bendigo smith recieves a letter from a friend in egypt but when he tries to contact him he finds out he has been murdered. smith goes to egypt to find out why his friend was killed and ends up being chased by men who are looking for as artifact that his friend might have found. he himself finds the artifact and realizes he can never allow it to fall into the hands of the evil men that are pursueing him.

after confronting the men he finds that the artifact is in fact a clue to the whereabouts of the richest treasure the world has ever known. with his time running out he with a small band of friends goes in search of the treasure.His search takes him from egypt to south america and back to egypt again as he embarks upon the greatest adventure his life.