“So, they were doing all that three thousand years before the Babylonians supposedly invented astronomy,” Cassie observed archly.
Griffin paused to regard her with amazement. “I had no idea you knew that.”
“Maybe it’s time you stopped thinking of me as the slow kid in the back row,” the pythia cautioned. “I’m starting to catch up with you guys.”
“Point taken,” the scrivener said. “And you’re quite right about the Babylonians. Overlords enjoy taking credit for inventions which they actually appropriated from the civilizations they conquered. In the case of the Babylonians, they borrowed astronomy, and I use the term ‘borrowed’ loosely, from the matristic Sumerians who preceded them.”
“The Egyptians are glory hounds too,” Erik offered. “You can’t believe everything you read in the hieroglyphs.”
“Also spot on,” Griffin agreed. “Much, if not all, of the astronomical lore which dynastic Egypt claimed as its own came from the region we’re exploring today—from the cattle culture of Nabta Playa. The people who inhabited pre-pharaonic Egypt possessed a highly sophisticated knowledge of the stars thousands of years before Kurgan and Semitic invaders took over their lands.”
“And nobody knows about any of it.” Cassie sighed.
“That’s because tourists pay to see pyramids, toots,” Erik countered. “They’ve bought into the overlord myth about the pharaohs bringing civilization to this part of the world. It would spin their heads to realize that nothing they’ve been taught is true.”
Cassie stood up and dusted sand off her khakis. “Maybe we’d better get going,” she suggested. “We don’t want to be stuck out here after dark.”
“Certainly not.” Griffin leaped to his feet, and Erik followed suit.
After rousing Bakri from his siesta, they all sauntered back to the Land Rover.
The remainder of the trip was as quick as Griffin had promised. After traveling for about fifteen minutes, the vehicle came to a halt. Cassie looked out the window but didn’t see anything worth noting.
“Yes, this should be it,” Griffin confirmed.
Bakri switched off the engine and got out to stretch. The others followed suit.
Surveying the landscape, Cassie said, “This isn’t what I expected.”
Chapter 29—Trash Talk
The Arkana team regarded the Nabta Playa site in silent dismay. It was nothing but a jumbled scattering of rocks and sand. There was no sign or other marking to designate the calendar circle.
Bakri took refuge on the shady side of the Land Rover. He sat down on the ground, resting his back against one of the rear tires presumably to continue his interrupted nap until the crazy tourists had finished looking at whatever they had come out here to see.
The Arkana team circled the rubble despondently.
“Not too impressive as megaliths go,” Erik commented.
“Some of the articles I read about Nabta Playa mentioned vandalism in recent years, but I had no idea it would be this extensive.” Griffin studied the remnants of the circle. “With no protection around the perimeter that’s hardly a surprise.”
The circle could easily have been mistaken for a natural rock formation. At least until a person noticed the equidistant placement of some of the taller stones.
Cassie stepped into what she guessed would have originally been the center of the circle. She smiled. “They were here. I’m sure of it.”
“What, no vision?” Erik registered surprise.
The pythia shrugged. “It’s more like a trace heat signature that you might pick up with infrared goggles.”
Apparently satisfied with her explanation, the paladin asked, “So, what’s our next move?”
“Look for lilies, I should think,” Griffin replied. “Though given the deplorable condition of this site, I’d be surprised if we find any. It appears as if someone made off with several of the taller stones.”
“Did you bring those photos of the reconstructed site from the Nubian Museum?” Erik asked the scrivener.
Snapping himself out of his temporary slump, Griffin perked up. “Yes, I see. We still might be able to extrapolate something from the pictures. They’re in the Land Rover. I’ll fetch them.”
Erik walked up beside Cassie. “You getting anything else?”
She narrowed her gaze, regarding the random mess that had once been a calendar circle. “Not much. Only that there’s something here for us. I’m sure of that.”
Griffin scurried up to join them. “Here we are.” He passed out several images of the calendar circle. Some were simulations, some reconstructions from the museum exhibit and some taken by archaeologists when the actual site was still intact.
“I was never good at puzzles when I was a kid,” Erik said ruefully. “I don’t think I’ve gotten any better over the years.”
“Wait a minute, guys,” Cassie intervened. “Let’s see if we can find anything in the ground here that might be an original calendar marker. Maybe I can get a hit off of it.”
They all scrutinized the photos intently, comparing the images to the rubble that remained.
“That one,” Griffin said decisively, pointing to a rock jutting up out of the sand. “The shape is quite distinctive. It would have been one of the Orion stones in the center of the circle.”
“OK, then,” Cassie said cheerfully. “We have a place to start.” She walked over to the megalith and sat down on the ground in front of it. The sand was very hot. She reached out to position both her palms flat against the standing stone. It burned her hands. Immediately a succession of images flickered through her brain causing her to blink rapidly while trying to process all the information. When the zoetrope show was over, she turned to her companions.
“You didn’t get anything, did you,” Griffin said gloomily.
“On the contrary, my dear Eeyore,” she replied.
“Eeyore?” Griffin echoed.
“You know. The sad sack donkey from Winnie the Pooh?”
“Am I really that bad?” Griffin asked in an alarmed tone.
“Ummm, yeah a little bit.” Cassie jumped to her feet. “But not to worry. I did
