Egyptian Timewave

Chapter 10

Alim pushes into the tent, prompting Abayomi to look up from the elaborate piece of a senet board, made of iron.

"Baba? What is it?"

"The second tomb door is about to go down, I thought you'd like to be there to see it. And perhaps get the first look in beforehand, the hole in the door is too small for most of us. Yasmine, would you like to see as well?"

Yasmine smiles. "Why not? It's good to not sit all day."

Abayomi beams, rising from her chair. She sets the senet piece upright on the desk and slips out of the tent, following her father to the tomb. The same small crowd from before is waiting in the passageway, somehow managing to fit within it without any claustrophobia. Fahim waves at Abayomi, beckoning her over to where he stands just before the door.

"Ah, our clever girl! After you found that clue to the tomb owner's identity in the artifacts you were examining, I think it's paramount that you're present for this, perhaps you'll pick up on something again. We've already tested for toxic gases while waiting for you, so take a look through the crack."

A flashlight is quickly passed to her and Abayomi steps up to the door, rising on the balls of her feet to peer through the hole. It's dark at first, the light not catching on anything. She can feel her heart sinking in dismay, but then it hits something. A flash of gold, the outline of a statue and boxes. She thinks she can see a senet board, set up as if ready for play.

The light catches next on what almost looks to be a long pole. But it's a nai, the mouthpiece tipped in gold. Her light wavers on it as she stares at the instrument, feeling hints of unease, or familiarity. She isn't sure which. At last, she pulls herself back and beams at the crowd.

"It's not empty! Nowhere close, in fact. I saw a ton of items."

A deafening cheer rises up from the crowd and Fahim grins at Abayomi. "How full does it look?"

"From what I can tell, not quite as full as what the pictures of Tutankhamen's tomb made his look, but it doesn't look like tomb raiders took much if they took anything. It's likely not as packed because it isn't a Pharoah's tomb."

She steps back so Fahim can try to look into the room, his eyes bright in anticipation for what they'll find. Abayomi can't blame him, if this tomb is the way it seems to be heading, this will be as big of a discovery as that of Tutankhamen's tomb. Anyone would be excited at that. She's so excited that she can feel her skin buzzing.

~~~

Abayomi pulls the last item from her artifact container, or at least the last item until they get into the room whose door is going down at the moment. It's a gold ring, almost flat at the top. A seal ring, if she's guessed correctly. She turns it so she can see the top and smiles. She was right, it is a seal ring.

The hieroglyphs on it are fairly worn away, it will be hard to make them out and translate. But given enough time, she should be able to do it. For now, she just frowns at the name inscribed on the ring. It looks familiar, or at least the first part of it does. She thinks she's seen it before, but she can't name the place off the top of her head.

Without being able to fully make out the inscription, she won't be able to pinpoint it either. But at least this isn't one of the weird feelings, where she doesn't know why something looks familiar. This time, Abayomi knows she actually saw it. Recently, even. She huffs, pulling a piece of paper towards herself.

She grabs a magnifying glass and brush from the back of the desk and pulls them towards her as well, raising the glass over the ring. With her other hand, she starts to sketch out the ring on paper. She'll likely need a few iterations of the drawing to get it right, but even this should help her identify it. When a voice calls from behind her, she jumps, almost dropping the magnifying glass.

Her heart is thundering when she regains her grip. If she had dropped it, onto the ring, it could have been destroyed. This three thousand year old artifact, which may be a clue to the identity of whoever is meant to be entombed here, could have been reduced to nothing but dust. That's how fragile these old artifacts can be. Abayomi turns, her eyes narrowed. Yasmine winces at her expression, the downward pull of her mouth emphasized by the burgundy hijab she wears.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."

Abayomi sighs. "You're fine. I just almost accidentally crushed the ring I'm working on."

"Working on?"

A smile tugs at Abayomi's lips. "It's a seal ring. I'm working on translating the ring, and it's difficult."

Yasmine's eyes widen. "Difficult for you? You're the best we have for translating hieroglyphs." Abayomi blinks. That can't be true, can it? She's only seventeen, and there are people who have been working with hieroglyphic translations for decades.

"The inscription is hard to read, it's been quite worn away, so it's hard to make out the hieroglyphs."

"Let me see?"

Abayomi leans to the side to let Yasmine peer over her shoulder at the ring. Yasmine makes a clicking sound with her tongue. "Och, that looks tough. It just looks like scratches."

"Hard, right?"

"Very. Now go take a break. It's lunchtime, and I've noticed that you also haven't had any water yet today. Dehydration isn't fun, so go hydrate."

Abayomi laughs. "Okay, okay. I'm going."

She ducks out of the tent, going for the cooler where the food is stored.

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What do you think the seal ring might say? What do you think of the contents of the tomb so far? Tell me your thoughts!

Happy reading and I'll see you next chapter!

~ Goddess of Fate, signing out