Item #: SCP-2309

Object Class: Euclid

Special Containment Procedures: In order to prevent unauthorized access, the area surrounding SCP-2309 has been enclosed by a chain-link fence and given the public designation of a proving ground used by the Georgian Land Forces. A team of observers is to be stationed at SCP-2309 at all times to regularly report on the structural condition of SCP-2309. Any breach in SCP-2309 is to be reported immediately and considered a potential SK-Class dominance shift scenario. Upon receiving such a report, Foundation military assets stationed in the Middle East are to be activated and deployed according to Contingency Plan-2309, to assess the situation, and, if applicable, engage any hostile forces that appear.

Description: SCP-2309 is an approximately 20 m tall and 5 m thick wall, constructed from blocks of iron covered in a thin layer of brass, standing between the walls of the █████ Pass in ███████ Region, Georgia. Although SCP-2309 is not susceptible to damage by conventional means, SCP-2309 continuously deteriorates through an anomalous process in which pieces of metal disappear from the north-facing side of SCP-2309, leaving a variety of patterns generally similar to claw marks in appearance. This process of deterioration, which occurs between sunrise and sunset, will continue until the thickness of the wall is reduced to as little as 5 cm in some sections. Between each period of deterioration, SCP-2309 will regenerate the lost material at a rate of approximately 0.5 mm/s, such that all of the lost material will have been regenerated before the next period of deterioration.

Foundation historians believe that SCP-2309 was constructed during the 6th century BCE, under the sponsorship of Cyrus the Great, founder of the Achaemenid Empire. The historical existence of SCP-2309 has been attested by various written sources dating from as early as the 1st century CE1; publicly-accessible versions of these sources have been modified accordingly to obscure the existence and location of SCP-2309. Of particular interest among these sources is the following first-hand account of SCP-2309, given by Sallam at-Turjumani, an official serving in the court of caliph al-Wathiq of the Abbasid Dynasty, during the early 9th century CE.

Open "Report on the Iron Wall" by Sallam at-Turjumani (Department of Antiquities: 1908.99.58)

Close "Report on the Iron Wall" by Sallam at-Turjumani (Department of Antiquities: 1908.99.58)

After the caliph reported a dream in which he saw the Iron Wall of Dhul-Qarnayn2 being breached by Yajuj and Majuj3, he dispatched me to investigate the matter. Heading northwards to the Caucasus, I arrived in Tbilisi after six months of travel. There I made inquiries concerning the state of the Iron Wall, and found an old Magian4 who told me that he had seen the Iron Wall, and that it still stood. I then offered him twenty dinars to lead me to the Iron Wall, and without comment he led me further northward, to a pass between the mountains of ███████ and ████. There I beheld the Iron Wall, and to the relief of both the caliph and myself, I found that the Iron Wall still stood, and that Dhul-Qarnayn's construction equipment remained intact, scattered about the site.

What I found strange, however, was that I could see the scratches made by Yajuj and Majuj on the Iron Wall, but I could not see Yajuj and Majuj themselves. When I expressed my confusion to the Magian, he told me that the people of Yajuj and Majuj lie hidden beyond the Iron Wall. He then placed his hand on my shoulder, at which point I saw the horde of Yajuj and Majuj streaming towards us as they tore at the Iron Wall. They were as gruesome as I had imagined, for their nakedness was not even hidden by skin, and their hands ended not in nails, but vicious rending claws.

Behind the horde of Yajuj and Majuj, I saw only devastation: every tree and plant had been uprooted, and the only beasts that survived their onslaught were flies, maggots, and roaches. Examining the disposition of the forces of Yajuj and Majuj more closely, I saw two masked men, cloaked in red robes like those of Roman bishops, presiding over the horde from atop flesh-crafted towers. Before them stood a massive, four-legged beast that was larger than five elephants and had only a bony plate for a face. Raising their staves towards the air, they guided the beast as a performer might guide a puppet. Responding to their every gesture, the beast began to charge toward the Iron Wall, trampling underfoot the Yajuj and Majuj that strayed into its path, before its head slammed into the Iron Wall, which emerged largely unscathed.

I questioned the Magian as to why Yajuj and Majuj continued this futile effort to penetrate the Iron Wall, when they could have undermined it or built a scaffold. He replied that where Yajuj and Majuj stood, the ground was harder than Damascus steel and the ceiling of heaven was exactly at the height of the Iron Wall, so that even the most insignificant insect could not fly over it. I told the Magian that I had seen enough, and he removed his hand from my shoulder. As Yajuj and Majuj disappeared from my sight, he told me that the caliph and the rulers of every civilized land must heed the threat of Yajuj and Majuj. Sometimes I question whether my vision was a sign from Allah or a Magian trick, but I am inclined to believe that I was not deceived, for Allah is Knowing and Seeing, and I saw only what had already been revealed.

Foundation archeologists began excavations of the area surrounding SCP-2309 in 1992. Among the articles of interest discovered were:

A cache of approximately one thousand Lydian coins.

A large number of iron and bronze fragments from Achaemenid weapons and armor.

A collection of gears and other machine parts, probably used in the construction of SCP-2309. Many are stamped with the seals of the Mekhanite temple-cults of the Ionian city-states.

A mass grave containing skeletons with humanoid body structures largely similar to those of baseline Homo sapiens sapiens, deviating from the baseline in that their skulls largely consist of a vertically aligned pair of sharp jaws, and that their fingers end with bony claws. These specimens have been noted to resemble captured instances of SK-BIO Type B.

A large clay cylinder, containing the following record, written in Old Persian, of the construction of SCP-2309 and the circumstances in which it took place.

Open "Iron Wall Cylinder" by Unknown Author (Department of Antiquities: 1994.23.87)

Close "Iron Wall Cylinder" by Unknown Author (Department of Antiquities: 1994.23.87)

All civilized men praise Cyrus, beloved of Ahura Mazda5, king of kings, king of Persia, Babylon, Sumer, Akkad, and Lydia! His army, which counts in its ranks as many men as there are drops of water in the Tigris and the Euphrates, marched into the Caucasus to confront the invaders who have sallied out from Adatum6. Led by Karasci7 Yagaha and Karasci Mahaga, daeva8-generals of Angra Mainyu9, they have caused great mischief in our lands. At first, Cyrus's army drove them back, to the █████ Pass, but the onslaught was endless, such that even the Companions10 could not hold them back. In his divinely-granted wisdom, Cyrus resolved to build a barrier, to hold back the daevas and their accursed armies. Gathering the wisest men from all corners of his empire, Cyrus journeyed to Ionia, where he enlisted the Mekhanite builder-priests. As Cyrus's armies held the line, the Mekhanites erected a great wall from blocks of iron, and poured over it a layer of consecrated brass, so that Karasci Yagaha and Karasci Mahaga and their armies will be sealed away from mankind in the realm of druj11 until the end of time.

Because of the eschatological significance assigned to SCP-2309, and the existence of written and archeological evidence suggesting that SCP-2309 was constructed as a barrier against Sarkic armies, it is believed that the breach of SCP-2309, if and when it should take place, may constitute an SK-Class dominance shift scenario. Historical and esoteric research regarding the nature of the threat posed by SCP-2309 and possible improvements to its containment is ongoing.

Footnotes

1. See The Jewish War, Unabridged by Josephus (Department of Antiquities: 1911.86.98).

2. Lit. "the two-horned one." Dhul-Qarnayn was a legendary ruler described in the Qur'an as having built an iron wall, which was likely a reference to the construction of SCP-2309 by Cyrus the Great, who was frequently shown wearing a horned headpiece in artistic depictions.

3. Referred to in the Judaeo-Christian tradition as Gog and Magog. In Islam, Yajuj and Majuj are peoples who will invade the world during the end times.

4. Islamic term for Zoroastrians. Possibly referring to a Mekhanite in this context, as many medieval Islamic sources conflate the dualistic aspects of the Mekhanite and Zoroastrian faiths.

5. Creator deity and object of worship in Zoroastrianism.

6. Old Persian rendition of Adí-üm, also known as Adytum, capital of the Sarkic Empire.

7. Corruption of the word karcist, the title of spiritual and secular leaders of the Sarkic Empire and its successor states.

8. Zoroastrian term referring to false gods, or hostile supernatural entities.

9. Spirit of evil opposed by Ahura Mazda in Zoroastrianism, which in this context is likely referring to Yaldabaoth, the deity worshiped by the Sarkic cults.

10. Elite soldiers of the Achaemenid Empire, referred to as Immortals by Greek sources.

11. Zoroastrian concept that can refer to falsehood, disorder, or non-existence.