Four Ways to Pharaoh Khufu Read online

  Even with his general friendliness as a whole, Michael gave the impression of being a serious and quiet man. After honorably serving six years in the US Army, including a twelve-month tour of duty in Iraq in 2003 during the invasion, Michael was accustomed to assuming responsibility and doing difficult things, as this is the way of those in the military. He was naturally at ease in the presence of any high-ranking officer because he understood that every officer, above all, is human. Michael’s friends would depict him as earthy and friendly. They also knew him as a sincere, quick-witted, charming man with a laid-back and open-hearted attitude that allowed him to easily get in touch with anyone, anywhere. Whether Michael was on the street, in the military or in the corporate world, people seemed to gravitate towards and trust him. Whenever this friendly, quiet, sincere man had a request, people readily responded to him. In return, Michael always quietly bestowed them with one of his charming smiles.

  Seconds after taking off from Kennedy Airport, the aircraft’s motors had suddenly powered down. A few seconds later they had hiccupped back on, only to power down again seconds later and then repeated the process. It was as if the pilot could not keep the motors going at full throttle, and the plane itself was protesting his efforts. A strange shuddering noise filled the cabin. There were unnatural vibrations, as if something was loose or had been left open. As the plane started rapidly losing altitude, Michael’s heart leapt into his throat. This is definitely not something a plane should be doing! We certainly don’t have a lot of altitude to lose. Michael’s insides twisted up as mental pictures of the plane crashing into the ground flashed through his mind. This is definitely going to be the worst day of my life! And, for that matter, perhaps the last day. The co-pilot came on the intercom and ordered the flight attendants to remain in their seats. Michael gritted his teeth. After so many years of dreaming to see the pyramids and now this is happening!? Come on, give me a break!

  He focused his mind on remembering the miraculously safe landing of an airplane on the Hudson River in New York City in 2009. Captain Chesley Sullenberger, also known as Sully, had successfully landed that US Airways plane. At that moment, Michael tried to visualize Captain Sully as the captain of his flight. He imagined Captain Sully expertly landing the shuddering plane and being hailed as a hero, yet again, for successfully landing a crashing plane without any major injuries or fatalities.

  Michael had been jarred out of his escapism as a nervous, elderly lady sitting in the back started screaming, “What’s going on? I don’t wanna die!”

  The passengers responded with pure panic. Young children started crying. Even though Michael felt the same unease, he twisted around in his seat and attempted to get the panicked lady’s attention. Speaking firmly, he called out to her, “Ma’am, listen to me!”

  He took a deep breath and spoke in his best officer’s voice to the passengers around him, “You are not going to die! Nobody is going to die!” The passengers around him started quieting down and staring at him wide-eyed. With large green eyes that contrasted sharply with his military style black hair, Michael was a handsome man. He looked at each of them sternly. “Everything will be fine!” And they believed him.

  The flight leveled out and the flight attendants were now out of their seats, walking up and down the aisles trying to quiet down and soothe the passengers. All of a sudden, Michael was struck with the memory of the ill-fated Flight 990 from New York City to Cairo in 1999. That flight had 217 people on board and just thirty-two minutes into its journey, it had plunged into the Atlantic Ocean off Nantucket Island. I hope nothing will happen this time. Michael took another deep breath; he definitely did not want to let fear overwhelm him. As he settled back in his seat and adjusted his legs again, he observed several people praying. That’s an excellent idea, he thought as he joined them.

  After a few minutes, which seemed to stretch on for much longer, the noises and shuddering stopped. The pilot made a short announcement over the intercom and explained that one of the landing wheels had not retracted properly, but that he had successfully gotten it to go back into place. The flight would proceed as usual.

  But even after everything had calmed down, Michael could not help but be haunted by the worry that the wheels would not extend successfully when the plane attempted to land in Cairo. He turned on a movie and tried to settle himself. Despite the commotion and his nagging thoughts, Michael began to calm down. And as the airplane hummed along to Egypt, he thought about how nice it was to be in a business-class seat. The complimentary upgrade was a great perk. At least if the plane had crashed, I would have crashed in style! He smiled, finding that his positive outlook was returning. He was looking forward to the sights that awaited him in Egypt.

  He turned and smiled at his seat companions, hoping to talk about the pyramids with someone, but everyone was either engrossed in a movie or sleeping. One businessman worked intently on his computer. After being honorably discharged, Michael had landed an office job as a software engineer in midtown Manhattan. Right now, it felt good to be free from a computer. So he adjusted his legs again, settled back and finished his own movie.

  Soon the airplane was descending into the Cairo International Airport. Michael grinned as the other passengers cheered and applauded enthusiastically when the wheels touched the tarmac. The aircraft had successfully landed, much to everyone’s great relief, even though a fire truck was waiting nearby.

  The flight attendant’s pleasant voice came over the intercom, gently informing the passengers that the local time was midnight. After the plane had taxied to the terminal, Michael grabbed his carry-on luggage and eagerly headed for the gate.

  At passport control, Michael marveled when his visa stamp was literally licked onto his passport. What a country! After passing through customs, Michael and his fellow passengers headed to baggage claim. Baggage from their flight was delayed due to some technical difficulties, but this did not faze Michael at all. He stood next to the empty conveyor belt, still struggling to grasp the reality of his situation – he was finally in the land of the pyramids! After so many years, I’ve finally made it here! His childhood dream had become reality. I can’t believe Jason stood me up! Wow, just because he had a fight with his girlfriend. Jason had passed up the opportunity of a lifetime with a simple, “Hey, Mike, I know I promised to go with you on that trip, but man, my girlfriend suddenly realized she would be left alone for a week and that was way too much for her.” Michael shrugged. Typical Jason – always backing out. But, I’m here at last and that’s what counts. While having a friend along would have definitely been more fun, nothing was going to ruin this adventure for him.

  As he waited for his baggage, Michael paused to reflect on the path that had led him to this remarkable country. After learning about Egypt in elementary school, the thought of Egypt mesmerized Michael. To be more precise, it was the pyramids that fascinated him. However, everything had truly started when as a freshman at Pace University he chose to take Ancient History 101 as his elective.

  Anyone who has ever studied the history of ancient Egypt is aware of the veils of mystery shrouding Egypt’s past. It is filled with images of pharaohs with boundless authority, temples guarded by castes of priests and ancient secrets locked away in hieroglyphs. Public relations were differentiated with a strange juxtaposition of the absolute despotism of secular and spiritual authority on one hand and the slavish humility of the common people on the other.

  Northeast Africa and the adjoining areas was the cradle of ancient civilization, and within Egypt was formed one of the first class societies in the history of a mankind. From the beginning, Egypt’s progress was constantly accompanied by infinite bloody wars and aggressive campaigns. Entire nations were destroyed as Egypt grew in strength and expanse.

  Egypt reached its great blossom during a period called the Old Kingdom, which occurred after the first pharaoh of the Third dynasty, Djoser, had unified Upper and Lower Egypt into the la
rgest slaveholding despotism, conquered a portion of Nubia and moved Egypt’s capital to Memphis. During Pharaoh Djoser’s rule and under the direction of Imhotep, his lead architect, an extensive civil development effort resulted in ornate temples being built, the dykes along the Nile’s threshold being strengthened and the first pyramid’s construction. This pyramid was constructed to the West of Memphis, in Saqqara, where the tombs of the other pharaohs of the First and Second dynasties resided. This marked the beginning of the construction of the pyramids, which reached its apex during the Fourth dynasty, mainly during the reign of the pharaoh Khufu at the end of the twenty-eighth century B. C. The Great Pyramid bearing his name was constructed entirely during his life and reign. This enormous structure represented a riddle that has stumped even the most renowned Egyptian scholars and proven impossible to figure out.

  Yet, there was one amusing point that stood out in Michael’s memory above everything else. Michael had always been immensely sympathetic to his contemporaries growing up in the mysterious “country of the pharaohs”. After taking an American History class, Michael was always commenting, “It must be difficult for the Egyptian students to learn their country’s long and intricate history. Our own history is so “short,” just a few centuries, and yet, so difficult to dismantle.”

  Upon meeting an Egyptian exchange student, Mahmoud, Michael had asked him how he managed to keep track of his country’s history. At first Mahmoud was taken aback, but then he had burst into uncontrollable laughing. As it turned out, Egyptian students are not taught about ancient Egyptian history. They are not required to know the pharaohs’ names or even the dates when the Old Kingdom started and the Middle Kingdom began. To contemporary Egyptians, the history of Islam and the related events of the twentieth century were sufficient! Upon learning this fact, Michael’s sympathy for Egyptian students had evaporated at once.

  Ten years had passed since that point. The new century added one more memorable event for contemporary Egyptian students: the Egyptian Revolution of 2011 that overthrew the regime of the President Hosni Mubarak. Despite Michael’s disillusionment with the Egyptian school system, his dream to see the Egyptian pyramids still lived on as strong as ever. He smiled as he pulled his bags off the conveyor belt and exited the terminal into the warm, arid Egyptian air.

  Seated in the back seat of a taxi, Michael peered out at the slumbering Cairo, enjoying the city wrapped by the night’s silence. He tried to imagine how tomorrow morning would bring about an entirely different picture during the bustling daylight hours. I can’t wait finally to see the pyramids. He was within a mere ten miles of the pyramids, and yet the pyramids were still out of reach for him. He was growing more impatient the closer he got to his goal.

  As the taxi zipped through the dark, moonless night, Michael started thinking about a lecture he had attended several years before at Columbia University. The lecturer, a heavyset man in his 60s, spoke slowly and quietly with a monotonous voice during the entire lecture as the audience sat in respectful quiet. It was when he spoke about the Great Pyramid that the lecture got particularly interesting. “The biggest pyramid in Egypt, the Great Pyramid, still disturbs researchers who are trying to understand its many mysteries. The Great Pyramid of Khufu is shrouded in coverlets of great secrets and many archeologists devote their entire lives to unearthing even a few of them. There is still no unanimous opinion about how this gigantic pyramid was actually built. Both thieves and scientists have extensively searched for the pharaoh’s tomb buried inside the pyramid with, of course, different purposes. The mummy’s location still remains an open question even today.”

  Intrigued by this mystery, Michael glanced around at the remainder of the audience to determine if they were similarly intrigued. No one seemed to move. “For simplification’s sake,” the lecturer continued slowly. Michael quickly returned his concentration fully to the lecturer. “We shall focus on the mystery of the Great Pyramid and consider all the existing statements connected to it. John Taylor, the author of the 1859 book, The Great Pyramid, argued that the Greek numbers Pi and Phi may have been deliberately incorporated into the design of the Great Pyramid of Khufu as the Great Pyramid’s perimeter is close to two Pi times its height. Since its hypothesis, this theory in Pyramidology was supported as well as expanded upon by Charles Piazzi Smyth. Then, in 1880, an Egyptologist Professor, Sir William Flinders Petrie, and a British structural engineer, David Davidson, have added some key specifications to the studies of the aforementioned authors.”

  “Is it true that Khufu’s mummy was never buried inside the Great Pyramid?” A heavy-set man, sitting in the second row, suddenly interrupted the lecturer.

  The lecturer peered down through his thick eyeglasses at the man, visibly unhappy at being interrupted from his prescribed presentation. “As I said before, that is still unknown,” he said, switching to his next PowerPoint in dismissal. “The Great Pyramid has been considered one of the miracles of the world since the ancient times and has always been surrounded by a shroud of mysteriousness. When workers of Caliph Al-Mamun forced open an entrance into the pyramid in the search of treasures in the ninth century A.D., they found an intricate system of internal passages that interconnected the chambers.”

  “Was it true they found some human remains inside the Great Pyramid?” interjected the man from the second row, now sitting on the edge of his wooden seat.

  Pushing his large glasses up, the lecturer frowned and shuffled his notes. “I don’t have anything about that in my slides.” He sighed and continued in his grating monotone, pausing briefly from time to time to glance at the audience. “The system of seemingly incomprehensible tunnels and hollows inside the Great Pyramid became the new mystery. In order to solve that mystery, researchers proposed a number of hypotheses, beginning with the assumption that these tunnels were made by ancient tomb robbers. They then modified this view to hold the common consensus that these hollows, on the contrary, were traps for potential robbers.”

  “So, which one is right?” asked a young man with a goatee seated in the third row, his arm up slightly as if to respectful.

  “That is still debated,” said the lecturer sharply before clicking to his next PowerPoint. “There are two chambers inside the Great Pyramid. These are so-called the chambers of the King and the Queen, and they are located above the horizon. There is a third chamber located beneath the pyramid itself. In addition, there is a sarcophagus located within the King’s Chamber that presents a sequential mystery, as this sarcophagus could not have been brought into the chamber through the smaller entrance passages.”

  At this point, a whole series of questions were thrown at him. The lecturer grimaced as it became apparent that he would not be able to continue reading the remainder of his prepared PowerPoints. He stood quietly, waiting for the wave of them to end. However, the flow of the questions seemed endless and the lecturer had to knock several times on the microphone to bring the hall back to order. “Ladies and gentlemen, I need order in the auditorium.”

  The audience went quiet, and the lecturer continued. “Researchers answer these questions differently. There is no unified response that can explain the entire construction process or how all the engineering problems were solved. Nevertheless, the very fact that the Great Pyramid, which has stood for nearly five thousand years, has not had any collapses in its system of hollows likely means that the hollows were constructed according to a well-designed plan.”

  “Come on,” argued the thin, middle-aged man sitting next to Michael. “This is just a waste of time. He doesn’t know anything about the pyramids. It’s basically just guesses on top of more guesses.” He got up from his chair, slipped past Michael and headed towards the exit. Bit by bit, the crowd followed his example and began to trickle out. There’s no point in sitting here. With a sigh, Michael got up and headed towards the exit himself.

  The blaring sound of many cars honking brought Michael back to the present. He loo
ked out at the street his taxi had turned down. Definitely better than that lecture, but I can’t believe there is this much traffic at this time of night! Slamming his fist into his horn repetitively and waving his arms out the window, his taxi driver managed to weave his way through traffic. Then they wound up stuck behind a mass of gridlocked cars and trucks. Gradually, the traffic jam dissipated and soon thereafter Michael’s taxi was in Midan Tahrir, or “The Liberation Square,” a focal point of the Egyptian Revolution of 2011 that toppled the presidency of Hosni Mubarak. The completely empty square, which resembled a large traffic circle, was enormous. The surrounding street poles flooded the scene with bright lights.

  The taxi stopped outside Michael’s room at the Cairo Downtown Hotel, just around the corner from the world-famous Cairo museum. Despite his desire to start exploring this mysterious city immediately, the jet lag combined with his fatigue took their toll on his ambition. The man at the desk gave him his key and motioned him toward the elevators. After quickly making his way through the darkened hotel to his room, Michael locked the door behind him. In minutes he was sleeping blissfully under bed sheets made of the finest Egyptian cotton.

  Chapter 2

  Mennefer, Kemet, Egypt

  1225 B.C.

  The ancient Egyptians called the land, Kem-ta or Kemet, meaning “black land.” In time, Kem-ta became the name of the country. A narrow strip of fruit-bearing soil, it edges the reddish-brown sands of the boundless desert while sheer cliffs border its west and east sides. Kem-ta owes its existence to the holy river, the Nile.

  The Nile, living up to its ancient personification of the holy bull Apis, obstinately and imperiously breaks through the desert bringing life-giving waters. Jutting inland among the thickening waves of the sandy sea, Apis opens the way for the treasured waters into this narrow strip of black land. Benefiting from the Nile’s biannual floods, Kem-ta receives the Nile’s nourishing silt, which gives life to the harvest and, ultimately, its people.