Tombs of the Unknown

Tombs and the Unknown Benjamin Dansie had always been interested in the Ancient Egyptians. “Mom, I want to visit the ancient pyramids of Egypt.” “Why? How can that help you? I know you are not interested in the regular ‘run of the mill’ lifestyles and interests of your contemporaries. But, how much do you know about Egypt, or perhaps Ancient Egypt?” “That is exactly the point Mom! I want to know. I want to investigate, to learn what happened in those long gone days and why the Pyramids were built, for what purpose?” “But we know all that, my son. It can be read in ancient history books.” “That is exactly the point. These details are the suppositions of those historians who had to give the public a story after visiting the pyramids.” “Are you saying they were wrong, incorrect, even after all their research and investigation?” “Mom, as a child, did you ever play the game of ‘telephone’, where a word is given to the group and it is whispered to the first person in the line; that person passes on what he has heard and by the time it reaches the end of the line it is completely different to the original word!” “That is different, Ben!” “Is it Mom, is it? Mrs Dansie realised that her son had been considering this phenomenon for quite a while. “So what do you want to do? You are ready for University! Are you going to drop it and simply drop your studies?” “No, Mom! I want to do my investigations, write about them, and present them to the University. If they do not accept them, I will give it up and go the normal route. Yes! I will lose a year or two, but I am still young. It won’t cost you anything because Grandpa left me money, which I want to put to good use! Mrs Dansie raised her eyebrows, but at least her son did not want to ‘travel’ and spend all that money on pleasure. She had to admire him. “Well! If you are sure of what you are doing, then I cannot stand in your way. “ Benjamin hugged his mother and just hoped that he was doing the right thing for all their sakes. His father would be gone for another two months on a contract he was busy with in North Africa. Benjamin made inquiries at the local university regarding investigations into the Ancient Egyptian Tombs and or anything else linked to the investigations. There was not much. Not many young students were interested in such investigations. He thought he had hit a brick wall. He was in the throes of considering something else when he received a telephone call from the university, “This is professor Appleby of the Grahamstown University. Your name has been passed down to me from Wits University. I believe you are interested in Archaeology and wanting to study the Ancient Egyptians further. “ Benjamin could not believe his ears. Really, was this true? “Hello! Yessir! That is right, but I have so far hit brick walls wherever I have made enquiries.” “Benjamin, there is a small group of people that are interested in making further studies of the Pyramids of Egypt and elsewhere. I know that many people have made trips to explore the pyramids and not come up with anything more than what is already known. However, I, myself, feel there is still a lot to be learned and explored. So, if you are willing to join our small group with no great expectations, we would enjoy your company. We will be meeting at the University on Monday week, is that possible for you?” “Oh yes sir, I will be there. What time?” Benjamin could not believe his luck. He was all smiles when he told his mother. “Go! My son and enjoy yourself. I look forward to your news when you come back!” Over the next week Benjamin dreamed of entering the Great pyramid, seeing the mummies of famous Egyptian Kings etc. It was such a wonderful opportunity for him. Benjamin’s father came home for a week. When Benjamin told him of his future plans he said: “Ben, why the hell do you want to do that? It has been done so many times before. How is this going to help your future? What do you intend doing with the rest of your life? What happens when your grandfather’s money runs out? Where and what sort of occupation will you have to bring in money? Remember that what you are proposing to do is not going to generate an income. Please think very carefully before you jump into the unknown. Benjamin felt extremely downhearted. He thought about it that night. What was he going to do with the knowledge he would gain? Was this just a glorified holiday which he could otherwise have on Durban beach with plenty of girls in bikini bathing suits? He would sleep on it, there was still time. He let a couple of days go by and then decided. ‘This is what I want. No more studies just yet. He will decide what action to take later.’ Benjamin’s father was not happy. “I think you are making a big mistake, but I suppose your age can be blamed for that.” Benjamin felt this was a slap in the face. He had gone to university to study accounting according to his father’s wishes. He found it boring, all the numbers, calculations and everything else that came with it. On the side, he studied shorthand, now an old occupation and not used anymore, but he found it very handy for noting down information without having to write out reams of history or English or whatever was needed at the moment. In the meantime, Professor Appleby contacted Ben and asked him to come into the university and speak to him before he left for the trip. He went in the next day! Immediately, Benjamin met the professor. He felt elated with his enthusiasm. “Ben, I have called you in to ask you a few questions and make you an offer of sorts.” Ben pricked up his ears. “I have been looking for someone like you. I believe you have studied shorthand?” Ben wondered how he got to know that? “Yessir, I really enjoyed it and it is a fast way of jotting down notes!” “Quite! So how about studying hieroglyphics? When you are in the tombs, study any hieroglyphics you can find. I am not talking about run of the mill names etc. The Egyptian language combined logographic, syllabic and alphabetic elements, with a total of some 1000 distinct characters. Cursive hieroglyphs were used for religious documents, for example “The Book of the Dead”. These were written on papyrus with a reed pen and ink. The day arrived and to his greatest surprise, his father handed him his very expensive camera. “Dad, this is your prize possession.” “Yes, my son, but so are you. Make good use of it.” “Oh! Dad, I will, I will.” The following Monday, he joined the group at the University. There was no one that he knew. He was delighted that he would be with new friends, and people who were interested in going on this excursion. Eddie Brown, their lecturer and guide was full of enthusiasm. He gave everyone a list of requirements, clothing, water bottles etc., which they had a week to accumulate. Then they were to meet at 5am at the Airport in a week’s time. Everyone introduced themselves; there were five young men and two young women. Everyone had to open their bags at the airport for Eddie to scrutinise. He pulled out all the flimsy tops that the girls had brought and also their lightweight shorts. They handed these clothes to their parents to take home. He spoke to the parents and suggested they give them money to buy more heavy-duty clothing while waiting for their flight to be called. They booked in and went shopping at the boutiques in the airport.   Chapter 2 There was a lot of chatter on the plane. They eventually landed in Cairo and were bussed to their hotel. The following morning, Eddie called everyone together and explained the procedures required during the tour of the pyramids. ”Travel light, people!” he said. You don’t want to walk miles carrying backpacks. Use plastic bottles of water. I suggest you take a lightweight jacket with you, which you tie around your waist. The sun here is treacherous and you will be burnt to a cinder within a morning. Oh! and large sun hats please. Benjamin was aching to see the mummies, Tutankhamen for one. However, that was not to happen on the first day. Eddie called them all together. He had a map of the pyramids, where to find them and what restrictions there were as to going off the beaten track. “We don’t want to send out the authorities, looking for one of the group, who went trailing off on their own.” He heard sniggers from two of the teenage boys. He glanced at them as if to say, “don’t think of even trying it.” After an hour or so, the group settled down. “Sir, the pyramids look very difficult to climb. We did not realise the building blocks were so big. “There is much to learn about the building and the materials used. They were transported from kilometres away, by whom, how, and what was their mode of transport? These are things that we can cover later, or you can make your own enquiries at the library. There is much to see and many areas to cover, and this is not a natural history class, however I am willing to fill you in when necessary. You will be given booklets at the end of each day. The first day went off well and everyone got to know each other. Susan, one of the girls introduced herself to Benjamin, while Althea made friends with the younger men. After breakfast, they all set out again. The pyramids were huge, much larger than one would imagine from the photographs. There were causeways leading down into the tombs, these had low barricades in front of the entrances. No one was allowed into the tombs. Susan’s attention had been sought after by Althea, while Benjamin walked along with Eddie. He found him very knowledgeable. The rest of the group joined in the discussions for a while. Then they reached entrances to the tombs, cordoned off by steel barricades. The young people were left to themselves when the professor was called to one side by a leader of another group of people.   After a while Susan caught up with Benjamin, and they walked together for a while. “I think I am going to have good muscles in my legs by the time I have walked the routes around the pyramids.” Susan said. Benjamin agreed and rubbed the back muscles in his legs. “You have nothing to worry about, just look at those muscles”, said Susan with a smile. They walked for a while, during which time Althea  and Tom were chatting to the professor. Two of the other young men joined Benjamin and Susan and moved back to Eddie to take part in their conversation. Patrick and Chris began talking to Benjamin, saying that they did not want to follow the usual route through the Pyramids but wanted to see the more isolated ones. Of course, Benjamin said it was not allowed. There might be reasons why the others were out of bounds, so to speak, weak entrances which might collapse under weight, for example. “Aw! Come on Ben, don’t be a ninny, let’s go exploring, the professor is busy chatting to the others. Let’s see what is behind this pyramid.” “Listen chaps, there are reasons why these other pyramids are out of bounds, like shifting sands that can envelope you with one blast of wind, for example.” “Wind here? Are you bananas. Come on man, come with us.” They basically took him by the arm and dragged Ben with them. Around the corner of a large pyramid and there was another. This pyramid had a shaft going down to the lower depths of the building. Most of the pyramids had such shafts. It had a steel barricade around the shaft leading down below ground. The barricade was only about chest high. Albert went first and peered over the barricade, “Wow! He said, “Interesting.” Benjamin had an awkward feeling in his stomach. He preferred to stick to the rules. “Hey, Ben, come and look here. I wonder what this shaft is for, is it an entrance or a fresh air tunnel?” Benjamin moved forward, to have a look. The two other men grabbed hold of his legs and threw him over the barricade and he fell on the other side and rolled down the shaft. The two teenagers thought this was a huge joke and ran off laughing. Ben hit the bottom of the shaft. The wind was squeezed out of his lungs. It took a number of seconds before he could breathe again. He sat still for a while, till his vision was back to normal and he was breathing again. He took a few huge breaths which helped. He looked around. It appeared that the floor was made of mud or mud-brick. He had no chance of climbing up the shaft to get out. He called to them, but heard them running off laughing. Later that afternoon, Susan asked where Ben was. Nobody had seen him for at least an hour or more.   Very perturbed Susan asked Eddie if he had seen Benjamin, as she was sure he had been missing from the group for quite some time. No one had seen him leave the group. Susan happened to look at the two trouble makers who were giggling like nursery school children. She ignored them. The professor retraced his steps but there was no sign of Ben. He had noticed though that the two young men had been whispering behind his back. He approached them and they said they had not seen him for a while, perhaps he got lost among the pyramids, after which they giggled again. Eddie was not stupid and knew they had something to do with it. The group went back to the main building, the dining hall, where everyone was getting ready for supper. The professor went up to the top of the hall and called everyone’s attention: “One of our group is missing and if anyone has any information to offer, please get in touch with me immediately.” The evening went by and no one approached the professor. He spent a very restless night trying to work out what had happened to Benjamin. He knew that Ben was a very intelligent and reliable person and something that he was not aware of must have occurred during the afternoon. He was sure that the two young men had something to do with it; typical pranksters, but this was indeed serious, as Ben could not last in the desert for more than a day without water and food, let alone the extreme heat. The following morning the professor called a meeting, which included the overseer of the resort. He explained how Benjamin just disappeared while they were on their excursion. Eddie looked around the dining hall while he was explaining the disappearance of Benjamin. “Well sir!” the overseer began. “Benjamin knows the rules, and he of all people appeared to be the most reliable person to carry out the rules. All we can do sir, is wait and see what happens. There are a number of tourists in the area perhaps they will see him.” At breakfast the overseer approached all the breakfasters to tell them of Benjamin’s disappearance. Meanwhile Eddie took notice of the two young men who were now breakfasting with the other two young ladies in their group. The young men were all smiles and said that Ben was an i***t to have ventured away from the group. The overseer said he would wait a day and then send out a party to look for Ben. If he had fallen in the desert, he could not really have hurt himself because of the soft desert sand, but one never knew. The two young men responsible for pushing Ben down the shaft of the tomb still had smiles on their faces and a giggle every now and then. Eddie knew they had something to do with Ben’s disappearance. He decided to go out on his own in the vicinity they had been exploring to see what he could find. However, Susan begged him not to go. ”Look professor, Ben can survive for at least a day or two out there. We all had full water bottles and sandwiches. He will find his way back. Please be calm, you and I can take a meander out in that vicinity tomorrow. Give it a day or two. The professor did not like it, but it was sensible. They could be walking around for hours and find nothing. Benjamin did not even think that anyone would be looking for him. He embraced the fact that he was on his own and not on a guided tour, which he hated. He felt in his jacket and found two energy bars. He would have one for breakfast and one for lunch. The rest of the day could sort itself out. He stood up, shook himself off, dusted out his jacket and looked around. “Everyone still in their places,” he said to the mummies, “Good, then I will carry on!” As he walked through the underground vault he noticed a number of perhaps would be termed as artefacts, gold necklaces, bracelets and other gold jewellery belonging to the mummies in their lives. ‘Well they are going to stay exactly where they are, where they belong.” He thought. He took out his cell phone and took photos, which he hoped would work as there was no signal underground. Ben was not at all perturbed about his situation; it was an extraordinary quirk of fate that he should land up here in this unbelievable treasure chest. He wanted nothing for himself, just his knowledge that had broadened a somewhat limited mind. These were mummies that over the years had not deteriorated, or rotted, as one would expect. This was an exhilarating experience for him. One that he would not speak about unless to a professor who was not in the business to profit from material gain. Benjamin had to find a way out of these vaults and tunnels. He tried to fathom where he had come in, how he landed and perhaps far below ground level. Was there a way up, were there stairs somewhere? He would have to go looking for a place where he could climb out of this burial chamber. He had his cell phone on him and as he was perhaps closer to ground level after walking to the other end of the tunnel, he might be able to reach Eddie. He was lucky enough to make contact with Eddie and he asked him where Susan was. “Where are you, my son?” asked Eddie. Benjamin tried to explain what had happened. Eddie, was so perturbed that he said he would send a search warrant to find him. “Please wait Sir. I am fine for a few hours and I might be able to find my way out. I am worried about Susan. I want to contact her and let her know I am alright.” “I will give you her phone number. Be gentle and diplomatic, if possible. She has had very bad news regarding her father and will get a plane back home as soon as possible. I would like to speak to her. Perhaps she needs an ear for her problems.” “That’s my boy!” said Eddie and gave him her phone number. He tried to phone her immediately. No answer, perhaps she was already on a plane home. He hoped so. In the meantime Benjamin had walked into something like a burial chamber. It appeared not to have been looted. For some unknown reason he had brought his torch with him, it hung on his belt. Now was the time to explore as he could not climb the shaft that he had fallen down. He had thought that a burial chamber would have smelt, but it did not perhaps because of the shaft he had fallen down. He was in no hurry to leave this ancient burial chamber. Luckily, he had his cell phone with him. There was no signal but he could at least take pictures. As he moved further into the chamber, it became darker, but his cell phone light was good. Then he remembered for some reason he had brought his torch with him, still attached to his waistband. ”How lucky can I be?” he thought. The tomb was strange in that the mummies had not been disturbed. Most of the ancient mummies had been buried in all their gold jewellery, and then looted in later years. Why had these not been looted, not yet anyway! Was it superstition, taking jewellery off a dead person?Benjamin was eager to find his way out of this tomb, underground burial chamber, and ask questions, or should he? Would the tomb then be inundated with inquisitive travellers and how much would be stolen! He decided to keep quiet about his find! However, he could tell Eddie about it for interest sake and later give him duplicates of the pictures he was taking.  More and more he was questioning himself as to what line of work he was going to enter into.  The ancient worlds had him mesmerised. He was learning new facts every day. All the experiences he was now part of made him think that perhaps this was his future. Always something new to learn and to pass on, to teach. Why not?  He really did not want to be the ‘run of the mill’ accountant or anything of that nature, he wanted to enjoy life for the rest of his life. Perhaps visit more burial sites all over the world with his students. He was inspired by the idea. Benjamin thought he would phone Susan. He would try it. Could he get a signal if he stood beneath the shaft? He would try. He retraced his footsteps to the shaft he fell down. He tried her number. It rang, really? Down here? “Hello, Susan peaking.” “Listen Susan if you can hear me?” “Ben, Ben …..” “Sshhh! Listen. I am walking around in an underground tomb, taking photos. It is quite an experience, mummies and shrouded bodies lying on beds of hewn rock. Jewellery like I have never seen before. So give me another hour or two and then quietly tell Eddie where I am and that I am as hungry and thirsty as hell!” Susan had to smile. What a man, not in the least bit frightened or alarmed and enjoying his lucky or unlucky misfortune. She knew more or less, where he had fallen down the shaft. She walked to Eddie’s table and told him quietly about Benjamin and that he was okay, bruised but alright. He shifted his seat, as he was about to get up and Susan put her hand on his shoulder and whispered in his ear that Benjamin wanted another hour to explore this tomb and take photos of all the magnificent jewellery. Eddie shook his head and smiled, “You can’t keep a good man down.” After a lengthy breakfast, Eddie walked over to the two young men still having breakfast and giggling like nursery school children. He sat down in the empty chair. “Listen you two, after breakfast, you are going to go with me to find Ben!” Their eyes shot open: “Why us?” “Because you idiots, you pushed Ben down the shaft. And if you refuse, the police will be here in fifteen minutes to take you to prison.” “Why, what for?”