Didja Notice?

 

Prologue: South America

 

    The game opens with a recreation of the prologue of Raiders of the Lost Ark, with Indy, Barranca, and Satipo searching the Peruvian jungle for the ancient temple that holds the Chachapoyan idol in 1936. Here in the game, the temple is referred to as the Blood Temple, while in the novelizations it is referred to as the Temple of the Chachapoyan Warriors. The Blood Temple name is borrowed from the 2023 board game Indiana Jones: Cryptic made by Funko.

    This version of the prologue is revealed to be a dream reliving the 1936 events (moderately altered) that Indy has in October 1937.

 

Indy finds the abandoned campsite of Dr. Forrestal in the jungle. Dr. Forrestal was an archeologist mentioned, but not seen, previously in The Viking Scroll and "Tomb of the Gods" Part 2, and, in Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indy remarks that Forrestal cashed in his chips at the Chachapoyan temple. Indeed, Indy found Forrestal's skewered body in the temple in that film.

 

In the campsite, Indy finds a book belonging to Forrestal, Warriors of the Clouds: My Journey Through the Ruins of the Chachapoyan Culture by Marya Smirnova; Indy mutters that the book was Forrestal's favorite. Marya is a journalist friend of Indy's, as seen previously seen in Secret of the Pyramid, The City of Lightning, and The Cursed Grimoire.

 

Barranca pulls a Smith & Wesson Mk II revolver on Indy here (the same model Indy uses), but in the original film, it was a Remington 1875.

 

In this dream sequence, within the temple Indy must continue pressing on certain floor tiles (ones with a circular indentation in the middle) with his torch to activate the proper footpath to the altar of the idol. This is a bit different than what happened in the original scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark.

 

In this dream sequence, Indy reaches under the closing stone doorway just in time to grab his hat out. In the original sequence in Raiders of the Lost Ark, it was his whip he pulled out.

 

In this dream sequence, Indy is seemingly flattened by the rolling boulder he originally outran in the earlier film, waking him up at his desk in his office at Marshall College. During his attempted flight from the boulder, Indy hears the voices of Marcus and Marion berating him; these lines of dialog are from Raiders of the Lost Ark.

 

When Indy awakens, he finds that Marcus has also fallen asleep on the office couch. Marcus is clutching the book The Lone Explorer by R.J. Adams. Adams is soon revealed to have been associated with the college in the past, and was awarded a plaque from the Geology Institute for "excellence in sedimentary geology" from 1899—1929. "Geology Institute" could refer to any of a number of real world such institutes.

 

In his sleep, Marcus seems to be mumbling about the time he got lost in his own museum, an event also referenced in The Last Crusade.

 

To the right is Indy's office at Marshall College.

 

The Break-In

 

Indy finds his own faculty identification card in the ransacked room in Woolley Hall of the college. The back of the card has the words SAPIENTIA ET LUX printed on it. This is Latin for "WISDOM AND LIGHT". The first mention of Woolley Hall was in the 1994 Raiders of the Lost Ark Sourcebook for the The World of Indiana Jones roleplaying game.

 

Indy picks up a Campus Overview map of Marshall College.

 

A letter written by August Björkmann found in the school mentions archaeologist Theresa Lawrence's theft of the Uppsala Scroll years earlier. This refers to events in "The Viking Scroll".

 

The Marshall College newsletter mentions that renovations to the lecture halls has begun. This may be meant to explain some differences seen on campus here compared to earlier in Raiders of the Lost Ark and later in Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

 

Indy and Marcus find most of the artifacts from the ransacked display case scattered on the floor. A couple of the relics are: a Bastet statue (a fertility goddess of ancient Egypt with the head of a cat) and a gold funerary mask with Ugaritic engravings from Ras Shamrat, Syria.

 

	The flag emblem seen on the marker card next to the display stand for the Bastet statue is that of the Kingdom of Egypt from 1922-1953.
	The flag emblem seen on the marker card next to the display stand for the Ugaritic mask is that of the nation of Syria.

 

Indy realizes that one artifact is missing from Wooley Hall, a cat mummy from Siwa that he had recovered from the site six weeks earlier in the year (so, around the beginning of September). Siwa is an urban oasis in Egypt. It is famous for being the site where Alexander the Great consulted the oracle there, who proclaimed that Alexander was the son of Amun (one of the major Egyptian gods) and therefore the legitimate Pharaoh of Egypt.

 

Searching for clues to the identity or origin of the thief (Locus), Indy finds an article torn out of a newspaper. The newspaper's name is partially missing from the top where it was torn, with only "--ord Post" visible. This is likely meant to be "Bedford Post", Bedford being the name of the fictitious town in which Marshall College exists. The article itself refers to Mussolini and his MVSN (commonly known as Blackshirts) ruling Rome with an iron fist. This is a reference to the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini (often called Il Duce) and his Fascist party, who ruled Italy from 1922-1943. The MVSN (Milizia Volontaria per la Sicurezza Nazionale; Voluntary Militia for National Security) is the paramilitary wing of the National Fascist Party, distinguished by their black uniforms. Rome is the capital and largest city of Italy.

 

On Indy's desk is a map of the Temple of the Forbidden Eye. This is the temple seen in the Disneyland ride Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Forbidden Eye. It is generally said within the Indiana Jones canon that he discovered the temple by piecing together map fragments and following the route, on the banks of the Bengal River in India in 1935, shortly after his adventure at Pankot Palace in The Temple of Doom. 

 

Locus' medallion, left behind during his escape from the college, is said by Marcus to be the sigil of the Vatican Secret Archive. This is the former name of the Vatican Apostolic Archive. As far as I can tell, this sigil is fictitious.

 

A pulp magazine called Strange Aeons #1 can be found in a small lounge of the college. It does not seem to be important to the game, but does grant the player some Adventure Points when found. A number of random articles like this can be found throughout the game. The magazine is fictitious, but it's amusing to note that the cover story is about the "thrilling adventures of Joe the Archeologist." "With only a throw net and his trusty slingshot he explores the wild corners of the earth!"

 

Another "Adventure Points" item to be found in the college is a baseball card. It does not appear to be a real world card, but is very reminiscent of baseball cards and player poses produced at the time. Indy was seen to be a big baseball fan and a collector of cards featuring his favorite players in The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles.

 

A letter found in a student desk in Indy's classroom (another Adventure Points item) is from "Shirley", now revealed as the girl who had "LOVE YOU" written on her eyelids for him in Raiders of the Lost Ark.

 

   While packing for his trip to Italy, Indy tosses in a gramophone record to use as a potential gift for someone. It is from Gramodec Records. This appears to be a fictitious company. The unnamed song is said to be by Prince Jimmy and his Orchestra, but the Indiana Jones and the Great Circle soundtrack album lists the song as "Count G" by modern day composer Gordy Haab.

   Indy later does make a gift of the record to Father Morello at the Vatican, an old friend of his from the war.

 

Indy flies from New York City to Rome.

 

The Castel Sant'Angelo is an actual historic building in Rome, also known as the Mausoleum of Hadrian.

 

The Stolen Cat Mummy - Castel Sant'Angelo

 

During his time exploring Vatican City, Indy encounters a number of cats. Rome, and, therefore, Vatican City, is known for its large population of feral cats.

 

In the grounds of the Castel Sant'Angelo, Indy overhears a pair of Blackshirts talking about Mussolini's interest in accessing the Vatican and that the pope is currently ill. The pope at this time was Pius XI. Indy mumbles about the pope being Mussolini's propaganda mouthpiece. Pope Pius was controversial in his time, largely for his cooperation with the Fascist rulers of Italy, though his acceptance of them was nuanced and he was critical at times. He was in a difficult position as leader of the Vatican (and the Catholic Church) with it being literally fenced in by Fascist Italy. 

 

The Italian Blackshirts are armed with Beretta M1934 pistols.

 

As Indy searches through the Castel Sant'Angelo and takes out Blackshirts, the flag of the Kingdom of Italy is seen a few times. This flag was in use in Italy from 1861-1946.

 

In Castel Sant'Angelo, Indy finds a copy of Storie del Terrore #1 (Tales of Dread #1). This is another fictitious pulp magazine.

 

Indy also finds books called Temperamento da Gentiluomini: Gestire la Rabbia Con Disciplina (Gentlemanly Temperament: Managing Anger With Discipline) by Cetteo Pavone and Dailo Smacco Allo Scacco Vol 1: La Rimonita Neggli Scacchi (Give It A Whistle To Check Vol 1: The Reprimand In Chess) by Benedetto Cernigoi. These are fictitious books and authors.

 

Another item found by Indy is a postcard of the Gizeh Pyramids addressed to Allessandro from M.

 

A poster for a boxing club is seen pinned to a bulletin board in the castel, Circolo di Pugilato Segreto (Secret Boxing Circle).

 

Next find is a the book Baruffe di un Giovane Teppista (Brawls of a Young Hooligan) by Leopoldo Sacripanti. Fictitious book and author.

 

The hearing aid device worn by Father Antonio Morello seems smaller and a bit more sophisticated than the electronic aids actually available in the 1930s.

 

The character of Father Cesare Ventura is probably based on the historical figure Father Pietro Tacchi Venturi (1861-1956). Both the fictitious Ventura and historical Venturi are friendly with Mussolini and act as unofficial liaisons of the Vatican to the Italian ruler and both are known as the "Man in Black".

 

Father Morello refers to Indy as "Henri" and remarks that it has been 19 years, with Indy agreeing, saying, "...since the infirmary by the Piave." The Piave is a river in Italy and it was the main line of defense of Italy during WWI. It seems that Indy and Morello served together in the war in 1918, where Indy was known by his nomme de guerre of Henri Defense of Belgium. Morello was not introduced in any episodes of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (which depicted a number of Indy's WWI adventures), but there are a number of gaps in the Chronicles chronology to be filled in.

 

When a touched Father Morello receives the Gramodec record from Indy as a gift, he says, "Gracie, amico mio..." This is Italian for "Thank you, my friend..."

 

    When Indy awakens from his nap in the Vatican, with Father Morello listening joyfully to the jazz record, the father greets him, "Buongiorno! This American music is astounding! How do they play like that?" Buongiorno is Italian for "Good morning".

    Indy has written the day's date in his journal, October 23, 1937. 

 

Father Morello remarks that the Vatican chef, Giovanni, makes a good risotto ai funghi. This is a rice dish cooked with broth and mushrooms.

 

Father Morello gives Indy a clerical suit to wear while in the Vatican and when the archeologist adventurer puts it on, Morello says, "Perfetto, Indy. You should have become a man of the cloth." Perfetto is Italian for "perfect".

 

In the Vatican clerical outfit, Indy uses the alias of Father Gallagher from St. Joseph's in Boston. It's possible Indy is referring to the real world St. Joseph Catholic Church in Boston.

 

Indy begins a search of the Vatican Apostolic Library for the sigil on the medallion left behind by the giant thief (Locus).

 

During his library wanderings, Indy finds a flyer regarding briscola. This is a popular Italian game played with a standard Italian 40-card deck.

 

When Indy finds the secret entrance opened by the sigil medallion, Father Morello discovers him and says, "Madre di Dio...What have you found, Indy?" Madre di Dio is Italian for "mother of God".

 

Indy finds an old letter from Cesare Borgia. Borgia (1475-1507) was an Italian Roman Catholic deacon and later cardinal, who went on to become a mercenary! He was also an illegitimate son of Pope Alexander VI of the House of Borgia. His quest for power was part of the inspiration for Machiavelli's illustrious treatise The Prince.

 

The mystery note Indy finds in the Borgia tower is a poem. It appears to be an original poem for the game.

 

In Vatican City, Indy enters Belvedere Courtyard. This is an actual architectural work within the Vatican.

 

Indy finds a recipe for Cacio e pepe. "Cacio e pepe" is Italian for "cheese and pepper" and is a spicy pasta dish.

 

Indy finds a ticket stub for the Virgilio Cinema & Theatre on the Strada dei Mattoni Gialli in Rome. This appears to be a fictitious theatre. The road it's on is also fictitious, and translates to "Yellow Brick Road" (the road, or path, that winds through the Land of Oz in the Oz book series by L. Frank Baum, and, most famously, in the 1939 movie adaptation, The Wizard of Oz)!

 

Another "Adventure Points" book Indy finds is Tennista D'elite: Mantenere L'attrezzatura Nell'etadel Jazz (Elite Tennis Player: Maintaining Equipment in the Jazz Age) by Alessandro Pesaro. Both book and author appear to be fictitious.

 

In the course of the video game, Indy may find a Venus figurine held by one of the skeletons in a secret room off the interrogation room. A Venus figurine is a type of small sculpture from the Upper Paleolithic, 50,000-12,000 years ago, depicting a woman, often pregnant or with exaggerated features.

 

Ernesto calls Indy signore. This is Italian for "sir".

 

In the Vatican Post Office, Indy buys a camera from Ernesto and also looks at a pamphlet there called Leggende e Misteri Locali del Vaticano Antologia (Local Legends and Mysteries of the Vatican
Anthology).

 

Another "Adventure Points" book: Oltre il Crinale (Beyond the Ridge) by Aureliano Mantovani.

 

Another "Adventure Points" book: Il Regime Armonico di Forza e Spirito (The Harmonic Regime of Strength and Spirit) by Andrea Ciarlante.

 

At one point, Indy mumbles, "Be you therefore perfect, even as your Father who is in heaven is perfect." This is a passage from the Bible's Matthew 5:48.

 

After taking numerous photographs of the inscriptions around Vatican City with the camera he bought from Ernesto, Indy somehow immediately has the photos to show to Father Morello without having to get the film developed! He also hands out instant photos to some other people along the way in his wanderings through the Vatican. (No, the camera was not digital (heh-heh)...and not a Polaroid or instant camera, which was not available until 1948!)

 

When Indy reads a clue from Latin inscriptions of "the crusade that did not happen", Father Morello remarks, "The crusade that did not happen...Dum Diversas?" Dum Diversas ("While Different") is a papal bull issued by Pope Nicholas V in 1452. It authorized King Afonso V of Portugal to conquer Saracens and pagans and consign them to "perpetual servitude".

 

The Tower of Nicholas V inside Vatican City may be a veiled reference to the real world Niccoline Chapel, but they don't look much alike.

 

In the tower, Indy finds an ancient parade helmet made in the 4th Century BC by the La Tène culture of the Gaul region. Gaul was a large region of Western Europe from 5 BC to 5 AD, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of Switzerland, Netherlands, Germany, and Northern Italy. The  La Tène culture existed there from about 450-1 BC.

 

    While continuing to solve the "Sacred Wounds Puzzle" in the tower Indy speaks the words, "For this is my blood of the covenant, poured out for many unto remission of sins." This is from Matthew 26:28 of the Bible, spoken by Jesus.

    Indy continues to mumble assorted Bible passages, such as "...they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the sea--and they were terrified..." and "...and he took a cup, and gave thanks, and gave to them, saying 'Drink ye of it..." and "...and he gave to the disciples, and said, 'Take, eat; this is my body...'" and "...and she anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair..."

 

As part of the puzzle, Indy also identifies a statue of Longinus, the Roman soldier who pierced the side of Jesus with the Holy Lance during the crucifixion. The Holy Lance, also known as the Spear of Destiny, will become the object of Indy's search in 1945 in The Spear of Destiny.

 

Indy reads from an old document that the Fountain of Confession in Vatican City is the entrance to the sacred monastery of the Nephilim order. The Fountain of Confession appears to be fictitious, as is the Nephilim order, but Nephilim are mentioned in the Bible as beings of great size and strength, i.e. giants. Some interpretations suggest that the Nephilim were wiped out in the Great Flood.

 

A statue of Oceanus, the Titan son of Uranus and Gaia in Greek mythology, the father of the river gods and the Oceanids, and the personification of the great river which encircled the entire world, is found in one of the rooms of the catacombs. In another is a statue of Nike, goddess of tennis shoes.

 

    While following the sneaky nun (Gina) into a Vatican building, Indy finds a torn newspaper page about a surprise Japanese air bombing run in Shanghai. This refers to the Battle of Shanghai of August-November of 1937 during the Second Sino-Japanese War.

    The newspaper's name is half torn off, leaving only "Corriere di". Corriere is Italian for "Courier".

 

Indy tells Gina that Emmerich Voss is a German archeologist and leader of the Führer's occult research program. Voss is a fictitious character, though the Führer (German leader Adolf Hitler) is said by some researchers to have been obsessed with the occult (though others say it was mostly Heinrich Himmler's obsession and Hitler merely allowed him to pursue the subject through Nazi resources). Here, Voss works with the Third Reich Special Antiquities Collection. This is the same fictitious organization that Toht worked for in Raiders of the Lost Ark.

 

Indy sarcastically remarks to Gina, "The Lord revealeth his secret unto his servants." This phrase is a Biblical concept, suggesting that God communicates his plans and knowledge to those who are devoted to him and carry out his will.

 

Gina refers to Indy as strambo. This is Italian slang for "weirdo". She continues to use this nickname for him intermittently throughout the game. Cute.

 

After his first meeting with Gina, Indy finds another "Adventure Points" book, Sotto il Sole Italiano: Scampagnate e Cosa Portare (Under the Italian Sun: Picnics and What to Bring).

 

Indy finds a letter from Father Nicoletti to Father Luis about a copy of the Secretum Secretorum made for the Portuguese queen in the 12th Century. The Secretum Secretorum (Secret of Secrets) is a medieval treatise, purportedly a letter from Aristotle to Alexander the Great, covering a range of topics including statecraft, ethics, physiognomy, astrology, alchemy, magic, and medicine. The first Latin translation was made by John of Seville for Queen Tarasia of Portugal around 1120.

 

Indy spies some wooden statuettes of St. Peter and St. Paul. St. Peter was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. St. Paul was on the road to Damascus when the resurrected Jesus appeared before him.

 

When Indy gives Father Morello the leather parchment he found that talks about a secret order within the Vatican, Morello says, "This is astounding. Grazie, Indy." Grazie is Italian for "Thank you."

 

While Indy is exploring around the area of the Fountain of Confession, a conversation between a chimney sweeper and a labor manager can be heard, with the manager telling the sweeper, "You've got to get the chimneys cleaner that that, boy. If the public sees black smoke, they'll think we're choosing a new pope." Black smoke emerging from the Sistine Chapel chimney indicates the cardinals are meeting to elect a new pope. White smoke indicates that a new pope has been elected. The Sistine Chapel is a famed chapel is the Apostalic Palace of the Vatican.

 

On one of the sidequests, Indy may find a golden xiphos. A xiphos is a double-edged, one-handed shortsword that was used by the ancient Greeks.

 

In the course of the game, Indy may find an Aduno Koro sculpted by the Dogon people in the 17th Century. An Aduno Koro is an "ark of the world", sent by the Creator to reorganize and populate the world. The Dogon are an indigenous ethnic group of the central plateau region of Mali, West Africa; they are known for allegedly having astronomical knowledge that could not be discerned by their naked-eye observation, inviting speculation of extraterrestrial visitation in the distant past, supported, in part, by the civilization's own mythology.

 

As Indy tells Gina, the ark of bulrushes is the small vessel that is said in the Bible to have carried the baby Moses down the river to protect him from the Egyptian mandate to drown every male child.

 

As Indy and Gina head down into the bowels of the Fountain of Confession, Gina remarks, "Oh, mio Dio. It's a long way down, isn't it?" Mio Dio is Italian for "My God".

 

At one point, Indy remarks to Gina that journalism probably doesn't usually mean exploring old catacombs and she responds it's usually things like spying on Fascist meetings and reporting from the Ethiopian warfront. "Ethiopian warfront" probably refers to the Second Italo-Ethiopian War of October 1935 to February 1937.

 

As Indy pulls the lever to start the Gold Forge, Gina asks, "Una fucina?" This is Italian for "A forge?"

 

In the catacombs, Indy and Gina light up two forges, of gold and silver, to cast two sacred keys used to open two chambers in the catacombs. After the casting the keys in the molten metals, Indy is able to grab and use the key immediately, seemingly without allowing the lengthy amount of time necessary for the metal cool and harden first! (This kind of thing...including the the instant "photographs" Indy takes with his camera...is what annoys me about video game storytelling.)

 

Indy reads from a stone tablet about "passing through fire" and he remarks that it is a reference to Isaiah. In the Book of Isaiah of the Bible, it is said, "Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts is the land darkened, and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire."

 

Indy takes a photograph of a Metatron statue. Metatron is an angel in Judaism, Gnosticism, and Islam, mentioned in the Talmud.

 

After threatening to expose Father Ventura's sins and of taking the Great Circle relics from the Treasury of Esoteric Artifacts, Voss tells the father, "Arrivederci." This is an Italian word meaning "Until we meet again."

 

In the Treasury of Esoteric Artifacts, Indy discovers a "Ziggurat Dig Report" of the Vatican Secret Agency from 1922. It describes an expedition to Ur, Iraq lead by Andres Silvio Uribe, accompanied by two young archeologists, Henry Jones, Jr. and Rene Belloq. Uribe is a fictitious archeologist; his son and daughter become involved with a plot against Indy later in 1937 in "The Arms of Gold". A ziggurat is a somewhat pyramidal structure built in ancient Mesopotamia. The Vatican Secret Agency is fictitious, though many researchers do believe the Vatican has been involved in intelligence gathering and covert activities throughout its history. Ur was an ancient Mesopotamian city-state in what is now modern-day Iraq. 

 

Indy finds a list of where the Great Circle artifacts in the Treasury of Esoteric Artifacts were originally found. All seven sites are real world locations.

 

Indy warns Gina that he's had a run-in with the Nazis before "and it ain't no walk in the park." Perhaps he is being modest when he says he's had a run-in; he's dealt with Nazis a number of times in the past, though most notably in Raiders of the Lost Ark.

 

When Indy and Gina exit the catacombs and emerge back into Vatican City, they see a Nazi zeppelin docking to the dome of St. Peter's Basilica.

 

The Nazi soldiers are seen armed with Luger P-08 pistols.

 

Indy overhears two Nazi soldiers talking, one asking, "Wasn't Leonardo da Vinci Italian?" Da Vinci (1452-1519) was Italian and one of the most noted polymaths of the Renaissance period.

 

Inside the basilica, Indy picks up a bottle of Avellino amaro. Amaro is an Italian herbal liqueur typically consumed as a digestif. "Avellino" would seem to be the brand name, possibly being from the Avellino region of Campania, Italy.

 

Indy names off a number of ancient historical sites that he says are part of the Great Circle legend. They are all actual historical sites, but they do not line up in a perfect circle around the globe as he states here. Also, the Great Circle legend itself is one made up for the game.

 

The Race is On

 

Indy finds a top secret German document from Adolf Hitler which assigns the zeppelin Z-30 to Operation Great Circle. The document reveals that Voss has the paramilitary rank of sturmbannführer (major) in the SS (Schutzstaffel).

 

The escape hatch Indy opens in the bottom of the Z-30 when it arrives in Gizeh has ACHTUNG STURZGEFAHR stenciled on top. This is German for ATTENTION: RISK OF FALLING.

 

A German flying wing, similar to the one seen at Tanis in Raiders of the Lost Ark, is seen in Gizeh as the Z-30 lands.

 

The Wehrmacht mentioned snidely by Voss to Gantz after arriving in Gizeh is the name for the unified German armed forces from 1935-1945 during the Nazi reign.

 

The Idol of Ra, said to have once been in the possession of Khufu, appears to be a fictitious relic. Khufu was the second pharaoh of the Fourth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt, in the 26th Century BCE.

 

Nawal has a sketch she made of Margaret Murray. Indy remarks that Murray is currently doing an excavation in Petra. Murray (1863-1963) was an Anglo-Indian anthropologist, archaeologist, Egyptologist, folklorist, and historian, and the first woman to be appointed as a lecturer in archaeology in the United Kingdom.

 

A book called Pure Paraffin is seen in Nawal's tent. This appears to be a fictitious book. Paraffin is a type of wax.

 

Nawal tells Indy she is a benefactor at the Cairo Museum (one of the common names for the Egyptian Museum).

 

The Idol of Ra appears to be a fictitious relic.

 

    On the stelae list given to Indy by Nawal, her contact mentions that the Nazis think they are searching the tomb of Khentkawes for Stele No. 1. Khentkawes (Khentkaus I) was a royal woman of ancient Egypt, c. 2500 BC. Her tomb was excavated starting in 1932, as Indy remarks later in the game.

    The contact also mentions some findings on an ostracan that indicate a stele beneath the Sphinx. An ostracan (more commonly, ostracon) is a shard of pottery that has writing on it. The Great Sphinx of Gizeh is a gigantic limestone statue of a sphinx, a mythical creature with the head of a human and the body of a lion.

    The Mortuary Temple mentioned in the list is presumably the Temple of Khufu there at the Gizeh Complex.

 

The Sanctuary of the Guardians mentioned by Voss in the communication recorded by Gina appears to be a fictitious location within the Gizeh Complex.

 

The Idol of Ra

 

The market vendor Asmaa has a pet monkey named Tausret and when Indy refers to the animal as "little guy", Asmaa corrects him, "Tausret is a queen, not a guy." The creature's name may refer to the eponymous female final pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt, who reigned from 1191-1189 BC (as Indy mentions with his reference to "the last queen of the Ramissid dynasty).

 

Asmaa says to Indy, "Ye salem." This is an Arabic expression, essentially meaning, "Peace be upon you."

 

Asmaa tries to sell Indy a trinket from Vienna.

 

Indy finds a Hanged Man Card in the Gizeh village. This card is a traditional part of a tarot deck, an image of a man hanging by one ankle, generally considered to represent self-sacrifice. Later, Indy finds a Devil card, another piece of the tarot, which represents violence, force, fatality; and a Moon card, representing "the life of imagination" apart from life of the spirit.

 

Indy finds an old letter from General Klebér to Colonel Joseph regarding Bonaparte's Egyptian campaign. Napoleon Bonaparte was the high general, First Consul, and Emperor of France from 1799-1814. Jean-Baptiste Kléber (1753-1800) served Napoleon as the commander of French forces in Egypt. "Colonel Joseph" likely refers to Napoleon's brother, Joseph Bonaparte, though he did not become a colonel until 1804, several years after Kléber's death by assassination in Cairo in 1800.

 

The large stele Indy looks at between the paws of the Sphinx and which he refers to as the Dream Stele is a real world artifact mounted in that location. The Dream Stele is called that because its inscription narrates the story of a young prince, Thutmose IV, who, in a dream, was promised the throne by the Great Sphinx if he cleared the sands that covered it.

 

A large garage tent is seen with the word Fahrzeugwartung on it. The word is German for "vehicle maintenance".

 

Indy finds a newspaper clipping about the German archeological team accused of stealing artifacts from the Gizeh digs and that Egypt's new king hasn't done anything about it. The king of Egypt at this time was Farouk I, who had ascended to the throne in 1936.

 

Nawal tells Indy about a speculated burial chamber much like the Osireion found by Ms. Murray and Sir Petrie in 1903. The Osireion is a cenotaph of Seti I, part of the Temple of Seti I at Abydos, Egypt, believed to have been built in the 13th century BC.

 

A sign on the chain link fence surrounding the Nazi dig site proper reads, "Betreten verboten auf eindringlinge wird deschossen." This is German for "No entry, intruders will be shot."

 

When she sees the Nazi flag that Nawal had told them to take down as a signal for Nawal to cause a distraction near the German dig's offices, Gina says, "D'accordo. Let's get that flag down." D'accordo is Italian for "right".

 

Indy finds a telegram sent from the Nazi expedition in Peru to the SS-Hauptamt (SS-Main Office) reporting the disappearance of the battleship Kummetz off the Peruvian coast. The Kummetz  appears to be a fictitious ship.

 

Indy finds a report of a haunting in one of the Egyptian tombs, written by Hauptfeldwebel Pohl. Hauptfeldwebel is German for "Sergeant Major".

 

Indy finds a copy of The Interpretation of Dreams, an 1899 book by Sigmund Freud. Indy met Freud as a young boy in "The Perils of Cupid".

 

    Indy finds part of an old French scholar's diary referring to September after the Battle of Aboukir Bay. This was a naval battle (more commonly known as the Battle of the Nile) between Britain and France in August 1798 during the French Revolutionary Wars. The battle was decisively won by Britain.

    The diary's author also mentions hoping to transport some of the most valuable discoveries back to France, like the Rosetta Stone. The Rosetta Stone is an Ancient Egyptian stele transcribed in 196 BC, featuring a text in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, Demotic script, and ancient Greek, becoming a translation tool for Egyptian hieroglyphics. But, the stone was not uncovered (in the town of Rosetta) until July of 1799, not 1798.

   The Institute of Egypt is also mentioned here. This is a learned society in Cairo that is the oldest scientific institute in Egypt.

 

Indy finds a letter from his old friend Marya Smirnova to Voss. Apparently, Voss had requested she interview him as "the world's greatest archeologist", but she turned him down. Indy remarks he hasn't seen her since "the volcano", referring to the end of The Cursed Grimoire.

 

A portrait of Adolf Hitler is seen hanging in the makeshift interrogation room.

 

    Voss makes a reference to an Ashinákan fertility idol stolen from Indy by Belloq, which seems to be a reference to the Chachapoyan fertility idol Belloq took from Indy at the beginning of Raiders of the Lost Ark (which Indy corrects him about), but I don't know what "Ashinákan" refers to. Ashinakan is a Japanese word referring to the wooden board of a checkerboard game.

    Indy tells Voss not to worry because he'll get the Chachapoyan idol back. But, he already did recover it in Marrakesh in "Xomec's Raiders".

 

Voss remarks that some of the tattoos on the giant's body look like a syllabary, not an abjad. A syllabary is a set of written characters representing syllables. An abjad is a writing system where only consonants are represented, leaving the reader to infer the vowel sounds.

 

Indy comes to the realization that the strange printed language is Adamic, the alleged first language given to man by God. This is true, according to Jewish tradition and the midrashim of the Talmud.

 

When Gina demands to know where Voss has taken her sister, Voss remarks, "Now, now, you're overlooking lex parsimoniae. Always choose the explanation with the fewest assumptions." Lex parsimoniae is Latin for "law of parsimony", i.e. the common philosophical principle of Occam's razor, that "the simplest explanation is usually the correct one." Voss goes on to claim that Gina's sister has joined his side of her own free will.

 

Some diggers at Gizeh are heard to discuss a gold chest that was recovered from Tanis during a Nazi dig a year ago. This refers to the discovery of the Ark of the Covenant there in Raiders of the Lost Ark.

 

Indy and Nawal discover a chamber excavated by Voss that Indy reads the hieroglyphics as saying was built by Thuthmose IV, a thousand years after Khufu. The reign of pharaoh Thuthmose IV was, in fact, about 1200 years after.

 

Hor-em-akhet (Horus of the Horizon) discussed by Indy and Nawal is the ancient Egyptian god more commonly referred today as Horus, one of the chief gods, depicted as having a falcon's head.

 

Nawal tells Indy she met Gina's sister (Laura) at a dig she (Nawal) sponsored in Saqqara. Saqqara is an Egyptian village in the Gizeh Governorate, serving as the necropolis, with numerous pyramids, for the ancient Egyptian capital of Memphis.

 

The Dream Stele here in the game is pretty much an exact match visually for the real world stele for the hieroglyphics and erosion...except for where the guardian glyphs have been inserted, in areas which are worn away in the real stele.

 

The diggers around the Great Pyramid sing the same song the diggers sang at the Tanis excavation in Raiders of the Lost Ark and which was also sung by diggers at the Valley of Kings in "My First Adventure".

 

Indy encounters large black scorpions a number of times in his exploration of the Gizeh ruins. These appear to be emperor scorpions, which are not found in the desert and which have an almost harmless sting, though Indy does not seem to know this.

 

Indy finds a page of field notes about Meroë by an unknown researcher. The writer states having seen a wall covered in Meriotic script, and one of the symbols in it was the same as they'd seen before in a Coptic manuscript found in Alexandria. Meroë was an ancient city on the banks of the Nile about 2,000 kilometers from Cairo. Coptic is a group of Egyptian dialects starting around the 3rd century AD.

 

Indy finds a note mentioning the Omega Book, causing Indy to mutter, "You can't change your fate. Just ask Sokai." This refers to the Japanese agent Mishima Sokai and the ancient book Indy finally recovered from him in Secret of the Sphinx.

 

As Indy activates the gateway in the Light Chamber, he mutters, "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here," a famous inscription above the gates of Hell in Dante's Inferno, translated from the Italian in the first part of his 1321 epic poem The Divine Comedy.

 

While Indy is buried up to his neck in the sand outside the pyramid, Voss calls him, "Verdammter dreckbastard!" This is German for "Damned bastard!"

 

A Harsh Climb

 

Indy and Gina find themselves in the Himalayas of Asia, which host the world's highest peaks to recover a lost Machu Picchu stone portion of the Great Circle. Machu Picchu is a 15th-century Inca citadel in southern Peru.

 

Gina remarks that Indy had said he'd been to the Himalayas before and asks him what he was doing there. He responds he was visiting an old friend. Indy has been in the Himalayas a few times by now: shortly before the events of The Temple of Doom in 1935 with Short Round and Wu Han, as mentioned in the junior novelization of that film; in 1936, in "The Search for Abner" (which is probably what Indy's answer to Gina refers to); and in "Dragon by the Tail".

 

A sign inside the Kummetz is seen to read KOMBUSE. This is German for "GALLEY".

 

Indy finds a diary page from a Kummetz crewmember where the man has written that he hopes he can find some primitive idols while in Peru that he can get priced by his cousin at the Pergamon Museum.

 

Indy finds part of the experiment journal of Experiment Delta Circle Zero. The entry states the ship was off the coast of Peru, 50 km west of Lima, at the time. Lima is the capital city of Peru.

 

Indy finds a sketch of a Mayan statue aboard the Kummetz and it is noted with "Panama", but the region of the nation of Panama is farther south than the extent of the Mayan civilization. The same mistake about the Mayans and Panama is made in The Staff of Kings. Perhaps the Mayan civilization stretched further in the Indiana Jones universe.

 

A crate of granaten is found in the safe room of the ship. Grenades. This is where Gina gets the grenade she hands to the Nazis in place of the stone a few minutes later.

 

Gantz tells Gina, "Give me the stone--bitte." Bitte is German for "please".

 

When a sliding crate on deck knocks a Nazi off the Kummetz, the man emits a Wilhelm scream.

 

Into the Fire

 

Golden Dragon tea appears to be a fictitious brand.

 

Indy and Gina find themselves in Shanghai, which Indy refers to as "The Magic City". This is one Shanghai's nicknames.

 

Shanghai is under attack by Japanese air raiders, as mentioned earlier in the study, part of the Battle of Shanghai. Indy glimpses the heavily damaged Club Obi-Wan and remarks that Lao Che won't be happy. Lao Che is the Shangahi crime lord Indy came up against in both The Dinosaur Eggs and The Temple of Doom, and his Club Obi-Wan was seen in the latter.

 

Indy hijacks a Japanese Zero fighter plane in mid-flight and the pilot shouts, "Get off my plane!", a line famously said by actor Harrison Ford as U.S. President James Marshall in the 1997 movie Air Force One.

 

Indy tells Gina that the closest Great Circle location to them in Shanghai is Sukhothai. Sukhothai was the capital of the Thai Kingdom in what is now Thailand (in 1937, Siam).

 

While flying the Zero onto the next phase of their adventure, Indy informs Gina he doesn't know how to land it. In The Last Crusade, he will tell his father on another hijacked plane he can "Fly, yes. Land, no!" Indy received some brief flying, not landing, lessons in The White Witch in 1930.

 

Trouble in Paradise

 

Referring to Voss, a fascist soldier in the village of Khaimuk Saksit says, "i wouldn't trust that soft crucco in a fire fight..." Khaimuk Saksit appears to be a fictitious village. Crucco is an Italian slang term for a German, i.e. a Kraut.

 

Indy finds an article clipping about flooding in the Sawankhalok region of Siam, where Sukhothai is located. Sawankhalok is an actual region (and now a district of Thailand).

 

Indy also finds recipes for Tom Yum Goong and Thot Man Pla. Tom Yum Goong is a Thai spicy and sour shrimp soup. Thot Man Pla are fried fish cakes.

 

At the hotel, Indy places an international call to Marcus, who tells him he found information in some books about a lost ziggurat alleged to exist in Sukhothai which is said to be haunted and is shunned by the Khmer. The Khmer people are an ethnic group native to Cambodia, with a large number also living in Thailand.

 

Gina says, "Sawatdee kha!" at the reception desk of the hotel as she tries to call out a clerk. Sawatdee kha in Thai means "hello" or "greetings" when spoken by a female; adding kha at the end is a polite particle used by women.

 

Marcus informs Indy during the phone call that Marshall College has fired him (Indy).

 

It is revealed that Indy speaks Thai.

 

    Indy finds a journal page somehow left behind by the previous tenant of his hotel room. It was written by a student from Chulalongkorn University and states he plans to follow in the footsteps of Prince Vajiravudh of Oxford in the exploration of the ruins of Sukhothai. He also comments on being moved by reading "Story of an Excursion to the Cities of King Ruang". Chulalongkorn is a university in Bangkok, Thailand. Prince Vajiravudh (later King) did lead an archeological field trip to Sukhothai and other sites in Siam in 1907. The prince attended Oxford University. "Story of an Excursion to the Cities of King Ruang" is a paper published by the prince in 1908.
   The page also reveals the village cat's name is Fried Egg (K̄hị̀ dāw in Thai).

 

Indy reveals that he teaches a course about the Siamese kingdom and its artifacts.

 

Indy finds a Phra Ruang statuette. Phra Ruang is a legendary figure from Thai history, the supposed founder of the first Thai kingdom who overthrew the rule of the ancient Khmer Empire.

 

Indy comes into some Thai baht, the official currency of Thailand.

 

In a hallucination sequence, Indy tells Marcus that Barnett is always looking for professors to hire, so he will just work there, setting up his presence at Barnett College in a number of later stories.

 

Sunan tells Indy and Gina of the First People of the land, arriving on the Great Raft. The people spoke to the angel of the river. Many cultures, including the Thais, have mythology of the "first people" of their lands. The "Great Raft" is a reference to the many myths of a huge boat used to survive a great flood in pre-history, e.g. Noah's Ark. The river referred to is most likely the Yom River, which runs through the Sukhothai region.

 

The Blessed Pearl

 

Indy finds a recipe for Pla Pao. Pla Pao means "grilled fish" in Thai.

 

Indy sees two village men playing a board game, Mak-yek. This is a traditional board game played in Thailand and Myanmar.

 

Indy finds an article about the Anti-Comintern Pact. This was the Agreement against the Communist International, an agreement, initially between Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan, in 1936. This article announces the addition of Fascist Italy to the pact, as actually did happen in November 1937.

 

The Wat Chana Songkhram, Wat Si Sawai, and Wat Sa Si temples Indy finds in Sukhothai are real world temples in the ruins of Sukhothai.

 

Underneath a stone ruin, Indy finds an ancient Ganesha statuette. Ganesha is the Hindu god of new beginnings, wisdom, and Luck and is the remover of obstacles. 

 

Indy's former student, Doctor Annika Lund, finds a statuette of a Yaksha, eventually appropriated by Indy after she loses an arm under the falling stone door in the underground chambers. Yakshas are nature spirits in ancient mythology of South and Southeast Asia.

 

Indy acquires a rebreather device from a village merchant for his upcoming underwater search. But the small, face-sized rebreather he gets totally does not exist in the real world even now, let alone in 1937! Underwater rebreathers are still relatively large contraptions worn on a person's back or, occasionally, on the chest.

 

Indy shows Sunan a photo of the mountain peak and the man identities it as Kao Luang in Sukhothai. There is an actual mountain called Kao Luang in Thailand, but it is about 600 miles away from the location of the historical Sukhothai. The Wat Mahathat temple he mentions does actually exist in Sukhothai Historical Park.

 

Indy's translation of "Wat Mahathat" as "Temple of the Great Relic" is correct, as is his statement that the temple was founded by the first king of Sukhothai (Sri Indraditya), built around the beginning of the 14th Century.

 

The gigantic snake Indy faces at the temple in Sukhothai appears to be a reticulated python. The one seen here is much larger than any known specimen.

 

Voss remarks, "...you know I had a feeling that Gantzwurst, that little sausage, would die for his fatherland." He is referring to Colonel Gantz, having added -wurst to his name, which is German for "sausage".

 

Voss refers to Gina as ragazinna. This is Italian for "little girl".

 

As Indy mows down fascist soldiers with a machine gun on the river, Locus says, "Requiescat in pace." This is Latin for "Rest in peace."

 

While running through the Fascist/Nazi camp on the way to rescue Gina, Indy grabs up some pathongko to restore his energy. Pathongko is a deep-fried strip of wheat flour.

 

Ziggurat of Ur

 

The final chapter of the game takes Indy and Locus to the Ziggurat of Ur. The Ziggurat of Ur is a Neo-Sumerian temple at the site of the former city of Ur, near Nasiriyah, Iraq. Indy's later comments to Gina that the ziggurat was built around 2000 BC by King Ur-Nammu is correct.

 

Indy mockingly asks a Nazi soldier he discovers drinking from a flask if he has the right direction to Baghdad. Baghdad is the capital of Iraq.

 

Gina is taken into a Nazi hut with a door labeled Militarlager. This is German for "military camp".

 

All the Nazi soldiers in the camp are seen to have the same scuff marks on their helmets!

 

Sign in German reads: STOP! Control point Gas station Radio station

 

While running through the Nazi camp on the way to rescue Gina, Indy grabs up some samoon bread to restore his energy. Samoon is a type of traditional yeast bread eaten in Iraq.

 

Sign in German and Italian reads: NO ENTRY

 

In the excavated tunnels underneath the ziggurat, Indy finds an excavation report that tells of one of the builders of the ancient temple who traveled north with "a sacred gift" and founded the city of Nineveh. Nineveh was an Ancient Assyrian city in Upper Mesopotamia, now the modern city of Mosul, Iraq.

 

Upon discovering a giant ark under the ziggurat, Gina breathes, "Madre mia." This is Italian for "My mother," an exclamation of surprise.

 

Indy and Gina uncover that the Nazis have apparently discovered Noah's Ark beneath the ziggurat. Indy seems to have forgotten that he already came across the eponymous ark, in a different location (Mount Ararat, Turkey) in The Genesis Deluge.

 

The multiple flood myths Indy discusses with Voss are all real world ancient myths of a great flood over the world in pre-history.

 

The Nazis tow Noah's Ark along twin railroad tracks by two trains to Lake Hammar and set it afloat. Lake Hammar is an actual salt water lake in southeastern Iraq.

 

After capturing Indy and Gina and taking them aboard the ark, Voss refers to the pair as turteltaubchen. This is German for "lovebirds".

 

Voss' storage case for the stones has the original locations of all seventeen stones on the inner lid, though some of them are a bit hard to read onscreen. The list is below. All are real world locations, but the last listed one, Paratoari, is not an archeological site, featuring several pyramid hills that are accepted by the scientific establishment as natural formations.

 

Tassili n'Ajjer Siwa Giza Petra Ur Persepolis Mohenjo Daro Khajuraho Pyay Sukhothai Preah Vihear Aneityum Easter Island Nazca Machu Picchu Ollantaytambo Paratoari

 

Voss gloats that with all of the stones in his possession, the German Wehrmacht can now journey instantaneously to points around the world, such as Times Square, Washington, D.C., or in front of Indy's university. Times Square is a major intersection in Manhattan known for it's huge and colorful ad displays and has become a symbol of New York also known as the Crossroads of the World. Washington D.C. is, of course, the capitol of the United States.

 

At the end of the game, Gina tells Indy, "Addio, strambo." This is Italian for "Goodbye, weirdo."

 

Somehow the airplane Gina's flies out on just happens to be named Laura, the same name as her dead sister. 

 

Memorable Dialog

 

another foolhardy escapade.mp3

you can't just run away from your problems, Indiana.mp3

I haven't heard that name in a long time.mp3

this American music is astounding.mp3

Father Crescenzo was known mainly for one thing.mp3

you should have become a man of the cloth.mp3

Father Gallagher.mp3

a mummy or a cat.mp3

you're profoundly strange, Dr. Jones.mp3

myth or history.mp3

only one person in the world who knows more about dead languages than me.mp3

let's see if you can keep up.mp3

they're very dead.mp3

make it up as we go.mp3

I have missed our conversations.mp3

you were afraid of becoming your father.mp3

what does the American have?.mp3

Lao Che won't be happy.mp3

just might have a little trouble with the landing, that's all.mp3

I can see how you could drive a woman away.mp3

for what it's worth.mp3

watch out for the snake.mp3

where's that damn snake?.mp3

maybe I should have been an archeologist.mp3

I do this all the time.mp3

better than being a Nazi.mp3

it's Noah's Ark.mp3

one hell of a story.mp3

I found Noah's Ark.mp3

the flood myth and its connection to the Great Circle.mp3

to keep them from men like us.mp3

 

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