why I suppose Anubis needs you to go through this ceremony. Lily, I won’t lie to you and say that I have no concerns. The sacrifices you will be called upon to make coupled with the dangers of the journey…” He rubbed his neck as if he could already feel the tension mounting. “I just hope that I can serve your purposes well.”
“If anyone can help me, Dr. Hassan, it’s you.”
“Let’s pray that you are right. Come, Lily. Let’s get you to my car.”
As we headed up a dark and dusty stairwell toward the Egyptian summertime light, I asked, “Where are we?” Heat rose from the sand and rocky hills in waves.
“Saqqara. It’s the ancient capital of Memphis.” When he saw I was at a loss, he added, “We’re about thirty kilometers south of Cairo.” As he led me to his vehicle, he explained, “I’ve been working on this dig site for the last three months. This is the tomb of the Witness Who Fed the Flesh of the God, in other words, Maia, the wet nurse of King Tutankhamun. She was discovered here in the late nineties and I am officially overseeing the excavation of her chapel.”
“Are there pyramids in this area?”
“Several, including the famous stepped pyramid of Djoser.”
“Did you, you know,” I continued in a whisper, “hide any of the brothers here?”
“Not here. But the body of Ahmose is not too far from this location. I never choose a site where there is active digging going on, lest the Sons of Egypt be discovered.”
“Oh.”
It disturbed me to think of Ahmose rotting away in a hidden tomb. I couldn’t bear thinking of him in that way, let alone Amon. Instead of dwelling on it for too long, I asked, “So how far is it to the temple of the…?”
“Medinet Habu.”
“Right. That. It’s in Luxor?”
“Correct. It will take eight hours or so.”
As we drove, Dr. Hassan spent the majority of the time trying to make sure I understood exactly how perilous this plan would be by listing every bad thing he knew about secret rites gone wrong, clueless humans who wandered into god-created traps, and the netherworld in general.
But Amon’s heart called to me. There was no one else who could do it. Not Anubis. Not Asten or Ahmose, and not Dr. Hassan. I, Lilliana Young, an average mortal girl, would end up being either the hero or the tragic victim—the first in a long line of casualties in the war between good and evil, if I couldn’t prevent the unthinkable from happening.
It was late when we arrived and the temple was closed to tourists, but after a few words with the night watchman, Dr. Hassan was able to gain us entrance, and the guard swung open the short wooden gate that would have been almost pathetically easy to climb over. “Why don’t they protect the temples better?” I asked as we moved away from the small guardhouse.
“Don’t get me started,” Dr. Hassan answered dryly as he handed me a flashlight. “Now, if I remember correctly, the second pylon should be in this direction.”
We passed under the gateway of the first pylon and Dr. Hassan gave me a quick lesson on the architecture. “Pylons look much like the hieroglyph depicting the horizon. Do you see the shape there? It looks like two large hills with a sun rising between them.”
“I remember that Horus got his name from the horizon.”
“Close. It’s the other way around. When you enter the temple, you enter the realm of the sun, or sun god in this case. Each pylon is a doorway into the next realm and each section can have different purposes. Remember that shape in case you see it later. Don’t forget, Lily, the sun always leads to life. To see the sunrise is to embrace life. The sunset is where you will find death.”
“Is that why you used the sunrise at the worm cave to see through the adder stone?”
Oscar smiled. “I’m pleased that you remember.”
“I’ve learned that it helps when you’re in love with a mummy to pay attention to little things like curses, adder stones, and long-winded archaeologists.”
“I’ll have you know, young lady, that I am one of the most sought-after lecturers in Egypt. I am hardly long-winded,” he said with a wry grin. “Now. Where was I?”
“Pylons.”
“Ah, yes, pylons can also serve as more than decoration or symbol. Ancient stairways and rooms have been found in some. I am thinking that this room Anubis described may be one of