Judging by Richard’s face, he had been anticipating such a remark from his friend. “Not entirely, though that was also the first thing I asked myself. I was investigating it last night, looking for evidence to support the possibility of somebody crossing the Atlantic before Christopher Columbus. In the nineties, some pyramidal structures were discovered in Chacona, in the municipality of Guimar in Tenerife, Spain. They bore a strong resemblance to those in Mexico and Egypt, which were also aligned with the sun and the moon. After carrying out an in-depth study, they found that the latter were built prior to those in Spain. It is believed that the ancient Egyptians were able to settle there before leaving for the Americas. In fact, there is a tidal current which would have taken them directly there.”
James seemed a touch disappointed, he was expecting something a bit more airtight. “That is not undeniable evidence, so the possibility remains unproven. A similarity between traditions or structures does not provide indisputable proof that the two cultures knew about each other. There has to be something more.”
“I knew something so weak wouldn’t convince you, so I kept looking and I found something surprising. After carrying out tests on ancient Egyptian mummies, they found traces of nicotine and coca plant extracts in their bodies. James, you know only too well that it only grows in the Andes Mountains in Peru and Bolivia.”
James still looked doubtful. If that was true, then obviously both cultures came into contact and influenced one another. Perhaps the Egyptians crossed the Atlantic or the Pacific to South America. Another possibility is that an intermediary culture informed each of them about the existence of the other when they were engaged in trade, and curiosity led to the rest.
Richard took out a sheet of paper with notes scrawled on it from his pocket. He wanted to deliver the coup de grace. “A few years ago, some carvings were found in the Caves of the Navigators in New Guinea. They tell how in the year 230 BC, a fleet of six vessels set sail from the Red Sea, intending to reach America via the Pacific Ocean. In order to do so, when they reached Australia they had to rely on the East Australian and Southern Ocean currents to take them directly to the western coast of America. They then moved up the Pacific coast of South America with the Humboldt Current. This would explain why Egyptian carvings were found in Tiguiririca, Chile.”
“It would also explain all the similarities between the Mayans and Egyptians. They knew each other!” exclaimed Mary.
“I think so. It’s impossible for all these parallels to come down to pure coincidence.” He had them numbered on the back of his sheet, and started to go through each in turn.
“The first similarity is obviously the pyramids,” declared Richard. “Facing the sun and, like the Egyptians, used not only as tombs or shrines, but also to capture solar and cosmic energy. Both peoples uncovered deep mathematical and astronomical knowledge, with some of the Egyptian pyramids being built so that the apex was aligned with some stars. Similarly, some Mayan pyramids have been precisely positioned so that they reflect the cardinal points and location of certain stars.
Mary chipped in, supporting Richard. “Not to mention that in both cultures, the year was made up of twelve equal months of thirty days. The remaining five were then added to make three hundred and sixty five in total, with both cultures having twelve gods as their protectors.”
“Even their economies, art, religions and societies were similar,” added Richard. “Both civilizations worked the land, with poverty-stricken lower classes.
Richard looked up from the paper and saw the look of disbelief on James’ face. He had the feeling he was beginning to convince him, he just knew it. He pressed on. “Don’t you think it strange how even their hieroglyphic writing is similar? They made jewelry using lost-wax casting, or, in other words, molds to make metal figures. They even used snails to make Tyrian purple for their drawings; purple was a sacred color in both cultures.”
James kept quiet, aware that they could be right. Even he knew that were many more similarities. He had read many times that in both cultures, priests were the ones who were most powerful, with them strangely wearing false beards. Not to mention the use of royal umbrellas by some sections of the cultures, the presence of lotus flowers at funerals or the way of showing reverence by lifting the right hand to the left shoulder.
“Did you hear the story about the Mayan king, Pakal?” asked Mary, interrupting Richard. “After a series of investigations, they found that his tomb contained a mummy which was completely Egyptian in style.”
“And isn’t it curious that both civilizations faded out after being taken over by other peoples that were beginning to emerge and arrive on the scene?”
“Ok,” said James after a long silence. “Let’s suppose they did know each other. What do you intend to prove with all this? That the Egyptians and Mayans came from Atlantis? But Richard, be realistic. We still don’t know if Atlantis ever existed.”
“There’s something else in the book that I still haven’t told you and which is perhaps the most important thing.”
Both Mary and James were now indeed frowning and looking exasperated.
“Simone Di Benedetto ends the first chapter talking about a disaster which will occur on Earth and will destroy all life on our planet. It seems that this lost civilization was aware of this and for years tried to find a solution. According to him, they succeeded.
Nerves got the better of Mary and she suddenly thought of her family. “How? When?”
“Are you sure about what you’re telling us?” stammered James.
“I haven’t found anything yet. I only know that the book is a kind of map which will take us to the object which will save us, and in turn, lead to the city at the bottom of the sea. Although… yeah, there’s one more thing.” Richard took a deep breath, looked straight ahead and got it off his chest. “The book sets the date of the disaster at the beginning of the second millennium after our Lord. In other words… now.”
Chapter 15
“I‘ll have to study the book carefully to give you the precise details because, after having had a quick glance, it seems very abstract. In fact, the very words given in the book are: ‘No living thing shall survive, not even animal or plant. All shall perish’.”
“That’s reassuring,” said James sarcastically. “But what natural phenomenon could cause our planet to disintegrate in the blink of an eye? An earthquake, a tsunami, a meteorite, another climate change… The possibilities are endless.”
Richard leaned back in his chair, crossed his legs and thoughtfully chewed the cap of his pen. “Actually, this allegedly impending global destruction has recently become a hot topic. There’s been a deluge of articles, documentaries and movies whose arguments revolve around one key theme: the famous Mayan prophecy for the year 2012 and the possibility of the earth’s apocalyptic demise. A few months ago I saw a documentary which talked about the threat posed to the human race by solar flares and supervolcanoes. For starters, there are many scientists who, after analyzing the sun, have confirmed that it is not behaving as it should. These flares are magnetic storms which are bigger than Earth and dark in color. They can be visible to the naked eye, partly because they are 1500 degrees colder than the rest of the Sun’s surface, which has an average temperature of 6000 degrees. They are produced regularly, in eleven year cycles.
“It’s what known as ‘solar minimum’ and ‘solar maximum’, isn’t it?” asked James.
“Exactly. These flares have periods of intense activity known as ‘solar maximum’, when lots of them erupt and grow to an enormous size. There are other periods called ‘solar minimum’, during which activity is practically non-existent. Well, solar maximum is forecast for the year 2012 and, bearing in mind the intense activity during other solar maximums and that each of those solar flares could unleash as much energy as a thousand million hydrogen bombs, it’s clear that we have a problem.”
“But… the Earth’s magnetic field is supposed to protect us from all those storms.”
“It should. The planet’s core, made from molten and solid iron, generates a magnetic field around the Earth as it rotates. It acts as a kind of shield which protects us from intense solar radiation, preventing it from reaching the surface. And it’s fair to say that this magnetic field is getting smaller, forming part of a cyclical process which last occurred 780,000 years ago and which always ends with the magnetic poles changing round - the north becomes the south and vice versa. However, that process of change lasts one thousand years, during which time the Earth will have multiple magnetic poles. Do you know what the consequences would be for all those living things that use the magnetic poles to get their bearings? Millions and millions of animals will die.”
James nodded and added something else that caught their attention. “The truth is that solar flares are a problem for global warming. They speed it up.”
“And not only that. Many think that the Earth functions as a living organism capable of regulating its climate at will and uses its own elements, such as supervolcanoes, to do so.”
Mary at last managed to get a word in. “Like Yellowstone?”
“Yellowstone is the most dangerous supervolcano in the world. If it erupted, it would release a great cloud of sulfuric acid and ash which would block out sunlight for decades, causing what is known as ‘volcanic winter’.”
“Toba was another supervolcano,” added James. “It erupted 74,000 years ago and caused the climate to suddenly cool, taking the world population down to 20,000 inhabitants. The last time Yellowstone erupted was 640,000 years ago and it has been proven that that gigantic crater becomes active every 600,000 or 700,000 years.”
“Don’t you get it?! The Sun could be the final straw for global warming, and the process would continue until the Earth eventually defends itself against it using its own tools. These include the hundreds and hundreds of supervolcanoes believed to be on the planet, and which would create a cloud to protect the Earth, but that would be lethal for us. It would undoubtedly trigger another ice age.”
Mary was still skeptical. “It sounds like the screenplay for some Hollywood blockbuster. There isn’t any reliable data to corroborate your hypothesis. I think we will be responsible for our own demise instead.”
“In a nuclear war?” asked James.
“Well, maybe, but there are many other possibilities. We know all too well about man’s ability to create lethal viruses, introduce them into the population, sell a vaccine to become richer and come out looking like mankind’s savior. What would happen if that got out of hand and they created something unstoppable?”
James nodded again. It made him sick to his stomach when he thought about all those people who made a profit at the expense of their fellow man’s suffering. He could still remember the famous outbreak of swine flu which earned pharmaceutical companies a healthy profit. A further example is the earthquake that devastated Haiti on 12 January 2010; various researchers claim that there is more than sufficient evidence to suggest it could have been caused by the use of seismic weapons. Many scientists have stated that the United States has been studying that branch of science for over fifty years in order to be able to change the climate at will. Only they know whether they have humanitarian or military aims in mind. However, does all this research validate the death of hundreds of thousands of people?
“Richard, what does the book say? Does it give any hints as to what it is about?”
“The first chapter doesn’t mention anything specifically. It only tells us that this civilization managed to detect it in time and they constructed an artifact which was capable of warding off disaster. Simone calls that object the Trifariam, which literally means ‘in three pieces’.”
“But that is crazy,” stammered James again. “How can a primitive civilization from ten thousand years ago manage to work out that something so huge was going to affect the Earth, and yet we, in our allegedly advanced society, still know nothing about it?”
“Maybe our mistake is in thinking that they were a primitive civilization. What if their civilization was actually more advanced than ours, at least in certain areas? According to Simone, the Trifariam would give the holder unimaginable powers. In fact, it was split into several parts and scattered across the planet, thus preventing any one person from using it for evil ends. The book must be a kind of map which will enable us to find the different fragments.”
In three places, thought James. “Do you think that the Trifariam was split into three parts?”
“It all points towards that. Trifariam literally means ‘in three parts, in three places’. It seems obvious.”
James begged to differ, but he kept quiet.
It is known only too well that numerous civilizations throughout history have been destroyed and subsequently forgotten, whether through natural phenomena or long battles fought in ancient times. Only a lucky few are remembered to this day through the works of great literary authors, and the legends of others are still being passed down by word of mouth from generation to generation.
Troy, Santorini, Helike, Machu Picchu, Petra… the list is endless. All these cities hide great secrets just waiting to be revealed, and James was aware of this. His friend’s words were constantly echoing in his head and he tried to use them to convince himself.
Mary couldn’t take any more and asked something that she had been pondering for a few minutes now. “But if the civilization was as advanced as you say, what kind of cataclysm could cause it to be destroyed in one day and night?”
“It could have disappeared during the last warm period, which occurred almost two thousand years ago,” said Richard as he put all the sheets in order and placed them in his pocket. “The book speaks of a series of events which could coincide with the last ice age.”
Both Mary and James frowned. They seemed doubtful, but the information supplied by their friend actually seemed coherent and worthy of further investigation. One of the latest hypotheses to be put forward by those who support the existence of Atlantis is that it may have sunk due to a rapid rise in sea levels. This could have been caused by a massive climate change which brought about the melting of the polar icecaps, changing the coastline of practically every continent.
“Have you ever heard of Derinkuyu?” asked Mary, a smile playing across her lips.
Richard and his friend glanced at each other, which was enough to show that neither of them had any idea.
“Derinkuyu is a city in the region of Cappadocia, right in the heart of Turkey. It currently has a population of probably fewer than fifteen thousand inhabitants. Interestingly its name means ‘deep well’ and it is a name which fits like a glove, as you will see. Have you ever heard of the underground cities?”
Now the two men did indeed know what Mary was talking about, but they allowed her to continue her explanation.
The woman knew the area very well, because on one of her latest archaeological expeditions she had ventured there intending to analyze one of the deepest levels of the underground city of Derinkuyu. She had been so profoundly affected by what she had experienced there that she was often reminded of the beautiful landscapes of Cappadocia, with their imposing mountains eroded by wind and water. It was so beautiful, a veritable treat for the eyes. Cappadocia is like a big Swiss cheese, with thousands of houses carved out of the various mountainsides. They revealed lots of holes which may have been the doors, balconies and windows of the various dwellings. However, even this is surpassed by what lies beneath the subsoil.
“The region of Cappadocia is thought to contain approximately two hundred subterranean cities, but we currently only definitively know of about thirty-six, with Derinkuyu being the most significant of all of them.” Mary saw the look of amazement on her friends’ faces and continued. “Between them all, they could house a million people inside. Some of them have almost twenty underground levels, with the deepest level sometimes two thousand feet below the earth’s surface. They had a rudimentary hydraulic door system which was unheard o
f for that time; an impressive air conditioning system with up to fifty-two air shafts. They even had kitchens, oil presses, bathrooms, bars, churches… a true subterranean world.”
Richard seemed to want to ask her something but he preferred to let Mary continue. He had a feeling that he knew what the girl was telling them.
“Derinkuyu has eighteen underground levels. Its inhabitants dug wells until they found water currents which would allow them to collect enough water to be able to remain down there for long periods of time, sometimes for even more than a year.
“How could they live in an area so deep?” asked James, interrupting Mary’s explanations. “They would barely be able to breathe at that depth.”
Mary grinned and answered his question. “That is what most impressed us. We discovered that they had an air-conditioning system which would be the envy of many buildings today, in that the air circulated perfectly through all levels, ensuring that there was no feeling of suffocation. But the most startling thing is that to this day all the levels are always at the same temperature, thirteen degrees centigrade, regardless of the climate outside.”
Richard stepped back in disbelief. “Impressive for such an ancient civilization.”
“Not only did we find a complex urban development, complete with megaphone system to enable different levels to communicate, but also that the city was protected by hydraulic gates which were inconceivable for that era. We’re talking about almost four thousand years ago, judging by the archaeological remains found on the lowest levels.”
Mary would never forget her first day working there. They had to make their down through several galleries until they reached a point where they would begin their investigations. During the descent, they had all wondered the same thing: how could they have lit up the whole city? When they got there, they switched on their lights and Mary’s heart skipped a beat. Before her, hundreds of feet below ground, was a fabulous church with an impressive room which would hold around five hundred worshippers, allowing them to breathe without difficulty.
Trifariam, The Lost Codex (2012) Page 10