her first
trip to Egypt. She has been studying Greek, Hebrew, Arabic and
Hieroglyphics with private tutors for the last five years with the
intention of following in the footsteps of her father. Rhinehart
died tragically many years ago. Ursula was only twelve at the time
and came to live with me and my wife. She is very keen to see
Philae. We may even see you there. We travel by train to Karnak
first thing tomorrow.”
“We also leave early tomorrow.
My travelling companion and I will be sailing with the party of Mr
Jefferson Lee. He has a Swiss paddle-steamer. The name is rather
fittingly being changed from Lady Constance to Sekhmet.”
“Ah, yes, I saw her as we
docked yesterday. Sekhmet – The One who is Powerful, daughter of
Ra, the goddess with the face of a lioness. She may have been a
pre-dynastic precursor to the Sphinx. It was Sekhmet who led
warriors in battle. Offerings were made to her at the end of war.
She is a powerful figure in the Egyptian pantheon.”
“A formidable goddess makes a
nice change to the Christian pantheon. The Christian church feared
women so much they expunged them totally, unless you count the
oxymoron of Virgin Mother. I believe most female saints were
beatified for attempting to escape rape, incest or a bad marriage.
No Sekhmets there!” Her eyes roved back to the mummified crocodile.
“Are you interested in purchasing a mummy for one of your
clients?”
“Ah, yes, everyone wishes to
have a mummy to show-off to their friends.”
“You have just purchased
something else. A statuette? May I ask which god interests you?”
The Countess’s tone was light and friendly despite being
probing.
“A statuette of Sobek; not for
me; but a gift for my wife. She is unwell and could not join us on
this trip. She is fond of Sobek! Ali Pasha, he wraps it well so
that the long nose does not get damaged during my travels, and
while I wait I come to look at the mummies. You are interested in
purchasing a mummy?”
“No, but my companion, Dr
Watson is interested. Are these the real thing?”
“Oh, yes, all genuine,” he
assured. “Ali Pasha can spot a fake and he has a good reputation.
He looks a bit like Sobek, don’t you think?” Herr Graf gave a quiet
chuckle and looked at the door to make sure the antiquities trader
was not about to walk in on them.
“I have a theory,” she dared,
“that all men resemble an animal in one way or another. Dr Watson
reminds me of a bear. (She refrained from adding baby bear.)
Professor Mallisham with his tight, curly, fair hair and stern
features reminds me of the ram-headed god.”
Herr Graf gave a throttling
laugh. “Oh, yes! Khnum the ram! The god of inundation! I hope that
is not an omen of ill-luck! And randy too! Yes! Yes! That rich
young American will need to watch out! And the other two ladies as
well! He will make sport with all three. Oh, I beg your pardon. I
lost my head.” He went bright red.
“No need to apologise, Herr
Graf. I thought the same thing the first time I met him.”
As if to atone for his
embarrassing faux pas, he turned the harsh spotlight on himself.
“And me – what animal do you see?” Herr Graf was short and
embonpoint with an ambling gait. His face was defined by a pair of
beetling brows and the top of his head was flat, covered with a
helmet of straight black hair. “You are too polite to say, but my
wife, Gisela, she calls me her Kabraz or Kafer! I am Khepri, the
scarab god! Yes?”
The Countess knew that kafer
and chafer shared the same Old Germanic-English root. From it came
the word cockchafer! “Khepri – He who is coming into Being. Yes,
Herr Graf that is you! You should buy your wife a scarab while you
are here.”
He gave a hearty laugh which
almost dislodged his pince-nez. He pushed it back into place. “She
already has three of them!”
They were joined by Dr Watson.
It had long been a fantasy of his to purchase a mummy and he had no
choice but to check what was on offer in the room where the
trip to Egypt. She has been studying Greek, Hebrew, Arabic and
Hieroglyphics with private tutors for the last five years with the
intention of following in the footsteps of her father. Rhinehart
died tragically many years ago. Ursula was only twelve at the time
and came to live with me and my wife. She is very keen to see
Philae. We may even see you there. We travel by train to Karnak
first thing tomorrow.”
“We also leave early tomorrow.
My travelling companion and I will be sailing with the party of Mr
Jefferson Lee. He has a Swiss paddle-steamer. The name is rather
fittingly being changed from Lady Constance to Sekhmet.”
“Ah, yes, I saw her as we
docked yesterday. Sekhmet – The One who is Powerful, daughter of
Ra, the goddess with the face of a lioness. She may have been a
pre-dynastic precursor to the Sphinx. It was Sekhmet who led
warriors in battle. Offerings were made to her at the end of war.
She is a powerful figure in the Egyptian pantheon.”
“A formidable goddess makes a
nice change to the Christian pantheon. The Christian church feared
women so much they expunged them totally, unless you count the
oxymoron of Virgin Mother. I believe most female saints were
beatified for attempting to escape rape, incest or a bad marriage.
No Sekhmets there!” Her eyes roved back to the mummified crocodile.
“Are you interested in purchasing a mummy for one of your
clients?”
“Ah, yes, everyone wishes to
have a mummy to show-off to their friends.”
“You have just purchased
something else. A statuette? May I ask which god interests you?”
The Countess’s tone was light and friendly despite being
probing.
“A statuette of Sobek; not for
me; but a gift for my wife. She is unwell and could not join us on
this trip. She is fond of Sobek! Ali Pasha, he wraps it well so
that the long nose does not get damaged during my travels, and
while I wait I come to look at the mummies. You are interested in
purchasing a mummy?”
“No, but my companion, Dr
Watson is interested. Are these the real thing?”
“Oh, yes, all genuine,” he
assured. “Ali Pasha can spot a fake and he has a good reputation.
He looks a bit like Sobek, don’t you think?” Herr Graf gave a quiet
chuckle and looked at the door to make sure the antiquities trader
was not about to walk in on them.
“I have a theory,” she dared,
“that all men resemble an animal in one way or another. Dr Watson
reminds me of a bear. (She refrained from adding baby bear.)
Professor Mallisham with his tight, curly, fair hair and stern
features reminds me of the ram-headed god.”
Herr Graf gave a throttling
laugh. “Oh, yes! Khnum the ram! The god of inundation! I hope that
is not an omen of ill-luck! And randy too! Yes! Yes! That rich
young American will need to watch out! And the other two ladies as
well! He will make sport with all three. Oh, I beg your pardon. I
lost my head.” He went bright red.
“No need to apologise, Herr
Graf. I thought the same thing the first time I met him.”
As if to atone for his
embarrassing faux pas, he turned the harsh spotlight on himself.
“And me – what animal do you see?” Herr Graf was short and
embonpoint with an ambling gait. His face was defined by a pair of
beetling brows and the top of his head was flat, covered with a
helmet of straight black hair. “You are too polite to say, but my
wife, Gisela, she calls me her Kabraz or Kafer! I am Khepri, the
scarab god! Yes?”
The Countess knew that kafer
and chafer shared the same Old Germanic-English root. From it came
the word cockchafer! “Khepri – He who is coming into Being. Yes,
Herr Graf that is you! You should buy your wife a scarab while you
are here.”
He gave a hearty laugh which
almost dislodged his pince-nez. He pushed it back into place. “She
already has three of them!”
They were joined by Dr Watson.
It had long been a fantasy of his to purchase a mummy and he had no
choice but to check what was on offer in the room where the
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