by K. T. Tomb
Nassir had joined them and was busy with his porridge when Lana, decided to press him for more details.
“How many people are working with you under that dome, Doctor?” she asked.
“Hmmm, let’s see,” he began. “I have Abdul and Zohar who have been mapping the chambers using a device that mainly functions on the principles of G.P.S. It collects data about their position and when they upload it into the software, the angles of their turns, the distances they walked and the directions they walked in all gets calculated and a diagram of the tunnel is produced. This technology has cut down the time needed to map the underground structure tremendously. We actually believe that we have almost covered the entire thing.
“Then there is Amira, the paleontologist, who takes care of any antiquity we find on the dig. She has catalogued at least seventy-five objects that have been removed from the site so far, including the mummy and its sarcophagus.
“Everybody else is part of a team given to me either by the government,” he said, as he waved to some of the security guards who were seated in a corner, “or by the university.”
“What about the Bedouins?” Chyna asked, stiffly.
“Oh, you noticed them,” he said, softly. “You have your connections and I have mine, Chyna. When I’m this deep in the desert, I like to keep myself in the company of the people who know it best. All it would take for me to lose everything out here is a decent enough sand-storm or the right set of bandits. In either situation, not to mention the thousands of others that can arise out here, they are my greatest ally.”
“Fair enough, Nassir,” Chyna said, “but please don’t be offended if my team and I keep our distance from them, and not just the Bedouins; all of them. We took a trusted student of our last client under our wing and she drugged us and got us kidnapped.”
“No offense will be taken, Chyna.”
“Okay then,” she said, getting up from the table. “I think it’s time we saw what exactly we’ve gotten ourselves into.”
***
Under the cover of the giant dome, the air was cool and dry. They could all hear the humming of the condensers that were feeding the air into the vents overhead. It was a welcome reprieve from the weather outside which was already getting quite stifling.
Doctor Nassir handed them all dust masks and watched them put them on before he let them into the sealed area where Amira was working with the mummy called ‘Imhotep’.
“Amira,” Nassir said, “this is Chyna Stone and her team. Miss Stone is the archeological explorer I told you I was going to call in on the case.”
“I heard you had arrived, Miss Stone,” Amira said, extending her hand to shake Chyna’s. “I was pleasantly surprised by how quickly you and your team got here.”
“Thank you, Amira. We were actually in Turkey when we got the call so that was quite lucky for the doctor.”
“Indeed,” she agreed.
“Have you found anything new?” Nassir asked Amira.
“I have finally finished retrieving the amulets and cataloging all the cartouches of his name. They correspond with the figure recorded on the larger plaques; forty. It seems he was the fortieth Imhotep of the High Priesthood.”
“Well done, Amira,” praised Nassir, “keep going and let’s see what else we can find out. The rest of you follow me. I don’t want to waste anymore time. Zohar tells me that they have come to the last of the corridors. The structure is almost fully mapped and cataloged.”
They turned and left the room, re-emerging into the area above the pit. Doctor Nassir then led them into a vestibule and zipped the canvas doorway shut behind them. The stairway into the ground lay before them. It seemed they would be descending into hell itself until the doctor pulled the lever on a generating machine and a series of lights started to turn on lighting the way downwards. Just then, Zohar came running in with his laptop. He must have run all the way from the compound because he was sweating profusely.
“Hello,” he said.
A round of greetings went up from the group.
“Dr. Nassir, you have to see this,” he said, setting the computer down and lifting the lid. “It’s the Chambers of Ay!”
What they saw before them on the screen was amazing. The outer corridor formed a square which was divided into four isosceles triangles by two paths that intersected in the center of it. Inside the square was the shape of a six-pointed star and another perfect square sat in the middle of it.
Nassir pointed to the center square and said, “That’s where we need to go today. If the codex is in there, that’s where we’ll find it.”
Chapter Two
When they reached the central chamber, none of them could believe their eyes. It was a large round room with three antechambers leading off from it. The room was filled with what looked to be scribe’s desks which were loaded with papyrus scrolls and layers upon layers of ancient dust. Nassir took out his two-way radio and pressed the call button.
“Yes, Dr Nassir,” came Amira’s voice over the speaker.
“We have found a room full of scrolls, Amira,” he said. “Bring what you need to have them safely removed to your lab.”
“Yes, doctor,” she replied.
In the first antechamber, they found shelves filled with clay jars with what must have been ink, some that held feathers of many types and lengths, and others with dried reeds. It seemed that it was a supply closet for whoever was using the room as a library or office. The second space had shelves filled with rolls of discolored and rotting cloth and the third had rows and rows of leather scroll tubes tucked neatly onto racks that hung on the walls. Above those racks was another shelf that contained wooden rods to which the papyrus scrolls would have been attached before being rolled up and stored in one of the leather tubes. Among the rods was an ornately carved wooden box that caught Nassir’s eye.
He stretched up to the shelf and carefully brought the box to the ground.
“We’ve searched the entire place, Chyna,” he said. “Every room and corner of these chambers has been cleared and we have not found the codex. This must be it, if it is here at all.”
Carefully he lifted the lid of the box; they all held their breath to see what it contained. There was a sigh of disappointment as they saw the box was empty but Nassir paused for a moment focusing his eyes in the poor light. He reached inside it and took out a clay tablet. Zohar rushed forward with the lantern as he held it up to the light.
Suddenly, Nassir began to laugh. They were all stunned and silently waited for him to fill them in on the joke.
“She took it!” he cried out in amusement. “I cannot believe it; Ankhesenamun took the codex from this very box and hid it from Ay. This tablet bears the first clue of the location of the lost Book of Life.”
He took a handkerchief from his pocket and wrapped the fragile piece of clay in it, handing it to Oscar.
“This is now officially a mystery, Miss Stone,” he said to Chyna. “As of now, my work is to ensure that the mummy and the other artifacts are properly studied and then handed over to the relevant authorities. I will leave the adventuring to you and your team.”
***
Above ground, Chyna and her team freshened up and grabbed some falafel from the mess hall for lunch before they met up in their designated office space. It was relaxing to be in the air conditioning, but they now had an official mystery to solve.
Lana was pulling push pins and string from the supply closet while Chyna unrolled the huge map of ancient Egypt that Dr. Nassir had given them. They pinned it to the wall and marked the city of Luxor, the Chambers of Ay, Amarna and Qena.
“What could have happened to make her take the codex from its hiding place?” Lana asked.
“Nassir told us that Ankhesenamun was imprisoned in those chambers by Ay, who was her new husband and the pharaoh,” replied Chyna. “So I think the question goes a little further back than that. The real question is ‘What was Ankhesenamun doing locked up in those rooms?’”
/> Lana went over to the laser printer, picked up a few pieces of paper and then returned to the wall. She pinned up a picture of Tutankhamun and Ankhesenamun side by side at the top. Then she took a black Sharpie and drew an ‘X’ over the picture of the pharaoh.
“So her husband dies,” Lana said. “What does the Queen do next?”
“According to the history books,’ Chyna responded, “there are two men at court who want to marry the princess. The first is her grandmother’s brother, Ay. He is not of the royal family. His father was a wealthy landowner who snagged a princess for a wife. He did become quite prominent at the court of Amenhotep III, just by being his brother-in-law.”
“And the second?” Lana asked, as she pinned up a picture of Ay.
“The second was Horemheb, Tutankhamun’s General and a commoner.”
Chyna flipped through the notes that Dr. Nassir had provided her in the dossier while Lana placed the last picture on the wall.
“It says here that finding herself widowed with no son,” Chyna went on, “Ankhesenamun was so repulsed by the thought of marrying either of them, who she referred to as her subjects, that she wrote a letter to a foreign king begging him to send one of his royal sons to her as a husband. The Hittite letters. The King sent his son but he was killed on the way and Ankhesenamun ended up marrying Ay. Angry and suspicious, the king came to Luxor to seek reparations.”
“Then what happened?” Oscar asked, anxiously.
“Then nothing,” Chyna said. “The story ends there; nothing more.”
“Well,” Lana said stepping back from the wall and admiring her handiwork, “that is where our investigation begins.”
She took out her Sharpie again and went to the flipchart.
“Let’s start with the emotional character at that point which is Suppiluliumas,” she said. “If your son had been murdered in a foreign land and his potential bride then marries the same man she told you she detested; what would you think?”
“I would think she was a bitch!” Oscar said.
They all laughed at his outburst.
“Okay, Mr. Name-caller,” Chyna admonished while glancing at her watch, “run over to the lab and see if they’re done with the tablet yet. We need a translation urgently; maybe the inscription will give us another clue.”
“Sure,” he replied, heading out the door.
“What would you think?” Lana asked again.
“I would think I had been set up and that the bridegroom had gotten just a little bit too lucky.”
“Exactly!” said Lana.
She made some notes on the flipchart and turned back to Chyna.
“Ay would know how desperate Ankhesenamun was. If he murdered the prince, she would have been devastated, Zannanza was her saving grace. Her last resort would have been to marry Ay; he was the lesser of the two evils.”
“Precisely!”
At that moment, Nassir stepped into the office. He was followed by a man who Chyna recognized as one of his Bedouin colleagues.
“Ladies, I’d like to introduce Mohammed, he is one of my colleagues from the Ministry of Antiquities.”
The girls were pleasant and introduced themselves although it was obvious that they were on their guard.
“I told Mohammed about our remarkable find and he was interested in hearing what you thought about it if you had any theories so far.”
Lana shrank back, sensing a confrontation. She deftly moved to the flipchart of notes and turned the page over. Chyna cleared her throat impatiently.
“Respectfully,” Chyna said to both men, “I must state that it is not Found History procedure to discuss theories of an investigation outside the team this early in the process.”
“I could sit in on your deliberations,” Mohammed interjected. “It is possible that I could be of assistance.”
Chyna decided she’d had enough of the conversation. How dare Nassir deliberately go against her after she had specifically told him how she felt about anyone inserting themselves in her investigations?
“Gentlemen,” she started, politely, “I appreciate your interest but I’ll kindly ask that you leave this matter with us. Nassir, you brought us in to do a job and that’s what we intend to do. Should we need any help, we will be sure to ask. Thank you so much for coming to see us.”
With that she ushered them to the door and all but threw them out of the office, Oscar had to move aside quickly not to bump into them. He stepped past Chyna, who closed the door behind him.
“What was that about?” he asked.
“Nothing,” Lana answered quickly.
She refrained from mentioning Fariha Katsakis, the Greek girl, remembering how smitten Oscar had been with her.
“Did you get the tablet?” Chyna asked.
“They weren’t done with it but Amira let me take some pictures,” he replied, smiling. “I’ll get started on the translation right away.”
Oscar uploaded the photographs to his computer and began running three different translation software at once.
“A bit of overkill don’t you think?” Lana asked.
“Not really,” he replied. “You never really get the best result from any one of these. This way I can compile a composite translation which will probably give us a better result.”
“Lana, can we please get back to where we were before Nassir brought his spy in here.”
“Chyna, we don’t know for sure he’s a spy.”
“That’s irrelevant,” she snapped. “Come on!”
“Okay,” Lana relented, turning her flipchart back over, “she chose the lesser of the two evils.”
“Right, so if Suppiluliumas arrives and she was nowhere in sight, having already been locked away in that place by Ay; wouldn’t he have wondered where she was? Maybe even asked after her whereabouts?”
“I’d think he would, but he wouldn’t have asked the man he suspected of murdering his son.”
“Maybe a servant?”
“It’s possible, but do you think that if Ankhesenamun knew he was there she might have sent him a message?”
“Good idea.”
Lana made a few more notes on the flipchart just as Oscar shouted, “I have it.”
“What have you got?”
Oscar stood and went to the printer to retrieve the papers. He handed them each a copy.
“And I quote,” he started, “‘Ay has played me for a fool, so the book will go with me to Qena; to the Mother of the Waters, then onwards to Hattusa. This Book of Egypt will stay with the last true princess of the realm. Until there is a new royal house to rule the country.’”
“Lana, you were right. Somehow, the king and Ankhesenamun collaborated in her escape and she took the book with her.”
“There’s more to this story though,” Lana said, biting her lip. “If the princess ran away to Turkey with the King of the Hittites, then who did they find in KV21?”
“Ah-ha, the plot thickens,” said Oscar.
“That’s supposedly been verified by DNA, so it’s definitely her in the Valley of the Kings. So why and how did she come back to Luxor?” Chyna asked.
“I really have no more ideas, Chyna,” Lana groaned. “Now I know what Nassir meant when he said there are more questions than answers. What’s certain is that the princess got double-crossed somewhere along the way. Anyway, it’s dinner time. Let’s get something to eat and come back later.”
“Good idea,” Oscar agreed. “I’m starving.”
The hall was practically empty by the time they got there. Oscar ordered cheeseburgers and fries for them, claiming that was the best thinking food. Chyna noticed Nassir sitting at a corner table and went to talk to him while they waited.
“Nassir,” she said, “I apologize for earlier, with Mohammed.”
“No, Chyna,” he said. “There is no need to apologize. You told me how you felt about outsiders. I chose to ignore your wishes.”
“It’s forgotten,” she offered. “Nassir weren’t you on the KV21 DNA ana
lysis team in 2010?
“Yes, I was.”
“Is it Ankhesenamun in that tomb?”
“Well the DNA was inconclusive but the fact that it matched the children in Tutankhamun’s tomb was enough evidence for me.”
Chyna took one look at his face and said, “There’s more you’re not telling me.”
“Well, I don’t have a doubt that it’s her body in KV21, what I do doubt is the cause of death. It was thought that her head was detached from her body when the grave was atrociously robbed sometime around 1826, but I have reason to think that she had been mummified like that. Close examination of the neck from both the head and the body show that embalming fluids and spices had touched the flesh of the neck as if it had already been separated from the body. I think she was beheaded.”
Chyna handed Nassir the piece of paper with the translation of the tablet inscription on it.
“We’ll be going to Qena tomorrow to see if there is another clue there.”
The three teammates ate their dinner and returned to the office.
“Dr. Nassir told me when they analyzed the mummy from KV21 that he identified as Ankhesenamun, he noted that the detached head showed signs of being embalmed when it was already severed.”
“She was murdered?” asked Oscar.
“Beheaded,” Chyna confirmed.
“I guess I should pack for Qena?” Oscar asked.
“Undoubtedly, we leave at dawn.”
***
Oscar started packing up his equipment as soon as they got back from having their dinner. They were more or less done with Luxor for the moment and Chyna had planned an early start for the team. Their next stop, the city of Qena, lay thirty-nine miles to the north but luckily the road was good and ran within the ‘green belt’; they had no desert driving to contend with this trip. The only question in their minds was with all the modernization that had taken place in and around the city; how would they know where to look?