Four Ways to Pharaoh Khufu (26 page)

Anna and Michael quickly turned away. Several police officers were running to the scene, barking orders and directing everyone away. Michael and Anna held tightly onto each other as they walked away. Michael was not sure how he was able to walk, but knew that if he sat down he would not be able to get up again for a long, long time.

Michael was surprised when he glanced up and read the name of the station. “Kurskaya? This is the same station we used to get inside the subway system.”

“We probably made the full circle on that train,” said Anna, pointing to the map of the Metro.

As they made their way to the exit, they admired the subway’s rich designs that represented the essence of the long-gone Stalin era with its rich ostentatious design, communist slogans, chandeliers, loads of mosaics, gorgeous artwork and sculptures that once symbolized the victory of the Soviet people over poverty and starvation.

Chapter 38

Café
Алёнушка
, Moscow, Russia

Sunday, September 24

12:05 a.m.

“T
his place looks okay,” Anna said. Visibly exhausted, Michael and Anna stood in front of a small, but brightly lit diner. They were quite shaken up and troubled, the events on the subway train still fresh.

“Yeah,” Michael answered wearily. At this point, he was not going to be picky. He peeked inside; it was almost empty with only a few couples sitting at the tables.

As they walked inside, a sweet voice called out to them in Russian. They turned to see that the voice belonged to a young waitress.

“
Sprechen Sie Deutsches
?” Anna asked hopefully in German.

“Or English?” added Michael, observing the waitress shaking her head.

“English yes,” the waitress responded with a heavy Russian accent, turning to Michael. “Please,” she gestured for them to follow her to a corner table next to the window.

“My name is Tanya,” she announced while Michael and Anna were making themselves comfortable. “Here is menu,” Tanya handed them some menus and slowly walked away.

“Hey, Michael, look!” Anna exclaimed joyfully, “The menu has pictures!”

“Oh good.” Michael opened his menu and scanned the pictures. “I’ll have a beef stroganoff, what about you, Anna?”

“Beef stroganoff?” she asked, surprised.

“Beef stroganoff,” Michael replied informatively, “A Russian dish of sautéed pieces of beef served in a sauce with sour cream. From its origins in nineteenth century Russia, it has become popular around the world, with considerable variations from the original recipe.”

“Incredible!” exclaimed Anna, “You don’t carry an Encyclopedia Britannica in your back pocket by chance, do you?”

Michael smiled and signaled their waitress. Tanya approached the table and shortly was on her way to the kitchen to place two orders of beef stroganoff.

Michael looked around. He could see two couples sitting at a table on the far side of the café. He turned to look out the window. Nobody was lurking outside. He pulled his backpack a little closer to himself and unzipped it, removing the Cuban cigar box.

Michael looked at Anna, “Shall we?”

“Sure, Michael, I can’t even possibly imagine what could be inside this old cigar box.”

“Me neither,” said Michael as he stared glassy eyed at the old Cuban wooden box made around the 1970s when Cuba and Russia were still at the peak of their relationship. The label on the box read: Cuban Partagas Torpedo. At the bottom of the label was the word Habana. Michael carefully pulled back the black adhesive tape holding the lid down and dramatically opened it. Inside was an old folded piece of paper. He picked it up and saw that it was a piece of paper torn out of a daily planner, discolored yellow. He unfolded the paper as Anna watched.

At the top was the date: March 6, 1983. The paper was written in English, in very small print. When they examined the signature at the bottom, they were surprised to realize that Kirilov had written it.

* * *

Greek historian Herodotus who visited Egypt in the five
B.C.:

A hundred thousand men labored constantly on the construction of the Great Pyramid. They were relieved every three months by a fresh lot. It took ten year’s oppression of the people to make the causeway for the conveyance of the stones. It is built of polished stone and covered with carvings of animals. To make it took ten years, or rather to make the causeway, the works on the mound where the pyramid stands, and the underground chambers, which the Pharaoh Cheops (Khufu) intended as vaults for his own use: these last were built on a
sort of island, surrounded by water introduced from the Nile by a c
anal
.

Arabian doctor Abdallah Muhammed bin Abd ar-Rahim Al K
aisi:

The pyramids all have four sides, whereas each side is a triangle. Opposite of Misr al-Fustat (Cairo) are three pyramids. The largest of them has a circumference of 2,000 ells, with 500 ells on each side, and a height of 500 ells. Every stone is thirty ells wide and ten ells thick and is prepared and fitted to the finest. Near the town of Pharaoh Joseph is a pyramid much larger than this one. Its circumference is 3,000 ells; its height is 700 ells. Each of the stones is fifty ells long. Near the city of the Pharaoh Moses are some pyramids even larger and mightier. One pyramid, called the pyramid of Maidum, is as large as a mountain. She consists of five layers. Al-Mamun has opened the large pyramid opposite of al-Fustat. I went into it and saw a large chamber, which was squared on the floor. In the middle of this chamber is a square well pit of ten ells depth. If one steps down there, one sees a door on any of its four sides. In the chamber is an opening that leads to a passage to the highest point of the pyramid, but there are no steps in it. It is five spans wide. It is said, that in the time of Al-Mamun they went up there and had reached a chamber where the corpse of a man was found.

* * *

I’m pretty sure that Herodotus was absolutely right. The artificial canal was created in the rock bed of the Giza Plateau and is located at the height of the maximum level of the river Nile, which is eight meters and thirty-two centimeters. This canal begins at the foundation of (what I call) the baffling pyramid that was unearthed not long ago, and penetrates the underground burial of the Khufu pyramid on the same level at eight meters and thirty-two centimeters. The water introduced by the canal surrounds the artificial island where Pharaoh Khufu’s sarcophagus was placed. Basically Khufu’s chief architect HemIwno created the system of connected water containers that, complying with the laws of physics, provided a strictly set level and volume of clean constantly refreshed water inside Khufu’s real burial place.

Each one of the following pathways leads to the artificial canal to the underground lake that surrounds the man-made island containing Khufu’s sarcophagus:

1. The way used by the funeral procession through the temple located at the east side of the Great Pyramid and located at the distance of forty-four meters from the bisector of the pyramid and the depth of about five to seven meters.

2. A pathway that follows along the artificial canal situated deep inside the baffling pyramid.

3. The so-called “dead-ended” horizontal passage of the subterranean chamber of the Great Pyramid. In the middle of the sixteen-meter appendix on the ceiling of the passage there is a plug. And beyond the plug is an inclined passage that leads to the burial place.

4. The way from the Subterranean Chamber of the Great Pyramid through the foundation of the false well. This foundation is actually false and in reality is a stone plug, which has the following parameters: two meters wide, ten meters long and two meters filling thickness. Under this stone plug there is a continuation of the cylinder-shape opening about ten meters deep down.

* * *

For the next several minutes Michael and Anna remained silent, trying to comprehend what they had just read. In the meantime, Tanya brought their meals.

“Do you remember what your father’s dying words were?” Michael finally broke the silence.

“Sure,” Anna replied. “He gave you my business card and told you to “find four ways” along with something else that was incomprehensible.”

“Yes,” Michael looked like he had won the lottery. “Four ways!”

“I don’t get it,” said Anna, confused.

“The number of the pathways in Kirilov’s paper is that magic number four,” Michael explained, pointing to the paper.

“Oh Michael, you are absolutely right. Do you think there is any connection between these numbers?”

“I think there is a direct connection. Your father and Kirilov might be speaking the same language after all.”

Anna gave him a strange look.

“I mean they both speak the language of archeology,” said Michael, grinning.

“If that’s true, then we need to check this out,” said Anna. “Are you still in?” she asked, holding out her right hand.

“We’re in this together, whatever this is,” Michael said proudly, bringing his hand up to shake Anna’s. “But now I need to use the bathroom.”

Michael returned to the table looking even more tired and sad.

Anna was finishing her warm dinner. “Is something the matter?” she asked.

“I’ve got bad news.” Michael said, looking at the bill Tanya had dropped off. “I decided to call Kirilov’s apartment. His nephew answered the phone and told me that Kirilov is unconscious in the Intensive Care Unit.

“Oh no! What should we do now?” asked Anna.

“You know what, we can’t really help Kirilov, but let’s go to the library in the morning to check out Herodotus’ book, “The Histories.” Maybe he will tell us something more,” said Michael. He stashed Kirilov’s letter inside the cigar box, sliding it back into his backpack and zipping it up. He pulled out his phone and calculated how much they needed to pay for the meal.

As they waited outside the café to catch a cab, Michael could see their waitress showing off the American dollars she had received from her customers. He smiled to himself.

A short time later they were safely at their hotel. As they entered the building, they were surprised to see many local couples patronizing the hotel at such a late hour. As they learned later, the hotel is popular among local couples that stay no longer than an hour in their rooms, since their apartments are small and often shared with extended families. This is the only privacy they can find for a small amount of their own private, happy time.

Chapter 39

Memphis, Egypt

2583 B.C.

K
hufu, the pharaoh of the fourth dynasty, the Lord of Egypt and beloved by Ra the sun god, sat on a high terrace gazing thoughtfully at the silent and lifeless desert known as the Land of the Dead. Upper and Lower Egypt were united by his predecessors, so his kingdom stretched thousands of miles along the Nile River. The taxes collected from the neighboring nations flowed like a shining golden river into his treasury. The greatness of the pharaoh, the living god, was commensurate with his dazzling wealth and solemn rituals. Only immortality, the highest goal of all human imaginations, remained his last mission.

All pharaohs were consumed with their life beyond the grave. Since the ancient times it was believed that at birth all human beings are endowed with Ba, the soul, and Ka, the person’s twin. Ba, depicted as a bird with a human head, can be integrated with the body to become one, but also exist away from it. Depicted as raised hands, Ka seemed to be real, having flesh and able to consume food. At the same time, Ka was thought to live an eternal life apart from its body and act like its guardian angel. When a person dies, their Ba and Ka leave for a period of time, returning only if they recognize the body. If the body decomposes, its spiritual twin will die and the deceased will lose their chance for eternal life. To live for eternity, the body must retain its own image. This was made possible through the mummification process. The body was preserved with special solutions and wrapped with linen soaked in aromatic resins: no expense was spared.

In order to ensure its preservation, however, the mummy had to be hidden away from tomb robbers. Pre-dynastic rulers were buried inside secret wells in the far outskirts of the desert. These burial sites were often plundered. Later, huge royal tombs with mastabas, enormous flat rectangular roofs with outward sloping sides, were used. The first giant step-pyramid constructed was for Pharaoh Djoser. His architect, Imhotep, realized that in order to securely hide the needle there needed to be a haystack.

Getting away from the maddening crowds, Khufu found solace and peace on the Nile’s left bank where the rocky spurs of the Mokattam plateau dissected the endless horizon of the Libyan Desert. The cliffs created the appearance of a notched barrier to the west beyond which stretched the silent desert. When he traveled around the imposing cliffs he never ceased to marvel; the peaks of the three cliffs captivated his imagination. An immense cliff located to the north and situated away from the others especially mesmerized Khufu. His priests related perplexing legends of the mysteries deep inside the cliff’s womb. It was said to contain the treasury and sanctuary of the god Thoth, depicted as a man with the head of Ibis, the god of wisdom and numeracy, the keeper of the secrets of life and the protector of the dead. Thoth was the one who, together with the Goddess of the Truth, would someday escort him to eternal life.

From his first day Pharaoh Khufu had considered his eternal resting place. Countless pharaohs had gone into the realm of eternal darkness, but only the names of the most powerful and recently deceased stayed in human commemoration. The names of the others were erased by the ruthlessness of time. He might be doomed to be forgotten in some distant cave, his earthly traces gradually swept away by the squeaky sand. Reflected in these disturbing images, Pharaoh Khufu’s sun-god earthly life seemed like a burden.

As he returned to his palace, Khufu stood on his solar boat looking back at the tallest cliff basking in the sundown rays of the sacred disc, Ra. As a farewell, a last greenish ray slashed along the cliff’s crest. It was something marvelous, unearthly; a fragment of eternity that had swooped down and bonded with his immortal soul and mortal body.
I should place my eternal home here, next to Thoth’s sanctuary, which stores the secret of our heavenly origin,
Khufu thought
.
Leaving the Mokattam cliffs behind, Khufu promised himself he would come back for good, for eternity.

Sailing briskly along the Nile, Khufu envisioned an edifice where no one would disturb his eternal rest, a pyramid engineered to be inaccessible to anyone who would ever dare to desecrate it. But who would be able to understand and implement his majestic plan? And where would he find somebody like Pharaoh Djoser’s great architect Imhotep?

Back at his Memphis palace, Khufu walked to his mother’s room. Queen Hetepheres eyes brightened at the sight of her son. Blonde with dark blue eyes, she sat proudly in her gold chair. Khufu bowed respectfully. After describing his plans and thoughts, she nodded, “You are the exalted pharaoh and your eternal tomb should be grand.”

“But who can be trusted with constructing it?”

The queen sat quietly. Finally she answered, “I think you should invite our High Priest, HemIwno. He is experienced, energetic and loyal.” Khufu meditated and shortly made his decision.

The High Priest, HemIwno, appeared at the appointed time and bowed low. As he raised his head, his cold eyes considered his ruler with an imperious gaze.

Khufu spoke, “It is time to think about my house of eternity. I’m appointing you to be Vizier, the Chief Architect, and entrusting you to engineer and build the greatest structure ever erected in our land. Everything will be at your disposal. If you accomplish it, you will be glorified for centuries to come.”

The High Priest’s eyes lit up at the thought of creating something unprecedented. After a long conversation, Khufu noted with satisfaction that by the grace of the gods his choice was successful; his mother always gave him good advice. HemIwno had asked for thirty days to come up with the plan’s first outline and the preliminary calculations. Khufu grinned with anticipation.

The hoary head of the High Priest, and now Chief Architect, was reverently bowed as he went his way, deep in thought. He adored the grand beauty and craftsmanship of the pyramid for Pharaoh Djoser, who died nearly a hundred years before. Djoser’s seven-step pyramid was the country's first stone building of that magnitude. If he accomplished his pharaoh’s will, his name would be just as Imhotep’s, glorified for the millenniums ahead. His stopped, gazing at the spiky ridges of the northern cliff. He needed to penetrate its secrets and find in its winding cracks the key to encasing it within a pyramid, a daunting task.

HemIwno strode through the gloomy temple where stone gods guarded the secrets of the priests. In his chambers he took out a roll of papyrus containing a record of external materials and tools, looked at it and threw it down in frustration. He needed something extraordinary. His eye caught the corner of the papyrus. Its acute vertex was … HemIwno jumped. He realized the sacred structure should be shaped like the bent pyramid of Pharaoh Sneferu, the founder of the fourth dynasty and Pharaoh Khufu’s father. Yet, it should be of slightly different proportions and unprecedented dimensions so it could encase the massive cliff. The ideas began flowing. The pyramid would be unadorned, its grandeur in its simplicity. The peak would draw the eye upward. The apex would rise above the valley and be the first to greet the morning light of the god Ra, long before its sunrays dispelled the darkness at the base of the pyramid. The Chief Architect began some preliminary calculations.

A few days later, his preliminary sketches were complete. An excellent designer, he had long tinkered with the calculations and, finally, after many efforts found it to be of unprecedented dimensions! He was overwhelmed by the resulting value and at the same time, proud of the novelty of his method. Using another papyrus, he designed the burial chamber. He provided ventilation channels that would pierce the masonry and emerge near the top. After much thought, he traced all false moves going up and down, and a preliminary schematic of treacherous traps with huge overhanging rocks that would crush anyone who dared to disturb the peace of his pharaoh. He felt ready to present it to Pharaoh Khufu. Yet, one thought haunted his mind.

At the palace, the high priest opened a scroll and began his presentation. Slightly on edge, he spoke passionately and persuasively. From the beginning, Khufu seemed to be skeptic and tensed as if preparing to jump into a fight. Toward the end of the presentation, however, the young pharaoh eased up, visibly satisfied.

“There is only one delicate issue that remains,” HemIwno said, looking deeply concerned.

Khufu looked at him curiously.

“In order for the pyramid to retain its secrets, one of the workers has to be left behind. Someone has to set all the traps in motion, but no one must know the secret.”

Pharaoh Khufu remained quiet for a while and finally nodded his approval. “Sacrifices have to be made for the greater good. The integrity of the pyramid cannot be compromised. May the god Thoth ease his sufferings and escort him peacefully to the underworld.”

HemIwno bowed respectfully and asked for three months in order to finalize the project.