The Secret of the Sphinx
Dr. Camille Kendrick was awakened by the persistent ringing of her telephone. Her eyes fluttered open, and she looked at the digital alarm clock on the night table beside her bed.
It's only three in the morning, she thought with annoyance.
As she reached for the telephone receiver, her heart began to beat rapidly. Phone calls at that hour of night—or was it actually morning?—usually meant bad news.
"Hello," she managed to utter.
"Dr. Kendrick?" asked a man with a crisp British accent. "Hello. Is this Dr. Camille Kendrick?"
"Yes. I'm Camille Kendrick. Who is this?"
"I'm Professor Alistair Pemberton of the Royal Museum of Antiquities in Cairo."
"Egypt?" she asked with sleepy disbelief.
"I'm not calling from Cairo, Illinois," the man laughed.
"Professor, it's only 3:00 a.m. here. I'm not in the mood for jokes."
"So sorry. I didn't mean to wake you. It's ten o'clock in the morning here. I'll try to be brief. We at the museum are anxious to find someone with a strong knowledge of ancient languages. We were told by several of our respected colleagues that you are one of the foremost experts in that field."
"Thanks for the offer, but I'm not interested in a job, Professor, neither in Egypt nor Illinois."
"It's not technically a job offer, Dr. Kendrick. We need a consultant, possibly for only a couple of days, but most likely a little longer. We'll pay all your expenses, of course, and offer you a nice stipend for your trouble."
"I'm sorry, but I'm not interested in going to Cairo."
"Dr. Kendrick, I'm asking you to reconsider. Our museum is conducting an archeological dig near the site of the Great Sphinx at Giza. A few days ago, one of our archeologists uncovered a hidden chamber that contained dozens of scrolls dating back to almost 3000 BCE. We need you to help decipher the writing on those scrolls."
"All right, Professor Pemberton," Camille finally agreed, feeling the first spark of interest. "I'll be there as soon as I can."
"Good. I'll have my secretary make your travel arrangements."
* * *
Alistair Pemberton himself met Camille Kendrick at Cairo International Airport. After briefly stopping at the hotel to drop off the doctor's luggage, the professor whisked her out to the desert.
During the drive to Giza, he cautioned her, "I must ask you to keep silent about our work here. Right now, there are only a handful of people who know about the discovery."
Camille agreed with the necessity of keeping the find a secret, but she also worried that she might unknowingly be breaking some Egyptian law. She hoped the Royal Museum would bail her out should trouble arise."
Although the magnificence of the Great Sphinx and the towering height of the pyramids awed Camille, she had no time for sightseeing. Alistair hurried her into one of the large tents covering the archeological dig site. Once inside, Camille saw the earthen entrances to the labyrinth of tunnels that wound their way beneath the desert sands.
"Follow me, Dr. Kendrick."
They walked down a long, narrow tunnel that led to a large, open room hidden beneath the earth.
"This chamber is directly beneath the Sphinx," Alistair explained. "That," he said, pointing to a pile of stone and rubble that blockaded an archway, "we believe might have been a passageway into the Sphinx itself."
Camille walked over to a stone table on which dozens of ancient scrolls were piled. She slowly unrolled one, being careful not to damage the ancient papyrus.
"Do you recognize the language, Dr. Kendrick?" Alistair asked hopefully.
"It looks like a form of Ancient Greek. With the help of my computer, I should be able to translate the writings with a fair amount of accuracy."
"Excellent. I took the liberty of having each of these scrolls opened and photographed. That way you can do most of the work in the comfort of your air-conditioned hotel room."
"That was very considerate of you, Professor Pemberton. I'll begin work once I have the chance to unpack and get a bite to eat."
* * *
"I've finished entering the data," Camille told Alistair two weeks later. "Unfortunately, most of the scrolls will take some time to decipher. They seem to be written in code. I suppose they contained military intelligence, hence the need for secrecy. There were a few scrolls that were written in plain text, but they're nothing more than lists of names."
"Names?"
"Yes. I assume that they're tax rolls or troop rosters."
"May I see the list?" Alistair asked.
Dr. Kendrick handed him the printout, and Pemberton scanned the columns of names, which, naturally, were all written in ancient Greek.
"I don't suppose you can get an English translation of these names?"
"Proper names don't always translate from one language to another," Camille explained, "but I'll try."
An hour and twenty minutes later, the printer started spitting out the results.
"How odd," Camille said, scanning the list.
"What?" asked Alistair with interest.
"I recognize some of these names. They're characters in Greek mythology: Arachne, Pan, Gorgon, Minotaur and Pegasus."
Alistair took the second page as it came out of the printer.
"This is more of the same—not exactly but close. Kappa and Durga are mythological creatures, but they're not Greek; one is Japanese, and the other is Hindu. And look at this," he said with excitement, "the Green Man. That's a legendary figure out of medieval Britain."
"It doesn't surprise me. Many Anglo-Saxon legends can probably be traced back to Roman and Greek gods and heroes. As men traveled west down through the centuries, they brought their legends with them."
The third sheet contained more names, but neither Camille nor Alistair recognized them: Amduscias, Abigor, Adramelich, Furfur, Haborym, Andras and Valafar.
"Could I get a copy of these printouts?" Alistair asked. "I'd like to have a friend of mine at the museum take a look at these names."
"Go ahead and take those. I've got the file on my computer and a backup on a flash drive."
* * *
Two days later Alistair had lunch with his colleague, Dr. Crispin Atwood.
"Have any luck with that list I faxed over to your office?" Alistair inquired as the two men waited for their appetizers.
"Of course, I did, Al. You know, I thought you had something challenging for me."
The professor laughed.
"If it was such an easy task, then I don't owe you lunch, right?"
"We'll negotiate the deal," Crispin joked as he took a manila folder out of his briefcase and handed it to Alistair. "As you can see, I've categorized the names: gods, demons, etc."
"Demons?" Alistair echoed.
"Yes, Beelzebub, Asmodeus, Baal—the devil—you have heard of him; haven't you?"
"Yes, I think I have read the name somewhere."
"And here are the gods: Isis, Anubis—both popular Egyptian deities, as if you didn't know. Besides the demons and gods, there are the other mythological creatures such as the Griffin, Capricorn and Nereid."
"Nereid?"
"Basically, the nereids were mermaids."
"Okay," Alistair said with a sigh, "you've answered my question. I guess lunch is on me, after all."
* * *
Alistair passed a copy of Atwood's file on to Camille.
"If the information in the other scrolls is indeed military intelligence, then perhaps these names are aliases," he suggested.
Camille shook her head.
"From what I've managed to decode so far, I don't think the other scrolls contain military secrets, after all. Most of what I've been able to decipher deals with matters of science and philosophy."
"I wonder if the chamber beneath the Sphinx served as a library or classroom of some kind."
"It's possible," Camille replied. "But why would it be buried underground like that?"
"I have no idea."
The more progress Camille made in decoding the scrolls, the more confused she was and the more determined she became to find their meaning. She worked long hours, late into the night. Without her computer, the job would undoubtedly have taken months, if not years. But thanks to modern technology, she soon discovered an important pattern.
She phoned Alistair immediately.
"From the differences and the similarities of the wording used, I've determined that the scrolls were written by two different people. A few were written by one man. They apparently were letters sent to the author of the bulk of the scrolls."
"Any idea as to the identity of these men?"
"I believe the letters were written by an elderly man to a younger relative, a son, nephew, or possibly even a younger brother. The correspondence conveys a warning to the younger man about breaking some sort of religious taboo. The remaining scrolls, except for the lists of mythological creatures, appear to be scientific notes."
"Astrology?"
"No, biology. I believe the young man might have been a physician."
Alistair looked perplexed.
"I consider that highly doubtful. It's more likely he was a priest. After all, why would a doctor keep a list of demons and gods?"
* * *
Camille, her body aching and eyes burning from lack of sleep, compared the printouts of her translations to the text of several volumes on biology, chemistry and anatomy.
What does this all mean? she wondered.
Still no closer to discovering the secret of the scrolls, she closed the books and turned off the desk lamp. As she prepared for bed, she glimpsed a mural of the Great Sphinx on the hotel wall. The image stayed with her throughout the night, haunting her dreams and tugging at her memory.
The following morning, she woke up early, still pondering the significance of the Sphinx—that mysterious figure with the body of a lion and the head of a woman. As she drank her morning coffee, she picked up the list of creatures' names. Up until now, she had concentrated her efforts on cracking the code of the other scrolls. She did not even look at the file Dr. Atwood had given to Professor Pemberton.
Now, as Camille studied Crispin's notes, Alistair's question echoed in her mind: "Why would a doctor keep a list of demons and gods?"
The truth is, she reasoned, a doctor probably wouldn't believe in these creatures. A man of science would most likely doubt the existence of winged demons and ....
Suddenly, the answer became clear. She took the list of names and penciled in her own notes in the margins: Arachne was half woman and half spider, Basilisk was half rooster and half snake, Bast was an Egyptian goddess with the head of a cat, centaurs were half man and half horse, gorgons were women with snakes growing out of their heads, Manticore had the body of a lion and the head of a man, Minotaur had the body of a man and the head of a bull, Pan was half man and half goat and Nereid was half woman and half fish. On and on the list continued.
Camille dressed quickly, grabbed the file folders and hailed a taxi. She arrived at the Royal Museum just as it was opening for the day.
"Alistair," she called excitedly as she ran into his office.
The professor looked up in surprise.
"Look at these names: Isis, a woman with the wings of a bird; Anubis, a man with a jackal's head; Capricorn, a being with the body and arms of a man and the hindquarters of a goat; Pegasus, a horse with wings; the Green Man, part man and part tree."
"So? They're all fantastic creatures. What have they to do with those scientific notes?"
"What if these creatures actually existed in ancient Egypt at the time these scrolls were written?"
"Are you suggesting that ancient Egypt might have been populated by a horde of such freaks of nature?"
"Freaks, yes. But they were not freaks of nature. What if the man who authored the scrolls created these scientific curiosities? What if he made living creatures by combining the cells of various animals, including humans?"
"Hogwash!" Alistair declared emphatically. "You're letting your imagination run away from you."
"Maybe. But the letters written by the other man cautioned him not to meddle in the affairs of the gods."
"Back then they may have assumed that any medical intervention was meddling in the affairs of the gods."
"I guess you're right," she said coolly and then left the museum.
Clearly, Pemberton was not keeping an open mind to her ideas.
Throughout the day Camille continued to research the names on the list. Of particular interest were those classified under the heading "Demons." Beelzebub was considered the Lord of the Flies; Leviathan, the serpent of the sea; Asmodeus had three heads, one of a bull, one a ram and one a man; Amon had the head of a wolf and the tail of a serpent. Even Satan was said to be shaped like a man with a tail, horns and a cloven hoof.
Why were so many of these early gods and demons a product of both man and animal? she wondered. Even Christianity had its share of crossbreeds.
The Book of Revelations in the Bible described the Beast—the bringer of the Apocalypse—as having the body of a leopard, the claws of a bear and the fangs of a lion.
* * *
Upon completion of her work, Camille sent a copy of the finished translation to Professor Pemberton at the Royal Museum and began making arrangements to return to Massachusetts. As far as she was concerned, Alistair could do with it would he liked. Despite several subsequent discussions on the matter, she had yet to convince him of her analysis of the findings since the scrolls turned out to be little more than a collection of observations and notes. There were no details as to the methods and materials the unknown Egyptian may have used during his experiments. The names on the list, Camille strongly believed, were the results of his unorthodox research. Yet she had no proof to support her hypothesis, which was based solely on her own interpretation of the writings of the two long-dead men, coupled with her knowledge of human nature itself and the course of human history.
Camille felt certain the young doctor or scientist had found a way to splice together the cells of different species of animals, thus creating bizarre hybrid creatures. In the process of their creation, these "freaks of science" were somehow given powers or talents beyond those of the individual species that had contributed to their existence. Thus, a being that was a cross of a man and a lion would be stronger and more deadly than a lion and more cunning than a man. These creatures would naturally seem godlike to normal Homo sapiens.
The elderly man, the doctor's correspondent, no doubt saw great danger in his relative's experiments and tried to warn him. What happened next is pure conjecture. Camille believed that the elderly man had been a wealthy and powerful one, perhaps even the pharaoh himself. More than likely this man had been forced to take action against his young kinsman. He may have had him killed or imprisoned, but in some way, the young man had to have been neutralized. Then the older man must have sealed up the secret chamber that held the scrolls. That would explain the pile of stones and rubble in the arched doorway of the underground chamber. Finally, to ensure that the chamber would never be discovered, a mighty structure—the Great Sphinx—was built upon the site.
Once his kinsman was out of the way, the older man then turned to the task of destroying the results of the doctor's experiments. This undoubtedly proved too difficult a task, for many of the creatures had moved on to Greece, India, Asia, and even west toward Europe and the British Isles.
Having failed in his duty to eliminate these abominations from the world, the older man apparently issued a stern warning to his people: a warning that spread from country to country as man colonized the world, a warning that found its way into the Bible itself:
"...The beast I saw resembled a leopard but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne of great authority ... The whole world was astonished and followed the beast. Men worshipped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshipped the beast ... If anyone has insight let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man's number. His number is 666."
For years, biblical scholars have argued the origin and meaning of the phrase "the number of the beast." Perhaps such arguments would have been unnecessary had these theologians been aware of the contents of the scrolls buried beneath the Great Sphinx and had they read the names of the half-man/half-beast creatures listed on the scrolls.
Dr. Camille Kendrick had not only read them but had also counted the names of those mighty man-beasts: there was a total of six hundred and sixty-six. It was the number of the beast, the number of hybrid creatures created by a brilliant Egyptian scientist nearly five thousand years ago.
Ancient Egyptians believed cats were sacred. Obviously, they never met Salem!
