We entered an open courtyard guarded by massive statues and columns. “Who’s he?” I asked, pointing to the statue.
“Ramesses the third as Osiris.”
“What do you mean by ‘as Osiris’?”
“Pharaohs often depicted themselves as gods in an attempt to either gain the favor of the god or to increase the likelihood of their own immortality.”
“But none of them actually were immortal, were they?”
“Not to my knowledge. Though by creating statues of such immense size, these ancient kings and pharaohs are remembered long after their deaths. That is a sort of immortality, I think.”
Passing the statues, we entered the opening through the second pylon that led to a hall. As I studied the carvings that told the story of the invasion of the Sea Peoples, Dr. Hassan searched the pylon for a symbol representing a sphinx. He told me what to look for, but after ten minutes or so, all the images seemed to blur before my eyes and blend into one giant incomprehensible puzzle.
I was ready to give up when Dr. Hassan called out, “Lily! I believe I’ve found what we are looking for.”
My footsteps echoed in the long-abandoned hall as I made my way over to him. I shivered and glanced around me, but all I saw were dark shadows and the stirred-up dust particles reflecting in the beam of my flashlight.
Dr. Hassan had his light aimed at an image carved into the wall that looked nothing like the one I’d heard him describe. When I pointed this out, he shook his head. “I understand your confusion. The symbol I described to you, the one that looks like a lion reclining, was the Egyptian version of a sphinx. This one is different. Closer, in fact, to the concept the Greeks have for a sphinx.”
“I don’t understand. What’s the difference?”
“The most notable variance would be wings seen here. Though there are similarities between the two versions such as gender, superior strength, acting as a guardian for sacred sites, having the body of a lion and the head of a human, and so forth, they also retain some qualities that make them unique.”
“Then a sphinx is…”
“Female. You might recall that powerful women such as Hatshepsut were often shown wearing the false beard of a man. This was not meant to cloak or deceive but was a sign of her power. In legend they are always female in origin, at least as far as I’m aware. Hatshepsut and Queen Hetepheres II were both depicted as the sphinx.”
“So this Greek version has wings.”
“The wings of an eagle. The other major difference between the Egyptian version and this one is that the Greek variety is much more treacherous.”
“How so?”
“Are you familiar with the concept of the sphinx’s riddle?”
“Wasn’t it something like if you didn’t solve the riddle you couldn’t get past the sphinx? Is that what you mean?”
“Yes. But in this case, to fail would be deadly. She devoured those who didn’t solve her riddle. Since Anubis called the place we’re seeking the Room of Riddles, I would assume that the Greek version that I found here is the one we’re looking for.”
“It couldn’t hurt to give it a try, I suppose,” I said as he gave me a dubious look.
“Let’s hope your assumption is correct.”
I took his light and aimed it at the hieroglyph while he placed his palm on top of the image, pushing against it and twisting his hand as he did so. The unmistakable sound of stone grinding against stone told us we had indeed found what we were looking for. There was a clicking noise and then a snap. Dr. Hassan stepped back and a circular section of stone rose out from the wall, the symbol of the sphinx carved right in the middle of it.
“Hmm. Now what do we do?” Dr. Hassan asked.
We stood there for a moment, flashlights aimed, but nothing was happening. “Maybe push it back in?” I suggested.
He wiped his brow, adjusted his hat, and nodded. I stepped forward to place my hand against the stone and pressed. It stuck at first, but then it moved and I felt the stirring of something weighty behind the wall. A hiss followed by an almost painful grating noise revealed a passageway, and a heavy stone door that had been virtually indiscernible in the pylon before swung open.
When all the movement stopped and quiet descended on the temple again, the sounds of our nervous exhales seemed louder than the moan of a thousand ghosts rising from the grave. Together