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would have understood this well enough.
 You sound, Eddie said with a thin smile,  as if you believe all that nonsense about the gods.
 I don t, Neville said quickly perhaps a touch too quickly, for Eddie s smile only broadened.
 However, the people who reburied Neferankhotep here would have known the story.
Eddie let the matter drop.
 What fascinates me, he said,  are the references to the wind from the wings of Horus. As I recall and
I don t claim to be an expert, but I have lived here over ten years the prevailing wind in Egypt blows
from the north, the opposite direction from the Nile current, which is why it is such a friendly river for
navigation. This  wind from the east seems to be something other than natural.
Jenny cut in before anyone could respond to Eddie s challenge.  By the way, who was Harakhtes? He s
the one with the wind in this verse.
 It s another name for Horus, Stephen said.  Horus of the Horizon. I think later periods merged him
with the sun god, Ra. It s an appropriate title for Horus in his role as all-seeing god, just as Hor Nubti,
Horus of Gold, was the common name for Horus in his role as avenger of his father. I took a few liberties
there . . .
Neville interrupted.  Eddie has an interesting point. I hadn t thought about the wind from the east being a
supernatural wind. I guess I thought it was a reference to the khamseen .
 The khamseen ? Jenny asked.
 It s a wind that comes from the southwest, usually in early summer, Neville explained.  It s quite
terrible. It can last for up to fifty days without much of a break. Dust clouds blot out the sun,
temperatures rise, sometimes destroying the crops. As if that wasn t enough, the khamseen seems to
encourage flying insects. I can t think of a more vivid curse.
 But you said this khamseen comes from the southwest, Stephen protested.  I took no liberties with the
direction mentioned in the text. This Horus wind definitely comes from the east.
Neville shrugged.  I am sure you translated accurately. After all, this is a ritual inscription, not a guide to
advise travelers. As I see it, Horus is usually associated with the east. Here he is also associated with the
sun god, Ra. The sun comes from the east, and so would Horus, and so would any wind he brings to
punish the wicked. I think we are unwise to imagine more.
Jenny looked as if she wanted to agree, but stubbornness wouldn t let her.
 But shouldn t we take the legend seriously, Uncle Neville? You didn t believe Alphonse Liebermann
was onto anything, but here we are. And it wasn t that long ago that that German . . .
 Schliemann, Stephen interrupted.
 That German, Jenny persisted,  found Troy by following descriptions in Homer. I m not saying there s
any truth to the story about gods burying the original mortuary complex, but I m saying that Eddie s right.
We should take notice of any oddities. If you and Eddie are right, a wind from the east might stand out to
an ancient Egyptian like someone putting the Rockies running wrong way along North America would
stand out to us.
 We ll see what the other texts tell us, Neville promised.  In the meantime, the light is growing too poor
for us to continue, and I d like to preserve our lamp oil for if we find something underground. Shall we
entertain ourselves with something other than archeological speculation for the evening?
 Papa Antonio taught me how to play senet , Jenny suggested.  That doesn t take much light.
The evening passed quickly, all the more so in that everyone was tired enough to go to sleep early. Eddie
insisted that they continue to post watches, though Stephen was omitted from the rotation until he was
recovered from his heatstroke.
In the morning, they continued copying and translating. Eddie went out and shot a goat. Once the meat
they couldn t hope to eat before it spoiled was curing, he occupied himself poking around the bases of
the statues and looking for other areas that might hold inscriptions. He found a few, but Stephen judged
them hieratic texts, much later than the elegant inscriptions on the panels near the statues.
 We ll get to them later, Stephen promised, his fever now purely scholarly.  A history of the
occupations of this place would be fascinating.
 I just hope we don t need to empty all the sand out of this valley to find Neville s ruins, Eddie said
grimly.  That would take an army, and even his fortune isn t up to hiring that much labor.
Neville heard, but didn t comment. Stephen had started on the Isis text, proposing to work his way
around the four cardinal points, but nothing he had read to them when they d taken a midday break had [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]