Beyond The Grave by Jude Watson

Author:Jude Watson [Watson, Jude]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Publisher: ePub Bud (www.epubbud.com)
Published: 2011-02-03T05:00:00+00:00

* * *

"I can't believe Theo said that it isn't hot yet," Amy said. "How much hotter can it possibly get?" She was about to grumble more, but ahead of her, an incredible sight was rising in the wavy desert air. The Temple of Hatshepsut sat at the foot of towering cliffs. It was built in three tiers, with columns marching along the front. A series of ramps and stairs led up to it.

"Isn't it amazing?" she said.

"Which part?" Dan asked. "The sand? Or the sand?"

"Here we are, walking on ground that people walked on thousands of years ago. I was reading in the guidebook -- "

Dan held up two crossed fingers. "Lecture alert."

" -- that this temple was designed by the queen's architect, Senenmut, in the Eighteenth Dynasty. Later it was damaged by Ramses -- "

"I guess he wasn't a fan -- "

96

" -- and it was even a Coptic monastery for awhile. They're still excavating parts of it. I think we should go right to the reliefs of the queen's journey to the Land of Punt. Look at what Grace wrote."

[proofreader's note: it says "Don't miss these! Even back in the New Kingdom, a queen had to go Christmas shopping."]

"Where's Punt?" Dan asked. "Is it next to Pass and Hike?"

"No one knows for sure. They think it's present-day Somalia. Hatshepsut led an expedition there."

They came to the wide ramp, which had shallow stairs in the center. The heat bounced off the pale stone and pounded against their bodies. The pale yellows and beiges of the sand and the cliffs turned everything into a pulsating shimmer. Amy was glad Theo had insisted they wear sunglasses and baseball caps. The glare was blinding. As they ascended, Amy felt more and more transfixed. It made her dizzy, heat and blue sky and cliff and the grandeur of the statues and the columns.

"There she is," Amy said, pointing to a statue of Hatshepsut.

"Whoa, she has a beard," Dan said. "The queen is a dude!"

97

"She called herself

king,"

Amy explained. "So sometimes she's portrayed with a beard."

"Whatevs," Dan said. "I still think she needs a shave."

"Come on, I think the wall reliefs are on the second tier." Consulting the guidebook, Amy stopped for a moment. Dan tried to peer over her shoulder.

"I think we go right," Amy said.

"No, left."

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