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.

-2016-
bayou goula towhead

-2015-
the sea test

-2014-
the circumnavigator pt5
the circumnavigator pt4
the circumnavigator pt3
the circumnavigator pt2
the circumnavigator pt1
falling dream
the darkness
one hell of a mile 3&4
he will return
the believers
the horror pt2
the horror pt1
traces
death valley
whiteout

-2013-
paradise of outlaws
the mountain climbers 1&2
brought to surface
one hell of a mile 3
primordial
the lost world
inner gorge
a ghost story
the riddle
slaying the minotaur
heart of darkness
bayou
public lands
organ music
two sought adventure
the virgin river
the road north
preparations

-2012-
steal the world
the end of the world
el dorado
the valley of the kings 2
the valley of the kings 1
one hell of a mile 2
one hell of a mile 1
the mountain climbers rr4
heroes rr3
rainy roadtrip 2
rainy roadtrip 1
the transgression
sandstorm
sinister 2
sinister 1
dehydrated
anatomy
sleepwalking
new chapter

-2011-
like sedona?
torn in two
blink
bridge to nowhere
the door
hitting the wall
elusive 2
elusive 1
harquahala
hole
pick up lines

-2010-
revisited 2
revisited 1
which way?
lost mines
chute
monolith
freeze
slice
in their footsteps
a dance with death

-2009-
goodbyes
undercurrents
casting the bones
mountain thief
the deer hunter
strange temple
sanctuary
burial pt. 3
burial pt. 2
burial pt. 1
the apparition
return to hell
forsaken
the lower depths
underground lake
stretch sewer
the hidden lab
shadow movements
meager rations
sw8: the conclusion
sw7: lost gold mines
sw6: the big tubes
sw5: gold!
sw4: el calderon
sw3: redondo
sw2: ghosts
sw1: westward bound
leviathan
formaldehyde dreams
the underdark
in the beginning