Beneath the Sands - A Tale of Discovery and Destiny

Cool, dry air greeted Ahmed as he descended into a secret passageway within the Great Pyramid of Giza.

Ahmed wiped sweat from his forehead with his arm. “It’s larger than I expected,” he said to Youssef and Peter, who were crouched in the narrow opening behind him. They had removed several smaller blocks within the Grand Gallery below the King’s chamber.

Youssef passed a flashlight to Ahmed. The passageway, encased in massive limestone blocks, was barely wide enough for an outstretched arm and just high enough for Ahmed to stand. Unlike many of the sloping passageways commonly found in Egyptian pyramids, this one remained remarkably level. The smooth, featureless limestone blocks resembled many other interior blocks, shielded from the elements and untouched by time.

“Hand me the work light and extension cord.” Ahmed inched forward, his heart racing as the flashlight penetrated deep into the passageway ahead.

Two years earlier, Dr. Ahmed Hassan and Dr. Gail Wellington, eminent Egyptologists, along with their PhD students, Youssef Ibrahim and Peter Chase, had unearthed a stone tablet buried within Hemiunu’s tomb, the architect of the Great Pyramid. Etched with hieroglyphs, the tablet hinted at a hidden passageway somewhere beneath the burial chamber of King Khufu.

It had taken Dr. Hassan over a year to get the required permits. Now, stepping into the cool, quiet passageway, Ahmed was struck with a profound sense of awe. For the first time in over forty-six hundred years, he was the first human to break the silence. Throughout his long career, the graying scholar had many firsts, but this one was different. The enormity of the moment weighed on him, the air in the passageway thick with ancient mysteries waiting their discovery.

Ahmed looked ahead at the darkness and took a deep breath. “Are you ready?”

“Yes,” Youssef and Peter said together, their faces etched with anticipation.

“You three go ahead,” Gail said. “I’ll wait back with everyone else.”

Dr. Hassan led Peter and Youssef slowly down the corridor, studying the walls for any markings or other signs that might reveal the purpose of the passageway. Hidden under the king’s chamber, scientists overlooked the void in 2016 when they used muon scanning to study the structure.

Over the years, nearly all newly discovered voids and pathways within the Egyptian pyramids were found to be empty. Scholars believed that these additional chambers and pathways were likely integrated into the construction process, aiding the Egyptians in building the colossal structures. The stone tablet, however, found in Hemiunu’s tomb, hinted at a secret passageway with a hidden purpose. The tablet’s discovery had been kept secret until only recently. Now, everyone waited to find out whether this was just another empty void like the rest.

The work light they had set up near the entrance began to wane, but Ahmed was hesitant to bring in all their lighting equipment until after they determined what lay ahead. So, for now, their flashlights would suffice.

Just ahead, an opening emerged from the darkness, revealing a larger space beyond. Ahmed stopped at the threshold, shining his light into a small, square room, its ceiling looming several feet above their heads. Stepping in, Ahmed gave the walls only a cursory glance, noticing that they appeared smooth and featureless. What lay in the center of the room drew his immediate attention.

A dark stone block, no bigger than a mini-refrigerator, occupied the middle of the room. While Ahmed studied it, Youssef and Peter scanned the walls and ceiling for any markings or clues.

“It may be granite.” Ahmed leaned down closer to the top edge. He angled his flashlight over the surface, revealing what appeared to be writing etched into the stone, hidden beneath a thick layer of dust. “Oh my, gentlemen. We may have hieroglyphs,” Ahmed whispered, standing and shining his light under his chin to illuminate his face. “We’ll need everything. Lights, tools, cameras. The room and passageway will need a full workup.” He smiled, his eyes sparkling with excitement. “This is what we live for, isn’t it?”

It took the team over an hour to get their gear set up. Peter and Youssef, along with two other students, Fatima and Tarek, carefully measured the space using lasers and meticulously recorded every detail. Because the passageway and room were confined, Ahmed and Gail had allowed everyone to view the room before they began their examination of the stone block. The excitement was palpable; each member knew they were on the cusp of potentially uncovering a significant piece of history.

“We finished the measurements,” Peter said, kneeling to put away his tools.

“Ahmed and I are going to let you two work on the stone,” Gail said, smiling at Youssef and Peter. “We’ll supervise.”

Both Youssef and Peter exchanged surprised looks.

Youssef had already set out an assortment of archeologist tools on a small table and gestured to them. “Why don’t you start, Peter? I’ll vacuum.”

Peter nodded. “We’ll split it.”

Ahmed adjusted the camera and tripod, then hit the record button. “Okay, you two. Begin.”

Wearing gloves, Peter knelt and picked up a medium-sized brush, while Youssef turned on their specialized archaeological vacuum. Together, they would carefully brush the dust into the vacuum, which would gently filter and separate any debris into separate bins according to its size. Although there didn’t appear to be any debris within the dust, it was a precaution. Besides, the vacuum helped to control the dust.

Peter started at the top left corner and gently began dusting. Holding the vacuum nozzle, Youssef followed the feathered brush, careful not to touch the surface. Almost immediately, the polished surface of the granite block glinted from the lights above.

As the etched hieroglyphs revealed themselves after forty-six hundred years, Ahmed slowly exhaled the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. Angling his head sidelong for a better view of the symbols, Ahmed recognized several hieroglyphs, but resisted the urge to spoil the discovery until he could get a proper look.

Near the halfway point, Peter set down the brush. “We’ll switch here,” he said to Youssef. Both students stood and stretched their backs. They’d been hunched over for a good ten minutes, and Ahmed knew all too well how that felt. Once again, he resisted the urge to look. His excitement reminded him of waiting for ice cream as a boy.

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Peter’s heart raced as he steadied the vacuum nozzle while trying to read the hieroglyphs. He wasn’t as well-versed as either Ahmed or Gail, but he’d come to recognize many in recent years. From a young age, the pyramids and Egyptian history had enthralled Peter. At just ten years old, his fascination had grown so intense that he begged his parents to take him to Egypt. Recognizing and encouraging his passion, they relented and vacationed there for ten days the following summer.

It was during that trip, his first of many journeys to this ancient land, that Peter decided to become an Egyptologist. But something more profound had happened when he touched the Great Pyramid for the first time. An inexplicable sensation welled up within him, a feeling that was beyond the comprehension of an eleven-year-old boy. That touch seemed to forge a connection that lingered long after he returned home, manifesting in recurring dreams of the Great Pyramid. Dreams that have haunted and inspired him to this very day that he still couldn’t fully understand.

Now, as Peter crouched over the solid block of granite, that inexplicable feeling from his youth came full circle once again, sending a chill down his spine. But as Youssef uncovered more of the surface, Peter couldn’t help but stare at the sight before him, his forehead creased in wrinkled thought. Lost in contemplation, he heard a faint voice calling him as if from a distance, and then felt a hand on his shoulder. Startled, he shook his head and looked up to find Ahmed watching him.

“Are you okay, Peter? Youssef has finished,” Ahmed said, his expression concerned. “You can turn off the vacuum.”

“Oh, sorry.” Peter knelt, feeling disoriented, and flipped the switch. 

“That was quite a trance,” Gail said, considering Peter for a moment, her eyes studying him from head to toe.

Peter offered a weak smile. “I’m fine. I just got caught up in the moment.”

“Well, I certainly know what that’s like,” Ahmed said, then turned his attention to the block. “Let’s have a look.”

Youssef removed the camera from the tripod while everyone considered the remarkably precise and well-preserved drawings before them. A row of hieroglyphs stretched across the top, all of which were familiar to Peter. Below them, at the center of the block, sat a perfectly etched circle about the size of a basketball. Small squares and rectangles adorned both the outside and inside of the circle, creating an intricate pattern.

Most striking, however, were a series of twelve strange squares etched in precise rows beneath the circle, positioned along the bottom of the block. The squares resembled mazes, like those children might enjoy. And as Peter stared at them, goosebumps rippled down his arms. He had seen the squares many times before—in his dreams.

“I’m speechless,” Ahmed said, turning to Gail. “I don’t know what to make of it.”

“We can explain the hieroglyphs,” Gail responded, her tone flat. She then gestured to the intricate drawings and added, “But I’m not sure I’ve ever seen anything like this.” After a moment of silent thought while everyone continued to stare at the puzzling symbols, she addressed Peter and Youssef: “How about you two?”

Both Peter and Youssef shook their heads. Peter wasn’t about to tell anyone that he had seen the squares before, doubting they would believe him, anyway. Even he was struggling to accept the coincidence that stood before him. His mouth turned dry, a sheen of moisture forming across his brow.

“Does the circle remind you of anything?” Ahmed asked the room, his eyes fixed intently on the block. He leaned in for a closer look, reverently rubbing the surface with a gloved hand. “Remarkable how precise they were,” he murmured, his voice tinged with awe.

“Does the circle resemble Stonehenge?” Youssef asked, still holding the camera.

Peter looked up at his friend, a spark of realization in his eyes. “It does,” he agreed, his voice marked with excitement.

“There are similarities,” Gail said thoughtfully, pointing to the squares and rectangles etched around the circle that seemed to echo the trilithons and sarsen stones of Stonehenge. “But this circle appears to be aligned to match the stars and is oriented north, like the pyramids. As I’m sure you both know, Stonehenge’s alignment highlights the sun during the summer and winter solstice, a key difference here.”

Ahmed’s eyes remained on the hieroglyphs, his brow furrowed. “And just as mysterious are these hieroglyphs,” he added, his voice filled with intrigue. “They are clearly Egyptian, and of the correct era, but whoever chose them isn’t telling a story in the way we’ve come to expect.”

“No, they don’t,” Gail mumbled. “On both upper corners, they’ve written the symbol for secret or hidden.” The hieroglyph showed a man crouching behind a wall, as if hiding in secret.

“And here,” Ahmed said, pointing, “we have the Lamp of Knowledge, followed by Seba.” He looked up at everyone, shrugging. “This makes no sense. It’s as if they are implying this knowledge comes from the stars.”

“And how about this?” Gail pointed. “The Eye of Horus, followed by the symbol for earth and land. As if it’s here to protect our earth and land.” She shook her head. “I don’t know what to say. And here again… Amun-Ra with the Lamp of Knowledge. Do they mean a hidden god has bestowed them with this knowledge?”

Peter pointed to another group of symbols. “Again, knowledge from the stars.” He knew that hieroglyphs usually told short stories, patterns that had been well-documented over the years.

“I know of no historical precedent to these hieroglyphs,” Ahmed said. “The uniqueness of their arrangement is unlike anything I’ve seen before.”

“I concur,” Gail replied.

“Well, then… let us finish for today,” Ahmed said. “We’re going to need the entire community to solve this mystery.”

Several days had passed since their groundbreaking discovery, and Peter now found himself sitting at the desk in the apartment he shared with Youssef, deep in thought. On the evening of their discovery, he had eagerly sent a detailed email to his parents, sharing the excitement. Now he was composing another, this one marked with frustration and disbelief. He wanted to explain the unexpected fallout from their public reveal, which had sent shockwaves through the academic circles of Egyptology.

Even though Dr. Hassan and Dr. Wellington were well-respected within their field, the discovery had polarized the community. Several scholars had outright dismissed the find as a hoax, causing a rift among experts. To compound the issue, no one, not even the most esteemed Egyptologists, had offered new insights into the engravings.

They had even fed the data into the latest A.I. program known as BioNetica, a cutting-edge tool used for deciphering and analyzing historical artifacts, but it offered nothing tangible. The controversy was taking on a life of its own, but for Peter, the controversy was merely a footnote in history. Deep down, he knew there was something significant about the hieroglyphs and their mysterious message. Having seen the squares in his dreams, yet always without context, he had no answers himself.

As he sat, staring at the pictures on his laptop, he couldn’t shake Youssef’s words from his mind: ‘Does the circle resemble Stonehenge?’ Just the mere mention of Stonehenge had sent a chill through his body. Even now, days later, the thought of the ancient site continued to give him goosebumps.

He pressed play again on a video clip that he had watched countless times, hoping it would spark something: ‘…we have the Lamp of Knowledge, followed by Seba. This makes no sense. It’s as if they are implying this knowledge comes from the stars.’



Peter sighed and closed his laptop. The last few days had felt surreal, as if he were living inside a mystery to which he felt a personal connection. Yet, he also felt like an outsider, peering in, unable to unravel a riddle that he was strangely entwined with. He only hoped that, someday, his dreams would reveal more about the enigmatic symbols and their true meaning.

Thank you for reading. When I came across this week’s writing prompt, ‘Make a mysterious message an important part of your story,’ the perfect idea struck me. I’m currently writing a sci-fi story set in the distant future, where an ancient message on Earth takes on a vital role in shaping humanity’s destiny. What you’ve just read is the prologue to that story. I welcome all feedback, as it helps me grow and become a better writer. Thank you, Shawn.