The plot revolves around two ibis sculptures, one supposedly solid gold, the other fake. Father Dowling points out that the fake ibis cannot be gold as it weighs about one third of what it should if it were gold, but the characters lift both sculptures with equal ease. Given the size of the sculptures, the real one should be considerably heavier than portrayed, and very difficult to lift.
We are told that the museum authorities dismantled the tomb and rebuilt it brick by brick in the museum. However, the plot revolves around hidden traps, chambers, mechanisms and caskets that only one or two people know about. These would surely be common knowledge.
Thomas Douglas, supposedly an expert on ancient Egypt, describes the Egyptian god Set as being the ibis-headed god. In fact, Set was portrayed with a human body and the head of some unknown, composite creature similar to a jackal. The ibis-headed god in Egyptian mythology was Thoth.