Egypt Rising

by Stan Schatt

  Once again I realized we would have to go through that narrow passageway to get back, and that meant probably having more spiders land on us. I began to wonder if the next time they might get into my hair or inside my blouse or pants. I thought about Taylor. Would I even be able to see the spiders if they got tangled in her very blond hair? I decided not to mention that to Taylor or she might refuse to turn back to the trailer.

  Taylor flashed the beam of her flashlight down several of the cave openings in front of them.

  “Which direction now? They all look the same.”

  I wondered if Taylor had realized going back now would mean crawling through the spider infested passage and that accounted for her sudden interest in doing further exploring.

  I studied the radar results. They were very confusing. The caves looked like a bowl of spaghetti with all the noodles intersecting. Maybe it would be better to go back. Still, maybe we could find another way out. I took a second look at the page, desperately looking for a clear path.

  “We need to keep heading towards the Sphinx. I’m not sure.”

  Taylor did one more pan of the cave openings with her flashlight beam. Paul watched her, and then he pointed.

  “You said these are natural caves, right?” Paul said.

  “Yes. They’re made of limestone, and Dad says they’re not man-made, but the priests used them.”

  “Maybe we should just shine our flashlights down each opening and see if we see any shelves or Egyptian writing on the walls. The priests would know which way to go. If there is a connection to the Sphinx, the priests would know about it.”

  I realized how lucky we were that Paul was with us. Even if he couldn’t see, it hadn’t affected his brain.

  “That’s a great idea. Let’s do it!”

  Taylor and I walked up to each cave opening and aimed our flashlight beams down the dark corridors, concentrating first on the walls themselves and then on the natural pathways. The first three caves looked like no one had ever entered them. The walls were perfectly bare. They seemed to go on forever, well beyond the reach of the flashlight beams. I felt discouraged. Maybe it was just a waste of time. They might have to just pick one cave and hope we got lucky. The odds didn’t seem that good.

  The walls of the fourth and final cave also looked bare. Suddenly Taylor gave an excited shout.

  “Doesn’t that look like something on the wall way over on the left?”

  Sure enough, halfway down the area that the flashlights illuminated was a wall filled with hieroglyphics. The colors were once brilliant, but time now caused them to fade. We hurried to the writing. I pulled out my camera, took several pictures, and then tried to mark the spot on my map. Dad definitely would want to study this wall.

  I bent my head and studied the hieroglyphics. I let a deep breath out slowly. If I used a little imagination, I could see the characters were in the form I had studied. There were no earlier symbols. It took me several minutes to translate. I took out Dad’s notebook and wrote down the translation. Then I turned to Paul and Taylor who stood behind me. I saw Taylor tapping her foot impatiently.

  “It describes ceremonies the priests perform to honor Osiris. It talks about the initiation ceremony and says that only those initiated can go into the temple of those who came before.”

  “What does it mean? Who are ‘those who came before’?” Taylor asked.

  “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

  “After what we’ve been through. I’ll probably believe almost anything you tell me.”

  “I think it’s talking about the area where the Hall of Records is located. The ‘ones who came before’ must mean those people from Atlantis who built the Sphinx. I can’t believe we’ve actually found this.”

  “I think we’re all going to be famous. No one’s going to be able to criticize your father now.” Paul said.

  I tried to remain calm. Paul’s remark reminded me that Dad already had lost his job. It hurt, but I couldn’t say anything.

  Taylor smiled. “It’s pretty funny after what I said in your Dad’s class if I turn out to be one of the ones who discovers the green tablets.”

  I was as excited as I’d ever been.

  “He’ll forgive you. This means that he was right all these years. All those people who laughed and said he was crazy won’t be able to laugh anymore.”

  “I’m sorry I laughed at him. This is really cool. Let’s keep going,” Taylor said.

  I looked at my watch. We’d been exploring for two hours. It would take two more hours to find our way back. I remembered Dad had warned me on many occasions about becoming dehydrated.

  “Let’s take a little break and have another one of those bars that you think are going to kill you. We’ll drink some more water and then go on. We probably can go for one more hour before we have to turn around.”

  “Do we have to go back the way we came?”

  Paul raised the question I hoped wouldn’t come up. He always thought one step ahead of me.

  “We have to go through those spiders again?” Taylor’s voice rose.

  “Let’s just take a break. Maybe we’ll find an alternate way back.”

  We ate silently as we all realized how tired we were. Once I thought I heard footsteps. Someone’s following us. We listened but didn’t hear the sound again.

  The passageway seemed to go on forever. It was cold and damp. I heard the sound of running water must louder now. The cave angled downward. I wondered if what we heard was the River of the Dead. Taylor noticed something on a wall and pointed to it.

  “What’s that?”

  I studied it and then smiled. “

  It’s more proof that the priests used this cave. It looks like a place to hang candles.”

  I tightened my vest for warmth and looked with some envy at Taylor’s warm sweatshirt. Paul had zipped up his sweater that hung over his vest. I was supposed to be the expert, and I was freezing.

  After several minutes we came to another stone counter that held several objects. Taylor picked up one and then gagged.

  “Is that what I think it is?”

  Paul picked up an item, brought it close to his eyes and then smiled and put it back on the shelf. I saw what looked like a small leg. I picked it up and then smiled.

  “It’s made of clay. There should be sixteen parts of Osiris here. The priests would bring out these parts to the people each year, and they would bury them before Osiris was reborn.

  “Sort of like Easter?” Taylor said.

  “Yeah. Some people think that’s where the Christians got the idea.”

  Taylor pointed at another much smaller object. “Is that what I think it is?”

  “Yeah. Hopefully Osiris never left home without it.”

  The figure was anatomically correct down to the Egyptian God’s penis. Paul studied the object but didn’t say anything. I thought I saw him blush.

  Taylor laughed, which made Paul even more uncomfortable. I asked her to hold up the various objects so I could take pictures after first taking pictures of the objects in an undisturbed state.

  “I think we’re close,” I said.

  I looked at my watch and sighed. It had almost been an hour. If we went much further, we’d be too tired to head back.

  “Let’s go another fifteen minutes.”

  Paul and Taylor readily agreed. I saw they both were really enjoying archeology. It was much more fun than staying in the trailer with no TV and no cellular service.

  The cave suddenly opened into a very large, open area. I saw steps cut neatly into the stone floor that led straight down. I turned my flashlight’s beam in the direction of the steps and let out a shout.

  The steps led to a lower level. It was very flat except for the one object that dominated its landscape. In the middle was a replica of the Sphinx, except this model was black with eyes that glowed red. My flashlight beam didn’t reflect off the Sphinx’s surface.

  “Let’s go,” I said.

  I ca
refully climbed down the stairs. I realized the steps were cut very precisely as if they were machine cut. I heard Taylor and Paul behind me. Paul stumbled occasionally, but he always managed to keep from falling. The three of us stood side-by-side and stared at the monument.

  “Why is it black?” Paul wanted to know.

  “I don’t know. Maybe the other one was black at one time too. Maybe the color means something.”

  I took out my camera snapped a few more pictures. Dad would be so happy!

  I kept my camera around my neck and pointed towards the entrance.

  “Let’s see what’s inside.” I said.

  Taylor pointed to the heavy rock that covered the entrance.

  “Looks like we’ll need help to open it. That rock must weigh a ton.”

  I couldn’t hide my disappointment. I felt something warm and looked down to see that the gemstone on my necklace was glowing very brightly. A rumbling sound caused me to look up from my necklace. Suddenly the heavy rock swiveled and moved to the right, exposing the Sphinx’s opening.

  “Somebody’s inviting us in,” Paul said.

  I heard the excitement in his voice, as well as, the absence of any fear. Maybe he took after his father.

  Taylor looked dubious.

  “Aren’t you afraid there might be some kind of booby-trap like in the movies? You know, like in Raiders of the Lost Ark.”

  “I don’t think the priests were worried about anyone coming all the way down here, but we’ll be careful. Try not to touch anything.”

  We entered the monument. It was gigantic with the ceiling far beyond the length of our flashlight beams. I saw several rooms branched off of a main square. No light reflected off the walls. I pointed in the direction of a room that seemed larger than the others.

  Paul coughed.

  “The dust is choking me. I have asthma. I’ll wait outside,” Paul said as he hurried back toward the entrance.

  “What’s that smell?” Taylor asked.

  She sneezed twice. I sniffed and then sneezed. The air was stale, and smelled like rotten mushrooms.

  “I think it’s just stale because the room has been locked up so long.”

  “Is it safe?” Taylor asked.

  “I think so,” I said.

  I honestly didn’t know, but we’d come so far, we just had to see what was inside

  As we entered and pointed our flashlights, the room exploded with light. Startled, we saw a gigantic gemstone entombed in a wall. It was the same color as my necklace. The flashlight’s beam reflected many times over in the jewel. The light even intensified.

  “That’s not natural,” Taylor said in a quivering voice.

  “No. Look at what’s happening with my stone now,” I said.

  I pointed to my necklace where the gemstone glowed brightly as if in response to the giant jewel.

  “Spooky. Maybe it thinks you’re one of the priests,” Taylor added.

  I took more pictures and noticed that my camera’s flash made the giant gemstone glow even brighter. There no longer was any need for our flashlights.

  A stone shelf stood against the wall opposite the jewel. It contained what looked to be clothing. I took pictures and stared at the garments.

  “Whoa! It looks like a bathrobe,” Taylor said.

  “This shouldn’t exist. It has to be thousands of years old. It should just be dust by now.”

  I carefully put my hand on a white robe with gold threads and then pulled my finger back quickly as if burned.

  “It’s not cotton. It feels like a uniform—as if manufactured. The thread feels metallic, like electrical wire.”

  Taylor pointed to something that was buried below the robe.

  “That looks like a crown.”

  I took pictures of the object. It looked like a crown, but not like any I’d ever seen in pictures. I touched it and was surprised.

  “It feel’s like it’s made of metal. It must weigh a few pounds.”

  We decided to leave the priestly garb and explore another room. We walked into the next room and were shocked to see that another large gem was also glowing brightly, bathing the room in a greenish light. In the middle of the room were two long metallic poles that held up what looked like a small, covered platform. My heart began beating so fast I was afraid I was going to faint. I took several pictures and then leaned against a wall to regain my breath.

  “What is it?”

  Taylor saw how the object had affected me.

  “It has to be the Ark of the Covenant. It’s what the Israelis used to carry their Holy of Holies. It’s what archeologists have been looking forever since it disappeared. The Nazis looked all over the world for it because they thought it had special powers.”

  “I know. I told you I saw Raiders of the Lost Ark. Do you think it will shoot out rays like in the movie?”

  “I don’t know. Look, there’s some writing on the wall next to it.”

  I slowly read and translated the ancient pictures into words.

  “It says that death will come to the uninitiated. Only the priests may enter and live.”

  “We better go,” Taylor said as she edged away from the object.

  “We can’t get this far and go. What if the Government shuts down the dig? We’ll never know what’s inside. My Dad will die if he found out we were this close and just turned around.”

  “I don’t want you to get killed.”

  I was touched but then realized Taylor probably didn’t want to be alone and have to head back through the spider nest. I didn’t blame her. My mind kept turning over the words on the wall, looking for a solution. Suddenly I had one.

  “Let’s go back into the other room. I’ll need the robe and the crown. I already have my necklace. I’ll have to wear my necklace outside the robe so that the Ark knows I’m one of the initiated.”

  I returned a few minutes later wearing the robe and crown. My necklace’s gemstone was glowing even brighter now as I moved towards the Ark.

  “Stand back. I’m not sure what will happen. One of us has to get out alive to tell my father about this place.”

  Taylor moved towards the door. Her face turned white, and she looked ill. I’d never seen her so upset. I turned my attention to the Ark. I decided that the curtains must be made of the same metallic-like cloth as my robes because they had survived several thousand years. It explained why old Biblical stories told about the Ark glittering like the sun while it was carried through the desert. I slowly began to pull the curtains apart.

  I guess I’ve seen too many movies. I expected a lightning bolt or something to hit me, but nothing happened, at least at first.

  Then I felt a tingle that ran through my body. It was more than a tingle. It felt like a mild electrical shock. I stopped. The tingling gradually grew less intense. I realized the metallic threads in my robe now must carry a small current. Was it my imagination? I began to feel dizzy so I stood perfectly still until I felt my dizziness diminish.

  I opened the Ark. On its platform, I saw a table made of what looked like a solid black metal. The air reminded me of the time a thunderstorm struck one of Dad’s digs in the desert. You could almost cut the air with a knife because it was so thick. I felt that if I rubbed the air with my hands, it would create a static electricity charge. In fact, my skin crawled because of small electrical charges. I saw two indentations in the shape of two human hands embedded on the table.

  I bent my head closer to the table to read the hieroglyphics etched into the metal’s surface. I saw they were written in the proto-Egyptian symbols Dad thought predated Egyptian writing. I took a picture without using my flash because I was afraid of what effect it might have. Then, I turned to work on translating the writing. I studied the symbols. They vaguely resembled the Egyptian symbols; they were close enough for me to guess at the words. I thanked Dad for having been so tough on me whenever I helped him with his translations.

  “Only the Initiated may drink at the fountain of knowledge. All others w
ill die.”

  I gulped. That wasn’t exactly what I wanted to hear. Of course lightning hadn’t struck me yet. Apparently, I passed the first test. Now I was going to find out if I passed the ultimate test. I took a deep breath and placed my hands in the appropriate indented slots.

  At first, nothing happened. Then I felt that same tingling, only it was much stronger, almost overpowering. I shouted before I could catch myself. I heard Taylor’s voice in the background like a low murmur. I forced myself to shout that I was fine and that she should not come any closer.

  I felt my crown vibrate. It felt almost like someone had struck a tuning fork and then placed it against my forehead. Once again I felt dizzy and bent over the table. Images exploded in my head. They were coming so fast that I couldn’t focus. My brain felt like it was going to explode. My arms felt like electricity was flowing through them. Time stood still.

  Chapter Eleven

  They will come to discover the hidden topography of the land (at Giza),

  The urns holding wisdom within the monuments (the Pyramids) opened up,

  Their contents will cause the understanding of holy philosophy to expand greatly,

  White exchanged for black, falsehoods exposed, new wisdom replacing the

  Established tradition that no longer work.

  —From the Writings of Nostradamus VII, 14.

  “Are you okay?”

  I heard the words as if in a trance. They were repeated time after time. Finally, I forced my eyes open. I was lying across the table with my hands still in the indentations.

  “Don’t come any closer. I’m coming out.”

  Taylor stared at me.

  “It’s been over an hour. I was so worried. I didn’t know what to do. Paul stuck his head in and asked if we needed help, and I told him to stay out just in case something bad was going to happen. I could see you moving over that table so I figured you were alive, but you didn’t answer.”

  “I think I’m okay. I think we’re about done exploring, but let’s just look inside a couple of other rooms since we’re already here.”

  The next room was almost as large as the entrance area. There were rows and rows of metallic shelves. On each shelf were metallic tablets. I stared without speaking. I felt numb.