Egypt - 7. Chapter 7

That evening, the team had a discussion concerning these rooms or chambers. There were no sarcophaguses but the rooms were highly decorated. They contained statues, painted figures showing the royal family in boats. The rooms contained the necessities of the royal families.

“They must be buried somewhere else.”

“Where? They certainly are not in the pyramid.”

“Based on the pyramids we have studied, the sarcophagus is always there.”

“You don’t suppose that the royal family’s sarcophaguses are buried in the mountain?”

“No, that isn’t likely. They are in the pyramid somewhere. Tomorrow we will use the sonar to check out the floors. There is a remote possibility they would be buried under the pyramid.”

“If they are under the pyramid, and assuming the pyramid was completed before Djoser’s death, then there must be a way to get in there.”

David thought about what he would do if he was Djoser and didn’t want to be discovered. For David there was only one solution, he must be under the pyramid. How to get to it would be another mystery to solve. The fastest way would be to break through the floor above. But if they had done that, there was no guarantee the floor would have been above the room holding the remains of Djoser. This left only one answer. They entered under the pyramid from the outside. Using the sonar again, they found what possibly could be another staircase in the center of the pyramid, opposite the stairway they used to enter the pyramid.

The men began to clear away the sand, as they did so they found a floor of baked clay beneath the sand. It appeared that this floor was quite large. The men were instructed to remove the sand close to the pyramid. In the meantime, Dr. Al Khatib was fascinated with the clay floor. He had his men remove several of the clay bricks. He wanted to study them back in Cairo.

Two days later, the men found a trench similar to the one on the opposite side. Carefully using wedges, they opened the door. They found a small room that led to a large door with clay statues manning the door.

“We need to open this door carefully. I expect we will find the sarcophaguses behind this door.”

With the help of the men under the direction of Dr. Al Khatib, they opened the door. They found a second door also manned by two armed statues. Removing these sentries, they cautiously opened the door behind them. Bringing up lights, they found Djoser. Along the wall of the room were statues of guards, armed as to attack anyone entering the room. There were vases, and according to Dr. Al Khatib, they probably contained items needed for Djoser’s voyage.

Having found Djoser’s sarcophagus, they began to look for the Queen’s sarcophagus. At first they thought it might be under Djoser’s but that didn’t seem reasonable. Then they started to examine the walls, looking for an entrance to another room. Using the sonar on the walls, they found an area behind the clay soldiers that appeared to be another room. Removing the clay guards, they carefully broke through the wall. There they found the queen’s sarcophagus, surrounded by clay maidens, decorated walls and chests filled with what appeared to be remnants of clothing and jewelry .

Steven and his comrades began taking photos. They spent two days doing nothing but moving lights in order to photograph the two royal burial vaults.

In the meantime, Dr. Al Khatib and his group continued cataloging and packing the several artifacts for shipment to Cairo. The sarcophaguses would be the last items to be packed for shipment to Cairo. Dr. Al Khatib told David that they would be opened in a special room that would protect the mummies and any articles that were included in the sarcophagus from exposure to the atmosphere which could damage them.

The night before the opening to the pyramid was closed, they had a last chance to view the empty chambers. Then David and his team said goodbye, and made their arrangements to meet in Cairo.

In Cairo, Dr. Al Khatib made arrangements for them to stay at the same hotel they stayed at before they left for the dig. This gave the young engineer a chance to pack up her equipment and fly home. David and his team sent the photos back to the University and packed the equipment that had flown to Egypt to return to the University.

Dr. Al Khatib gave the team a tour of the facility that would hold the various artifacts from the dig. David was interested in the special room that would hold the sarcophagus before opening. Dr. Al Khatib promised to send photos of the interior of the sarcophaguses.

Five days later, they boarded their flight home. Dr. McLavic had completed his expedition which he started several years ago.