the much harsher light of the Dark Star at the Pillar-placing times. The Basin must be filled with water from the Spring of the Black Poplar, and the Basin has a rectangular recess for the Firestone to fit into. When used with the Firestone, the Pillar (which is to have already been cleansed by the Philosopher's Stone) is to be placed into the Basin so that it is cleansed once again, taking on a slightly more lustrous sheen than the Philosopher's Stone-cleansed Pillar.
Trivia[]
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