Marcel

Part 1

Dr. Marcel Stephenson looked at the peak of the buried pyramid. Just a week ago, a man tripped on it as he walked through the desert. Now, a full 20 feet of it was exposed, rising up out of a growing mound of dirt. Of course, this was all thanks to the hundreds of men digging the earth. Still, who would have thought that another pyramid would be found, thousands of years later. The university at Cairo was astounded to say the least. There was no record of this structure in the heiroglyphics that had been translated, though work was of course still ongoing.

Now, he stood nearby as he heard men shouting as a team of men, camels, and horses worked to pull one of the stones free of the structure. With a gasp, it came loose and was dragged a short distance before they stopped once again. The time had come.

He stepped forward again, and he felt the eyes of many people turn to him. One of the men gave him a lantern fastened to a rope and he carefully lowered it into the dark hole. No one was sure how this pyramid would have been constructed, or why or how it was buried. One of the stones just beneath the peak had been removed to give enough room for archaeologists such as himself to go inside. Truth be told, they hadn't even been certain if it'd be hollow. Fortunately, it was. With a little luck, they would be able to safely explore enough of the structure to determine the size of it. The lantern hit something after being lowered about 20 feet. Good, that was a distance they could work with.

After what felt like an eternity, a rope was securely fastened to him and two of his associates.

"Is everyone ready?" He asked. He got an excited nod from his companions and he felt the excitement well within him. "Alright, lower me down."

Cautiously, he stepped into their makeshift entrance and were slowly lowered into the area below. Beneath him, the lantern they'd dropped illuminated a small circle of stone. And as he grew nearer, he saw a faint design emerge on the stone below.

"Wait a moment!" He yelled back up. He stopped a moment later. With a stretch, he reached down and picked up the lantern, casting it's light about the floor. Faintly, he could see rich hues forming a massive work of art spread over the floor. He gasped at its size and imagined the spleandour of the art that now lay beneath him.

Part 2

"What is it?" came a call from above. It sounded like his assistant.

"It looks like the floor is an art piece. I'll see if there's some place I can stand, but we'll need some kind of scaffolding set up down here. Lower, just a few inches please!"

Slowly, Marcel felt himself get lower once again. He could now see the figures in the paint more clearly as his eyes adjusted a bit. To his right was a large portrait of a pharaoh, and to his left was another figure he couldn't see enough of to make out. Between them though was enough room to stand, if little more, that was bare stone.

"Okay, just a bit more please! I can stand here." he called up once again. Another few moments and he was standing on the stone floor, lantern in hand. "Alright, I'm at the bottom now. Let me see if there's somewhere to put a scaffold. There's not enough room for anyone else to stand right now."

"What do you see?" came another call from above.

Good question. There wasn't nearly enough light to make out what the image as a whole was. The pharaoh was plain enough to see, the crown of upper Egypt on his head. To his other side, he could only make out the dark color of the figure, but no details. The shape though looked like the head of a dog. Anubis perhaps? "There's a large painted image on the floor." He said "A pharaoh is on one side and perhaps Anubis on the other. That's just what's right next to me. It probably extends another five or ten feet on either side." He looked more closely at the pharaoh and crouched down, gently blowing away the dirt. As the dust cleared, he saw that some of the details on the jewelry was gold leaf, glittering in the lantern light.

He stared in wonder for a moment before bringing his attention back to the room. On the other side of Anubis was empty space, at least a bit of it.

"Can you make a scaffold about six feet long and two feet wide?" he called up. "I think we'll have to gradually build it out as we can see more of the room. And get brighter lanterns as well, it's too dim in here."

Part 3

Marcel stood and waited for about twenty minutes until he heard another voice from above. "We have the scaffold and a lantern. Which do you want first?"

"The scaffold!" he called back. Slowly, he saw a scaffold, little more than a couple planks nailed to some wood legs, lowered by a length of rope. Marcel leaned out of the way and took hold of it, gently lowering it to the stone floor in front of him. "I have it!" he said as he untied the rope. "And you can pull up the rope too."

Cautiously, Marcel lowered the scaffold so it bridged over Anubis beneath him. Gingerly, he stepped onto it. The planks bent, but showed no signs of breaking. "Alright, now the lantern!"

Like the scaffold, a new, bright lantern was sent into the room. As it was lowered, Marcel gasped. "Wait a moment, please!"

The four walls of the pyramid were untouched by dust, and upon them was a magnificent fresco, now lit by the lamplight. The colors were rich and the art was uncharacteristically detailed. The stone they had removed miraculously had no art on it, though perhaps that would have told them what to expect. Lining the four walls was clearly a story, beginnig with the embalming of the pharaoh that was pictured on the ground. The next panel showed gifts, laid to rest in a tomb with him as people wept. The next showed the awakening and judgment of the pharaoh in the afterlife. Maat stood to one side, the pharaoh's heart weighed against her feather as he stood in waiting. The final panel showed the pharaoh seated amongst the gods in the afterlife, and from the glittering on the wall, Marcel could tell it was painted with gold.

He stood, wide-eyed in this pyramid that only a short time ago was unknown to history.