by Mary Deal
Ancient laborers hurriedly casting possessions into the chamber and then fleeing lest they be perceived as participating in wrongful worship
“Run! Run away!” Chione said quietly as the vision faded.
12
“No beams, just a plain pyramid ceiling,” Kendra said, crowding in. Above the glut of artifacts, the ceiling rose to a point in the middle.
“Not even painted,” Aaron said.
Chione tipped her head back to view the assortment of artifacts that reached toward the ceiling in a claustrophobic muddle. “The pyramid is why nothing's deteriorated,” she said.
Clifford moved closer to study some of the pieces. “Chione's right. Nothing's broken. Nothing's sagged and collapsed.”
“Most women are happy if they have few precious gems,” Marlowe said, pointing. “I can't imagine what it would be like to own as many as adorn that one chair alone.”
“In our society,” Kendra said. “These are only semi-precious stones, carnelian, lapis, amethyst and so forth. We'll have to identify them later.” Something in Kendra's voice hinted that semi-precious stones were not good enough for her.
“Look,” Chione said. “There's blue anhydrite! It's so rare… was, even in those days.”
“There's a fortune in gold in that one room alone,” Royce said.
No one entered that First Annex, not even the photographers. Space to set a foot down inside simply did not exist. One quick sweep of a video camera would not catch what lie hidden inside. As with any of the chambers, extensive photographing during the removal process would prove the best method of documentation.
After all took a good look, they turned their attention to the Second Annex.
“This is like Christmas,” Marlowe said.
“Haphazard placement of the artifacts is so like Tut's tomb,” Bebe said. “All of his chambers were heaped with artifacts in disarray.”
“Wonder what the hurry was,” Rita said. She carried a fan. Stuffiness inside the tomb seemed to be affecting her.
“Whatever reason, it must be why some of these hieroglyphs and murals are unfinished,” Kendra said.
“As if this person's burial wishes were being carried out,” Chione said. “But stopped with her possible sudden demise.”
“Let's try to limit our speculation,” Dr. Withers said.
They stepped back to give the workmen space. All lighting had to be moved and repositioned. It made their shadows swing around the Pillared Hall like dancers in a dimly lit ballroom and must have tickled Clifford's wit. He grabbed his wife and they waltzed across the floor and into the darkness. Then Clifford let out a soft but menacing burst of devious laughter.
Rita came fleeing back into the light wearing a ridiculous grin. “If Randy had howled like that when he slipped out of the Second Chamber,” she said. “I'd have died in my tracks.”
For archaeologists adept at having patience when finding artifacts representing situations they could not change, anticipation hung heavy in the stifling air. Each knew they could not affect anything found, its condition or history, but each knew whatever was found might adversely affect them. Finding this tomb just happened to be a glorious event, cementing the team's place in history.
Dr. Withers paced and, several times, seemed to want to urge the laborers to be quicker at what they had to do. Then even he stopped moving. They waited and no one spoke. Finally Quaashie and Naeem took their positions in front of the doors. Stillness permeated the Hall. As the doors of the Second Annex were opened, slowly, they offered out the secrets they had kept for millennia.
“Praise be to Allah!” Masud said.
Everyone's attention riveted on the widening crack as the doors swung open. In front, just behind the doors, sat a gleaming life sized golden statue facing out. Cropped hair accentuated the female figure's uplifted jaw line. Open eyes gazed eternally fixed. In one hand, the woman held a large ankh, in the other, a djed-pillar amulet.
“A djed!” Clifford said, standing erect, as if honoring the statue. “Representing the backbone of Osiris, conferring stability and firmness.”
Chione sighed heavily. She pressed her fingertips against her shirtfront, to feel the golden scarab underneath. Why did the amulets seem so familiar? She could not move, as if the statue had stolen her strength. She felt like she needed to merge with its likeness to gain back her agility.
The others inched closer. The rendition of a very young woman in full priestess decorum sat on a typical 18th Dynasty squared base inscribed with hieroglyphs.
“Look here,” Aaron said, bending down and pointing along the bottom. “A cartouche.”
At that point, no one so much as glanced at the rest of the contents in the room.
“Can you two decipher it?” Dr. Withers asked.
Bebe bent over, as far as her figure would allow.
Finally able to move, Chione stooped, studying the etchings. “See these?” She pointed to two symbols. “Representing the goddess of pregnant women.”
Bebe straightened and whipped out her pocket book of hieroglyph translations and thumbed quickly. Chione stood and flashed her light onto the booklet. Finally Bebe said, “Translates to the pronunciation of Tauret.”
“Tauret,” Chione said, enunciating, looking into the face of the statue….
…whose eyes came alive and looked straight into hers!
“Tauret,” several others repeated. It sounded like a chant.
“Would you believe it?” Clifford asked, down on all fours, his face up close to the cartouche. “The inscription is incomplete. What would that mean?”
Someone touched her shoulder and brought her back into the moment. “Couldn't even guess,” Chione said.
“Weren't cartouches used only by royalty?” Kenneth asked.
“And nobles and courtiers,” Bebe said. “Anyone, for that matter, if they wanted to create one for themselves.”
Excited, Dr. Withers finally laid out flat on the stone floor seeing alternately through bifocals, then without them. Ginny would not think of missing such a moment. “Looks like something's been rubbed out,” Dr. Withers said over his shoulder. “Someone cast the light at an angle. Masud, what do you make of this?”
Masud dropped to all fours, looked, and then said, “The symbol of Aten has been eradicated.”
“Eradicated?”
“Erased. Notice the indentation, please, where it is almost obliterated.” He pointed with the long fingernail on his pinky. Chione bent down next to him and followed along.
“Yes, yes,” Dr. Withers said. “Rubbed out in the soft gold. But why?”
“Over here are the beginnings of the symbols representing the Amon,” Masud said.” But in outline form, as you Americans say.”
“Where, how?” Chione asked, irresistibly ready to press fingertips against the lines.
“No, no!” Masud said, pushing her hand away. Then he realized what he had done, rocked back on his feet, clasped his hands and begged, “Forgive, O Little One.” He bowed his head. “I did not mean to touch. Forgive, forgive.”
“You did no harm, Masud,” Chione said, touching his arm, which he withdrew cautiously.
“Please forgive,” he said again.
“Masud, it's all right.”
“Okay,” he said, still cautious. “But see?” He timidly aimed his pinky back toward the base of the statue. “Look closely.”
Chione drew her face closer to the base where Masud pointed. She gasped. “A fingerprint! And another!”
Everyone had to look. The photographers had to take close-ups; such as they might be able to do with the deficient lighting. Paki Rashad half stooped, bent forward with both hands on his knees, and strained to see over the heads of the others. Even Kenneth with his back problem, would get down on the floor for something like that.
“I want to collect those prints,” Dr. Withers said finally.
“But why?” Bebe asked. She feverishly took notes as she tried not to miss anything.
�
��For posterity. Here's a mark of a person who lived and worked in this very spot over three thousand years ago.”
“But a fingerprint?”
“It's all part of the find.” Dr. Withers rose to his knees. “We'll gather as much information as we can.” He smiled at Bebe. “You historians can make something of it.”
“The Museum,” Masud said, excited. “We have such equipment for lifting fingerprints.”
“That settles it,” Dr. Withers said. “Listen up everyone. More than ever, no one touches or comes in contact with anything.” He directed his comments toward no one in particular. Chione knew that she, more than anyone, was the one who needed to feel an object, a glyph, to more clearly receive its message.
Again, they concentrated on the obliterated symbols.
“See this shape of a reed?” Clifford asked. “This checkered area and the wavy line?”
“An Amon symbol in an era of Aten worship?” Bebe asked leaning in between the men to closer study the contradictory marks.
“This part's just like Tut's cartouche,” Chione said.
“So this person, this Tauret, was converting her faith?” Dr. Withers asked.
“Converting one's faith has been going on since the beginning of time,” Masud said, evidently proud of the opportunity to contribute.
“Why weren't these completed?” Dr. Withers asked, allowing Aaron to help him to his feet.
“There are more unfinished glyphs around the room,” Chione said. “Everything, the haphazard furniture in these side chambers, unfinished murals, they all imply the burial was done in a hurry.”
“Like they didn't care if anything got finished,” Rita said.
The others stood. “Look, there's the ram-headed god, Khnum,” Chione said, pointing into the Annex behind the statue and breaking a silence that had overtaken them.
“Why would other gods be present when all were supposedly denied during the time of Aten?” Kendra asked.
“Not if people were in the process of conversion,” Masud said. “By the way, in mythology, the name of Khnum means `reborn sun.' ”
“Makes some sense,” Clifford said. “Goddess of pregnant women and reborn sun.”
“So here we have the former Tauret-Aten,” Kendra said. “That doesn't answer why her name was being changed to `Amon', if in fact that's what the obliteration means.”
“That confirms what I've already found in many of the murals,” Chione said.
“Almost certainly, the mummy was a priestess,” Bebe said. “Probably involved in the hidden mysteries.”
“As soon as we decode the glyphs and murals,” Dr. Withers said. “We'll know her secrets.”
Finally their attention began to focus on other contents of the annex. Behind Tauret were pieces of furniture in rows and heaped with the tools of her suspected trade. Amulets lay everywhere, some carved from gemstone and bordered with pure gold knots, gleaming around the edges. Tiny carved decorated pillars, more djeds, and tiny headrest amulets lay about.
“Now what would all those things be used for?” Marlowe asked.
“Spells,” Bebe said. “If I'm not mistaken, these were implements used in Tauret's rituals.”
“Chances are we're going to see many more trinkets,” Clifford said.
“Look at that dried stuff in those flat open vessels,” Rita said, fanning and weakly crowding in for a better look.
“Remnants of plants and powders,” Chione said.
“Yes,” Bebe said. “Those round dark things are most likely juniper berries. The powders in those bowls, henna, and look. There's garlic.”
“Almost perfectly preserved,” Dr. Withers said with wonder.
“Because it's under yet another pyramid,” Aaron said.
“Garlic under a pyramid?” Chione asked. “Don't any of you say I haven't finished my lunch!” They laughed heartily. Chione was quietly surprised with herself for having cracked a joke.
Scarabs and winged scarabs, wadjet eyes and carved steles were plentiful. Various sized figurines of gods and goddesses were packed in. In one corner stood another statue of Taweret, the goddess of childbirth. In the opposite corner stood a tall stele carved with the likeness of Horus, the child with sidelocks, depicting youth. It was believed to transmit the power of Isis and protect those where the stele was housed.
“Oh, look,” Kendra said, as each person crowding in for a look then was crowded out. “Royal vases.”
Just inside the doorway to the left stood a small table on which sat numerous utensils and containers. Most were carved from mottled stone with lids of decorative solid gold. Several lids were bound with strings also fashioned from twisted gold strands.
“For lotions and potions is my best guess,” Bebe said. “These are definitely items a priestess would use.”
“These clues must have a common thread,” Marlowe said.
“My sentiments exactly,” Bebe said.
Chione studied Taweret, glanced to the various ritualistic paraphernalia, and then to Tauret. She cradled her stomach, which felt strangely full. But she had hardly eaten a thing at lunch due to anxiety beckoning her back into the tomb.
“What is it?” Marlowe asked. “Are you ill?”
“Just nervous,” Chione said. “Over excited.” She smiled weakly. The statue that everyone seemed to accept as a full-hipped Amarnian female of Akhenaten's era actually looked pregnant. No one noticed the stomach bulge being too high up under the priestess's skirt. The previous night Chione had dreamed of having a baby but would keep that information a secret. Disclosing such a dream at the same time as finding a pregnant statue would sound to the others like wish fulfillment. Yet, she felt Aaron watching her hug her belly. She dropped her arms and dared not glance over at him just then.
“Each one of these items is a facet in the history of this dearly departed one,” Clifford said. “With all our modern methods, we may not take ten years to empty a tomb like Howard Carter did with Tut's, but it might take us as long to decipher the meanings of the artifacts and glyphs.”
“You're right about Carter,” Bebe said. “He wouldn't allow the next item to be brought out until he finished drawing, cataloging and writing the history of the one just removed.” Each time she had something important to impart, she stood more erect and attracted attention. She would make a great classroom instructor as well.
“Well, times have changed,” Dr. Withers said. “Can't leave the artifacts to be plundered. With modern methods of documenting, developing the history comes later.”
“The museum staff is excellent in that regard,” Masud said, always seeming ready to contribute.
“You've got your work cut out for you, Kendra,” Aaron said.
“Wanna help?” she asked. Her smile invited.
Aaron looked surprised. “I've got other things to do,” he said quickly.
Attention focused on the other set of doors at the rear of the Hall. They were the only remaining doors and the team had yet to find the burial chamber. Clifford excitedly rubbed his hands together. His eyes flashed a message of expectation. As he headed toward the back of the Hall, he high-stepped and repeatedly thrust his head forward, strutting like a chicken. Rita smiled for the first time in hours, rolled her eyes, and shook her head.
Lighting was moved to the back of the Hall.
“Aaron,” Dr. Withers said, calling through the dimness. “Get some more lighting down here when we begin our work in this room. It's just too dark in this large space.”
“This is it,” Masud said. “Maybe the Burial Chamber or leading to it.”
“I'm afraid to look,” Rita said. “A whole lifetime of thrills in one day makes me weak.”
The air seemed electrified with expectation. Once again, Quaashie and Naeem took their places at the doors. Their dark eyes flashed, their smiles beamed. This time the team could not stand back and wait. In eagerness, they crowded up close. As the doors were pulled open all expectation vanished. Another pyramid ceiling protected only kitch
en furniture and vessels containing a cache of foodstuffs set in to last an eternity.
Quiet filled the Hall. Dr. Withers began to pace. “Chione?” he said. “While you examined the other walls, did you happen to notice anything that might be another hidden passage?”
“I wasn't looking for any.”
“Decipher any clues?”
“Some confusing messages,” she said. “Nothing that would direct us to another doorway.”
“Well, keep an open mind to any covert messages,” he said. “All of you.”
“Come out, come out, wherever you are,” Clifford said loudly. “Where do you suppose that woman's hiding?”
“If you were playing hide and seek with her,” Chione said, laughing. “You must have made her wait so long, she mummified in her hiding place!”
13
While waiting arrival of the fingerprinting kit from Cairo, the rest of the media were given tours, though photographing was strictly prohibited and cameras not allowed to be brought inside. Aaron and Bebe would release copies of the few photographs the various newspapers would be allowed to print. That was the deal that had been struck. The media could write anything they wanted about what they saw, inside or out, and photograph anything outside the tomb. The Exploration Magazine would publish only those photos approved and given to them by the team. The pictorial expose' of the tomb's contents was reserved for the Institute's future books and publications. That was, unless a reporter managed to worm his way into the receiving area at the Madu Museum by bribing an unscrupulous laborer.
After the tours, the three annexes were closed again. The tomb now vacated, soundings were resumed above ground for any variations adjacent to the Pillared Hall that might disclose the location of the Burial Chamber.
Progress being at a standstill, over refreshments Dr. Withers said, “I would've suspected the burial site to be at the far end of the Pillared Hall, where we found the foodstuffs.”
The tomb had been carved in a steep downward slope toward the interior of the mountain. The higher up the hillock crews took the sensors, the greater the distance between them and the underground rock formations. Nothing registered.