Egypt, Arizona
Author’s Note:
October sucked. Nuff said.
I should note, however, that the article discussed here, from the Arizona Gazette, 1909, actually exists! Check it out for yourself!
<-------->
“What. The. Hell.” Hitomi spoke under her breath, so that only Siege would hear.
“I know.”
“Impressive, isn’t it?” Mitchell was beaming as he looked down at the mummified corpse. “You can hardly tell the jackal head was substituted at the time of mummification.”
“What?” Both Hitomi and C.J. said at once.
“Look over here, in the corner, “ he gestured at a small wooden box. He carefully removed the lid, revealing a mummified animal missing a head. “We think it belongs to the head on top of the mummy. Measurements are right, anyway. Before we found this, we’d never seen anything like this. Rumors, sure, but no proof.”
“What happened to the guy’s real head?” Hitomi wrinkled her nose.
“Don’t know. Haven’t found it. May have been ritually destroyed during the mummification process.”
“I’m surprised that everything is still here, why isn’t the tomb cleared out?”
“Several reasons C.J.” He smiled at her, “First, the native populations wouldn’t have touched it. They would have considered it sacred. Second, the native population most likely kept it secret, not wanting it to be disturbed. Especially during the time of the conquistadors.”
“I don’t mean to be a buzz-kill,” Hitomi said, “but how do you know this place is old, and really Egyptian?”
“Ah, good question. We’ve run just about every dating test we can use, and it all puts this site from three thousand to thirty-five hundred years ago, during the New Kingdom. All the artifacts match the period, so does the mummification process.”
“Well, this certainly would rewrite history, wouldn’t it? Ancient Egyptians in North America three thousand years ago. You know, there was a news article in,“ Hitomi thought for a moment, “1909? I think. A dig funded by the Smithsonian.”
Mitchell grinned. It made him look much younger. “Front page of the Arizona Gazette on April 5th, to be exact. Only time the discovery was ever heard about, and the Smithsonian denied ever having a dig, or that the two archeologists, a Prof. S. A. Jordan and G. E. Kinkaid, even existed.”
“Cover up?”
Mitchell shrugged at Cynthia’s question. “I don’t know. But I do know that this tomb is here, so who knows.”
“How’d you guys find out about this place? If there’s no record of it?”
“‘Omi’s right. There isn’t much exploration that goes on in the canyon, aside from the South Rim.”
“Well, that’s the funny thing. I’ve been doing a research project for a while now that explores the ideas of ancient cultures in the Americas. Phoenicia, Egypt, Rome, the vikings and China. There’s all manner of anecdotal reports, strange artifacts and the like. When I turned up that article, I quickly applied for a bush permit and went in. Unfortunately, when I got back General Douglas was waiting.”
“He offered you a choice?”
Mitchell grimaced and nodded, “Play along and work for him to catalog the site and keep my mouth shut, or be black balled in the field or worse.”
“Gotta love the military.”
“‘Omi…”
“Sorry. At least you get to work on this stuff, right?”
Mitchell sighed and nodded. “Yeah. And I can still write my paper, just can’t mention the dig.”
“That is something, Mitchell,” C.J. put a hand on his arm in sympathy.
Hitomi turned away and went to look at the mummy again. She felt a pang of jealousy but quashed it. She knew it was not fair to her friend to feel like that, or make a big deal. Teasing would be in order, however. Looking over the corpse, something sticking out of the linen wrappings caught her eye.
“Hey!” She called and motioned Siege and Mitchell over, “What’s this?”
Mitchell squinted down and pulled out a tweezers. Carefully, he pulled it out and put it down on the mummy. “It looks like paper.”
“What’s that writing on it? That’s not hieroglyphs.” Siege furrowed her brow at the scrap of paper.
Mitchell blinked, “No… it almost looks like cuneiform.”
“Cuneiform?”
He glanced at Hitomi and nodded, “Yeah, it’s a class of very primitive written language. A lot of cultures used one form or another.”
“Do you know where it’s from?”
“No, not until I can compare it to samples from some of my books.”
“That won’t be necessary, Doctor Carroll.”
They all turned to see a barrel-chested older man with a thick mustache still threaded with black. Despite the dusty surroundings, his uniform was impeccably clean. His steely gaze roved over them as two soldiers came in behind him looking nervous.
“I think the need for your services is at an end.”
October sucked. Nuff said.
I should note, however, that the article discussed here, from the Arizona Gazette, 1909, actually exists! Check it out for yourself!
<-------->
“What. The. Hell.” Hitomi spoke under her breath, so that only Siege would hear.
“I know.”
“Impressive, isn’t it?” Mitchell was beaming as he looked down at the mummified corpse. “You can hardly tell the jackal head was substituted at the time of mummification.”
“What?” Both Hitomi and C.J. said at once.
“Look over here, in the corner, “ he gestured at a small wooden box. He carefully removed the lid, revealing a mummified animal missing a head. “We think it belongs to the head on top of the mummy. Measurements are right, anyway. Before we found this, we’d never seen anything like this. Rumors, sure, but no proof.”
“What happened to the guy’s real head?” Hitomi wrinkled her nose.
“Don’t know. Haven’t found it. May have been ritually destroyed during the mummification process.”
“I’m surprised that everything is still here, why isn’t the tomb cleared out?”
“Several reasons C.J.” He smiled at her, “First, the native populations wouldn’t have touched it. They would have considered it sacred. Second, the native population most likely kept it secret, not wanting it to be disturbed. Especially during the time of the conquistadors.”
“I don’t mean to be a buzz-kill,” Hitomi said, “but how do you know this place is old, and really Egyptian?”
“Ah, good question. We’ve run just about every dating test we can use, and it all puts this site from three thousand to thirty-five hundred years ago, during the New Kingdom. All the artifacts match the period, so does the mummification process.”
“Well, this certainly would rewrite history, wouldn’t it? Ancient Egyptians in North America three thousand years ago. You know, there was a news article in,“ Hitomi thought for a moment, “1909? I think. A dig funded by the Smithsonian.”
Mitchell grinned. It made him look much younger. “Front page of the Arizona Gazette on April 5th, to be exact. Only time the discovery was ever heard about, and the Smithsonian denied ever having a dig, or that the two archeologists, a Prof. S. A. Jordan and G. E. Kinkaid, even existed.”
“Cover up?”
Mitchell shrugged at Cynthia’s question. “I don’t know. But I do know that this tomb is here, so who knows.”
“How’d you guys find out about this place? If there’s no record of it?”
“‘Omi’s right. There isn’t much exploration that goes on in the canyon, aside from the South Rim.”
“Well, that’s the funny thing. I’ve been doing a research project for a while now that explores the ideas of ancient cultures in the Americas. Phoenicia, Egypt, Rome, the vikings and China. There’s all manner of anecdotal reports, strange artifacts and the like. When I turned up that article, I quickly applied for a bush permit and went in. Unfortunately, when I got back General Douglas was waiting.”
“He offered you a choice?”
Mitchell grimaced and nodded, “Play along and work for him to catalog the site and keep my mouth shut, or be black balled in the field or worse.”
“Gotta love the military.”
“‘Omi…”
“Sorry. At least you get to work on this stuff, right?”
Mitchell sighed and nodded. “Yeah. And I can still write my paper, just can’t mention the dig.”
“That is something, Mitchell,” C.J. put a hand on his arm in sympathy.
Hitomi turned away and went to look at the mummy again. She felt a pang of jealousy but quashed it. She knew it was not fair to her friend to feel like that, or make a big deal. Teasing would be in order, however. Looking over the corpse, something sticking out of the linen wrappings caught her eye.
“Hey!” She called and motioned Siege and Mitchell over, “What’s this?”
Mitchell squinted down and pulled out a tweezers. Carefully, he pulled it out and put it down on the mummy. “It looks like paper.”
“What’s that writing on it? That’s not hieroglyphs.” Siege furrowed her brow at the scrap of paper.
Mitchell blinked, “No… it almost looks like cuneiform.”
“Cuneiform?”
He glanced at Hitomi and nodded, “Yeah, it’s a class of very primitive written language. A lot of cultures used one form or another.”
“Do you know where it’s from?”
“No, not until I can compare it to samples from some of my books.”
“That won’t be necessary, Doctor Carroll.”
They all turned to see a barrel-chested older man with a thick mustache still threaded with black. Despite the dusty surroundings, his uniform was impeccably clean. His steely gaze roved over them as two soldiers came in behind him looking nervous.
“I think the need for your services is at an end.”
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