The Valley of the Kings 1

The Valley of the Kings was where the ancient Egyptians buried their fallen Pharaohs in vast subterranean tombs. Rigged with booby traps and protected by their magician's most powerful curses, the Pharaohs left behind colossal monuments, each more staggering than his predecessor's.

These wonders, the pyramids, the sphinx, Karnak, have stood the test of time. Thousands of years later breathless tourists still walk those ancient halls.
Still only whispered within the halls of the great necropolis, the names of Ramses, Tut, Amenhotep, hold power over us even today, conjuring the image of arrogant tyrants and men worshiped as gods. The kings of Egypt achieved the immortality they desperately sought after.
As I wander among another ruin it calls to mind those ancient rulers. True, no king built these. But those desires, those delusions, have in no way waned here in the modern world. Where the Pharaohs built pyramids, we reshape the very earth itself. And where we study and excavate their remains, someday our deeds will be brought into the light. Will we be remembered as gods, or as tyrants?


 A mummified bat still clings to the tunnel wall.



 Desert Tortoise
 I'm reading the entire Amelia Peabody series straight through, hence Egypt.
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