The Secret of the Stones by Ernest Dempsey (reading fiction .TXT) 📕

Joe was enjoying the interaction, just happy to be an observer for a minute.

“Not exactly. Archaeologists have never been permitted to excavate the areas completely, but with ground-penetrating radar and other instrumentation we have been able to identify that underneath the dirt, the mounds are concealing pyramids built from rock and gravel powder not dissimilar to the ones down in Central America.” Sean continued, “Also, if you look at the mounds from a distance or from the air, you can see the shapes of the pyramids more definitively.”

While he was talking, Joe pulled up a website featuring pictures of the pyramids. He pointed to them so she could get a visual as they talked.

“Unbelievable.” Her voice was barely a whisper.

“Yeah,” their host responded. “It kinda is.”

Sean decided to play devil’s advocate for a moment. “Unbelievable…except for the fact that the pyramids at Giza and most of the others in Egypt were used as burial sites. The ones in the Western Hemisphere were mainly for rituals of state religion.” His statement was blunt. “If they were built by the same people, wouldn’t they be used for the same purpose?”

“Right you are,” Mac responded. “But excavations of many of the newly discovered pyramids of Central America have revealed large burial chambers. These rooms were filled with the remains of what are believed to be priests and royalty.”

After a minute of quiet contemplation, Sean asked, “How long have you known about all this?”

“I learned about some of it before I started working at the park. In fact, that’s partly why I took the job and left the forestry service. When I discovered the legends and saw the similarities, I had to do it.”

“You said there was other evidence suggesting this?” Allyson pressed him.

“Absolutely,” Joe agreed. “In the areas I mentioned, the Cherokee and ancient Mississippian villages and towns were designed exactly like those in Thebes, Luxor, Hathor, take your pick. The streets and city plans were extremely close from the looks of them. Another interesting fact is that the Indians in the Americas used totem poles, which are very similar to some structures in Egypt, save for the fact that the ones here were primarily made from wood. And last, but not least, the gods that the ancient Nile dwellers revered were very much like the animals held in high regard by the American Indians.”

She didn’t know much about what these two guys were saying, but from what they’d shared so far, she was convinced. “So, how does this play into finding Tommy and the Golden Chambers?”

“I like her,” Joe commented. “She’s direct. I hate beatin’ around the bush.” He winked at Sean and went on. “I would guess that whoever took Tommy is trying to find the Chambers of Ahkanan because it would be the most significant treasure discovery since Tut’s tomb. That’s a significant amount of gold, and as history shows us, people will do almost anything for money.

“As the story goes, when the early Egyptian explorers came here, they were sent by one of their leaders, Prince Akhanan, to establish a new empire. Now, gold was something the ancients revered as powerful and sacred. To them, the value of the yellow metal was more spiritual than material. Of course, down through the ages, people’s perception of it became perverted through greed and the concept of supply and demand. But in the beginning, gold was believed to have supernatural powers, and it was treated as a gift from the gods.”

Joe stopped for a second to let the information settle in before continuing. “You know what reason these settlers could have had for constructing giant golden rooms?”

The visitors stared at the floor for a moment, deep in thought. Then Sean said, “My first thought would be that such a structure would show potential newcomers or enemies that their tribe was powerful, like a symbol of strength.”

“And…” Mac persisted.

“And not only were they a strong people, but they were blessed by the gods as exhibited by the amount of gold they had. The thinking being that no enemy would dare attack a city that was protected by the gods.”

“Very good, my friend; both excellent points. But there are two other reasons for the rooms. One of the purposes we can extrapolate is that of religious control. The ancients understood that if they could not maintain some form of crowd management, the ensuing chaos would destroy them all. As the old saying goes, ‘He who owns the gold makes the rules.’ There is, however, another power behind the gold.”

Again, Joe returned to the desk, his fingers flying over the keyboard. “I’m a big fan of the History Channel, ya know. Can’t get enough of it.” He turned his head for a second, grinning at Allyson. On the screen appeared the home page for the History Channel. After entering a few more words, some pictures popped up of golden boxes under the heading, Ancient ark technology.

Allyson tilted her head quizzically. “That looks a lot like the ark from the Indiana Jones movie. Don’t tell me you’re looking for that.”

Joe had to laugh. “Not at all, Ms. Webster. But I do believe the technology behind the ark may play into what we are looking for.

“A couple of months ago, I saw a program on the History Channel about how the ark worked. I was fascinated about how they discussed the design and purpose of it. Many Christians around the world would give credit to Moses designing it. But, as the show pointed out, these people forget where Moses spent at least a decade of his life before going into the wilderness.”

“In the courts of the pharaoh,” Sean said, citing the Old Testament.

“Exactly,”