ABSTRACT
Al-Harith arranges to meet Abu Zayd at the French excavations of the Qalʿat Bani Hammad. As site foreman, Abu Zayd has secretly assembled a collection of antiquities for sale. Abu Zayd explains some of the features of the palatial complex. The director of the excavation, Léon de Beylié, encounters them and Abu Zayd claims that al-Harith is a journalist with an Egyptian newspaper. De Beylié then takes al-Harith on a tour of the site.
