An American professor travels to Istanbul to find a century-old mysterious chest, which he believes is related to the current political power games over oil, commissioned by Sultan Abdulhamid II.

His research leads him to discover the long-forgotten underground monasteries of the Topkapi Palace, which is now the Topkapi Museum. Here he confronts the patriotic museum director and the Turkish intelligence.

Conspiracies leading up to the Gulf Wars, the Iran-Iraq War, World War 1, and the last years of The Ottoman Empire are revealed during his research.