Pyramid of the Gods Read Online Free PDF Page A

sought, or not, the appearance of any doorway supported Akiiki’s assertions about what could be here—including the absurd notion of a pyramid temple of non-typical design, at least by ancient Egyptian traditions.
    The temple was indeed Egyptian, although discovering granite blocks instead of limestone threw me for a loop. Familiar carved scenes depicting a dog-headed goddess graced the door frame and walls on either side, which proved to be the deciding factor. The other glyphs were also Egyptian. Slightly different from most depictions associated with Sekhmet, the themes bore strong similarities to the Middle Kingdom’s murals I studied in college.
    By early evening, we had successfully added our first scaffold to a hole twelve feet deep and roughly eight feet long and wide. I prayed we didn’t need the much bigger scaffolding from my dream, since it would likely take days to set up, if not weeks. However, determining if the temple was a reasonable match for the Mayan and Inca structures in Mexico and South America, could take even longer. I wasn’t sure I even cared about that, since I had no interest in excavating the entire structure. I was there for the gold, and to put to rest the ghosts from my past.
    Literally.
    “It is indeed a doorway, no?” said Akiiki, smiling broadly, as he reached inside the top of the door frame and knocked against the smooth surface he’d been focused on clearing for much of the past hour. “Unlike the granite surface you see, the door is limestone. Similar to all pyramids in Egypt.” He regarded us all proudly. “Maybe you expected diorite from Idahet?”
    “ I wasn’t expecting anything,” I said, taking a closer look at the carvings along the granite door frame, and dipping my head to get a glimpse of the doors. “Yep, it looks like limestone in there. I suppose we’ll find copper door handles a couple of meters down, eh?”
    “ Why, yes. Although, the ones outside the pyramid might be gone, and the ones inside might not be copper,” he advised. “If you had the means to get the finest materials, like the granite blocks we have already uncovered, and that likely originated from Aswan in the east, would you skimp on luxury without good reason?”
    “ Are you saying the handles are made out of gold?”
    Akiiki was right. Who would go to the trouble and expense in hauling granite from that far away? Of course, the rich, red granite could have come from the hills in what is now Sudan or Libya. But having the resources without a reliable means of extracting it from the hillsides would mean less back then than it does today.
    “You don’t believe the handles in such a place could be gold, Mr. Nick?”
    Prepared to say it’s exactly what I believed, I suddenly remembered the gold emblems etched upon the pyramid walls from my dream. I didn’t expect things to match the dreamscape exactly, since such ornamentation this far south was virtually unheard of. But knowing the northern pyramids were once covered in gold made me hesitate in popping off with another flippant comment.
    “Honestly? I don’t know what to expect,” I said. “I guess anything is possible, since we know what the wealth of Thebes and Memphis were once like, if it turns out this is the spot where the Hittite gold has been resting for thirty-two centuries.”
    He nodded thoughtfully, and looked over at Ishi and Marie, both silent. Silent, and obviously perturbed that Akiiki and I could carry on our debate while the two of them perished from starvation.
    “Well, I’d say we accomplished quite a bit in one day, wouldn’t you?” asked Marie, moving to the closest ladder to leave the hole. “It’s time to shut this party down and grab some grub. I’ll cook...or try to cook.”
    Although Marie was good at many things, cooking wasn’t one of them, and Ishi knew it as well as I. “I’ll cook,” he said, jumping in.
    Marie smiled slyly, getting her way. Which made me wonder: did she purposely botch the