The Time Travelers' Club: Chapter 63 -- Getting all Wrapped Up

Meanwhile, Sam found himself in a canvas tent with a dirt floor.  He was standing next to a table with the recently deceased Khufu on it.   Sam stepped closer to get a closer look at him. Sam pulled his notebook from his bag and scanned his notes.

"To become a mummy," Sam read aloud.  "The body is taking to an 'ibu' or a special tent. It was called 'the place of purification.' They wash the body with wine made from palm, then rinsed it with waters from the Nile."  Sam walked around the tent but stopped when two Egyptian men entered the tent.

One Egyptian had short hair and a scar on his cheek and was carried a huge clay jar.  The other was taller and bald and began pouring a sweet-smelling liquid into a basin.

The taller spoke in a language Sam didn't recognize.  Sam picked up one word -- Sabaf.  Sam wondered if that was the jar carrier's name, since the taller one used it several times while instructing him by pointing.

"I'm calling you 'Sabaf," said Sam pointing at one with the jar.  "I hope it doesn't mean something terrible."

Sabaf placed the huge clay jar on the sand floor at the end of the table where the body lay.   Sam stepped over to the opposite side of the table.  Sam watched as they began to wash the body of Khufu.  He spotted four jars with heads for lids standing in a row on a table. In front of the jars were primitive knifes and other surgical-looking instruments.

"Jars for the internal organs." Sam studied each one.  The heads had painted faces.  Sam had read about these and had taken notes.  Scanning his notes, he did roll-call. "Imsety, the god with a human head, you'll be in charge of the liver. Hapy with the baboon head, you'll house the lungs.  Duamutef, jackal head, your job is to take care of the stomach. And last, Qebehsenuef the falcon. It's your job to take care of the intestines."

The men had finished washing the body.  Sabaf carried another basin to Khufu and began to wash the body again. Sam watched as the liquid flowed to the end of the table and through an opening,trickling into a clay jar.   The taller Egyptian picked up a small metal knife from the table and made an incision on the side of Khufu's belly. Blood poured onto the table. Sabaf soaked up as much of it as possible with cloth and put it into the jar. Some blood flowed to the opening and dripped down.

Sam felt queasy as he watched him pull out Khufu's internal organs. First came what looked like a liver, then what looked like a kidney. He gagged twice and finally dry heaved.  Sam rolled and closed his eyes and counted to ten.  Digging into his bag, Sam pulled out the bottle of menthol and rubbed some under his nose.

"How do I always choose something disgusting to see..."

Sabaf laid each of the organs on individual plates, before placing them on a table near an opening in the tent.

Sam read from his notes.  "They leave the heart. Then with a long metal hook, they..." He stopped mid-sentence just in time to see the bald Egyptian pull a long metal hook out of Khufu's nose with a bloody mass hooked onto its end. It was Khufu's brain.

"I.. think... I'm... going to be sick..."  Sam turned away, trying to calm his stomach.  "Once again, here I am.  A dead body again.  Bloody body parts.  Next time... No dead bodies...  I need to choose some better times to visit."

Right in the middle of note taking, Mrs. Steers shouted out.  "Sam?  Are you here?"

"Yes, Mrs. Steers.  I'm in here."

Mrs Steers walked into the tent.  "Well, I see you found Khufu.  Looks like he's about ready for the rest of the process.  I've seen this before.  Not with Khufu, but with other mummifications.   It's such an interesting process."

Mrs. Steers began her now usual tourist guide oration.

"You see, the body will be stuffed with natron which is a type of salt.  All the body fluids and rags used in the process will be saved and buried with the body.   The body will be kept for about seventy days, washed with water from the Nile again, and covered with oil to help keep the skin elastic."  Mrs. Steers walked over to the table and looked down at the internal organs.

"The dehydrated organs not going in the jars will be wrapped in linen and returned to the body. They'll stuff him with sawdust, leaves, and linen, then coat him again with good-smelling oil."

Sam was grossed out, but Mrs. Steers took no notice and rattled on.

"Wrapping the body starts with the head and the neck, then the fingers and toes.  The arms are wrapped next and amulets, such as an Isis knot and plummet, are put in place to protect the body.   During the wrapping process, a priest reads spells out loud to ward off evil spirits and help the deceased’s journey to the afterlife.  The arms and legs are tied together with a papyrus scroll, with spells from the Book of the Dead placed between the hands."

Sam stopped her to ask a question.  "The Book of the Dead? What's that all about."

"The Book of the Dead was an ancient Egyptian funerary text.  A book of spells to help the deceased in the afterlife."  Mrs. Steers returned to the mummification process.

"Then the entire body is wrapped and painted with liquid resin to hold the bandages together.    Lastly, a cloth painted with images of the gods and hieroglyphs is placed around the body.  The body is then placed on display, then into a sarcophagus then taken to the tomb.  Personal belongings, furniture, food and drink are placed in the tomb for the deceased’s journey."

Mrs. Steers stopped.  Sam was relieved.  "Let's get out of here.  I'm tired of dead bodies."  Sam took one last look at Khufu's body.   "Poor guy.  He's still has to be stuffed."

They left the tent.  Outside, the whole area was busy with activity.  Sam watched a group of carpenters working on a mummy case.

"Mrs. Steers, check this out."  Sam pointed at the elaborate mummy case.  "It must be for Khufu.  It's got a lot of symbols and stuff.  These guys really know what they're doing."

"Very much," said Mrs. Steers.  "Egyptian culture was highly advanced.   Eventually the Romans would conquer the country.  Alexandria would be one of their ports.  Did you know that Egypt at one time had one of the greatest libraries in the world there? According to the history of the club, the original papyrus scrolls of the incantations were housed in a special chamber in the Library of Alexandria.  We've tried to find the chamber but with no luck."

"Why don't you use the incantation to find it?"

Mrs. Steers shook her head.  "Can't be done.  We do know that the scroll and the books have incantations on them making it impossible for them to be located.  That's why Dr. Herkeimer or one of his spies are watching us."

Sam was intrigued, then realized something.  "You know that night we got back from New York City and someone had been in our apartment, I remember seeing someone in the park across the street.  Do you think..."

Before he had a chance to finish, she answered him.  "Yes.  It was probably one of them.   I didn't want to arouse suspicion with your Mom, so I didn't say anything."

"They were looking for the books?"

"Probably."

Mrs. Steers didn't look at Sam.   Without him being aware, she was focusing on something in the distance.  For a moment, among the crowd, she swore she had seen Bruno and Dreda.  She didn't want to alarm Sam, but knew it was time to move on.

"Let's go see Cleopatra," said Mrs. Steers.  "What date did she die?"

Excited that he finally will get to see Cleopatra, Sam thumbed through his notebook.  "Ummm... August 9th... in 30 BC."

Taking his arm, she said.  "Tolle mihi videre Alexandria on August 9th, 30 B.C. at 3 o'clock in the afternoon."

Seconds later, they stood in the heat of an Egyptian summer sun.