The Cult of Osiris

‘Nuh-uh,’ Macy countered. ‘The builders were actually all skilled craftsmen. They got paid. The slave thing’s just a lie that the pharaohs who came after Khufu, or Cheops, whatever you want to call him, spread to make themselves sound better. “Sure, we could have built an enormous pyramid too if we’d used loads of slaves,” kind of thing. Khufu wasn’t any worse than any other pharaoh.’

‘So why’d they decide to build pyramids in the first place?’ Eddie asked. ‘What’s so special about that shape?’

‘Nobody knows,’ said Nina.

‘I’m going to hear that a lot, aren’t I?’

‘It’s probably symbolic, something of religious significance, but nobody’s come to any agreement on exactly what. But it’s a shape they spent a lot of time and effort trying to perfect, even in the earliest dynasties. The pyramids back then were stepped like ziggurats, one layer on top of another, but as their engineering skills improved they started building them with smooth sides. A pharaoh called . . . Sneferu, I think?’ Nina glanced back at Macy, who nodded, pleased to be asked. ‘He built the Red Pyramid at Dahshur, which was the first “true” pyramid. It was pretty big - but the pyramid built by his son was a lot bigger. And we’re in it.’ She swept out her hands to take in the vast structure surrounding them. ‘As for why they were so determined to build pyramids . . . like I said, nobody knows.’

They reached the top of the incline, Nina pausing to recover her breath. To her mild irritation, Macy appeared completely unfazed by the climb. Another low horizontal passage led deeper into the tomb, opening into a taller chamber after just a few feet. Eddie peered inside, seeing deep grooves running up the far wall. ‘What’s this?’

‘Anti-theft device,’ said Macy.

‘Thought you said there weren’t any booby traps?’

‘It’s not really a trap. More like a vault door. They built it with three huge stone blocks hanging from the ceiling. Once Khufu was buried, they dropped the stones so tomb raiders couldn’t get in.’

They entered; the room was completely empty. ‘So where are the stones?’

‘Tomb raiders got in,’ Macy chirped. ‘They smashed the stones, then walked right into the burial chamber. It’s just through here.’ Another hunched traversal of a short stone tunnel, then . . .

The King’s Chamber. The burial vault of the pharaoh Khufu, sealed over four and a half thousand years before.

‘This is it?’ asked Eddie, disappointed. The rectangular room was almost forty feet by twenty, dominated by the remains of a large granite sarcophagus - but apart from the lidless coffin it was completely empty. Not even the walls bore any decoration. ‘I was expecting something a bit more flash.’

‘It did get Lara Crofted,’ Macy pointed out, a little condescendingly. ‘If it was like Tutankhamun’s tomb, the whole room would have been full of treasure.’ Her eyes lit up at the thought.

‘It wouldn’t all be treasure,’ Nina reminded her. ‘A lot of it would have been items for Khufu’s journey through the Underworld to be judged by Osiris - food and drink, things like that. But yeah, there would still have been plenty of treasure.’

Eddie stood aside as other tourists entered, leaning against the granite wall. He watched as Nina examined the sarcophagus, after a minute saying, ‘I don’t think he’s in there.’

‘I know that. I just don’t get many chances to see things like this in person any more, do I?’

‘You should have asked the Egyptians when you were at the IHA,’ Macy suggested. ‘They’d have probably given you a private tour.’

Nina’s mouth compressed into a sour line. ‘Yeah, thanks for reminding me.’

‘So when will Dr Berkeley be back at the dig? We should get back there - the sooner you talk to him, the sooner you’ll be able to check out the construction site.’

‘She’s got a point,’ said Eddie.

‘All right,’ Nina muttered, reluctantly leaving the sarcophagus. ‘I’m going to be pissed if you’ve dragged me out of here and he still hasn’t arrived when we get there, though.’

To Nina’s annoyance, Berkeley indeed had not yet returned from his TV appearance when they got back to the Sphinx compound. He was expected in thirty minutes - thirty minutes Nina could have spent exploring the Great Pyramid.

When he eventually did arrive, it was closer to fifty than thirty minutes later, which did not improve Nina’s mood. But she put on a pleasant face, knowing she would need to charm him into allowing her access to the dig. Berkeley got out of a white-painted government car, its driver emerging as well. ‘Hey,’ Eddie whispered.

‘What?’

‘The other bloke, he’s the one from Macy’s photos. The one she clocked with her camera.’

‘Crap, you’re right.’ Berkeley’s companion was Dr Hamdi. She glanced past the Temple of the Sphinx at the more intact Valley Temple to the south. Macy, still in her baseball hat and sunglasses, was lurking amongst the milling tourists, as close as she dared come to the dig site. ‘If Macy’s right, then he’s not going to want anyone to go near that tent.’

‘Bit late to start wondering if she’s right, innit?’

‘Maybe we’ll find out now - we’ll see how this Dr Hamdi responds.’ She approached Berkeley, Eddie behind her. ‘Hey, Logan! Logan! Hi!’

Berkeley reacted with first surprise, then wary uncertainty when he realised who was calling to him. ‘Nina? What are you doing here?’

‘Oh, just on vacation,’ she replied airily. ‘We wanted to drop by and say hello, seeing as it’s your big event tonight.’

‘Tomorrow morning, technically - the live broadcast starts at four a.m., local time.’ Berkeley’s wariness was creeping towards outright suspicion, not believing for a moment that their presence was a holiday-related coincidence.

Hamdi had an odd look of half-recognition. ‘Friends of yours, Dr Berkeley?’

‘Colleagues,’ Berkeley said firmly. ‘Ex-colleagues. Nina, Eddie, this is the SCA’s representative at the excavation, Dr Iabi Hamdi. Dr Hamdi, Nina Wilde and Eddie Chase, formerly of the IHA.’

Nina noted that Berkeley had omitted her title from his introduction, but had no time to make a sarcastic correction before Hamdi spoke. ‘Dr Wilde! But of course! How could I not have known?’

‘Well, I did change my hairstyle.’

He smiled. ‘A great pleasure to meet you.’

‘Likewise.’ She shook the Egyptian’s hand. ‘And this is Eddie, my husband.’

‘Husband?’ said Berkeley, taken aback. ‘You got married?’

‘Don’t worry, we weren’t expecting a present off you,’ Eddie said.

Nina looked over the ruins to the Sphinx. ‘I was wondering . . . would it be possible for us to see the actual excavation site?’

‘Sorry,’ said Berkeley, tight-lipped. ‘Authorised personnel only.’

Again, Nina restrained herself from remarking on his dismissive attitude. Instead, she addressed Hamdi. ‘That’s a shame. Couldn’t the SCA make an exception, Dr Hamdi?’

The Egyptian was more polite, but just as unhelpful. ‘I’m afraid not, Dr Wilde. Once the Hall of Records has been opened and everything properly catalogued, then perhaps, but for now we have to maintain strict security.’ He nodded towards the guards at the nearby gate. ‘We had some trouble on the site recently.’

‘So I heard.’

Berkeley frowned. ‘You did?’

‘Yeah. A girl called . . . Macy Sharif, wasn’t it?’ She watched their responses closely. Berkeley seemed stung that word had got out about something so potentially embarrassing - but Hamdi physically flinched, as though he had just received a real sting. ‘Something about her stealing a piece of the Sphinx, wasn’t it?’

‘And - and assaulting me, yes,’ said the flustered Hamdi, rubbing his nose.

Berkeley’s expression darkened. ‘Where did you hear about that?’ he snapped. ‘It was Lola, wasn’t it?’

‘No, it wasn’t, actually,’ she said, defending her friend. ‘It was Macy.’

Whatever had stung Hamdi was now draining the blood from his face. ‘You’ve spoken to her? Where?’