A peak into Beneath the Sands of Egypt

So last week Friday snuck up on me and now this week I missed it entirely. In my defense, all of my major lab instruments decided to crash, so work was a total mess.

I have been reading Beneath the Sands of Egypt: Adventures of an Unconventional Archaeologist by Donald Ryan, and since I did fiction last week, it seems fair to feature a nonfiction book - so for this weeks Book Beginnings on Friday, hosted by Rose City Reader I will tell you how it starts ...


The haunting melody of a Beethoven piano sonata played softly in the background as I gazed into the slit of darkness evolving before my eyes. I handed another small stone to Achmed, who in turn handed it up the ancient white steps to be added to the growing pile of rubble. Beethoven would no doubt have been incredulous that his Appassionata served as the sound track for such a remarkable scene: the opening of an ancient Egyptian tomb, in the famed Valley of the Kings.

The tomb he is opening is KV60 - the entrance is actually under the entrance to 19 so you can't see it on this map. This is from the Wikipedia page on the Valley of the Kings.

Oh - this is cool ! http://www.thebanmappingproject.com/atlas/index_kv.asp?tombID=874

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For The Friday 56 hosted at Freda's Voice something from page of Beneath the Sands of Egypt

As I learned from many subsequent visits, the ascent though the galleries to the burial of "King's" chamber can be relatively simple or quite hellish, depending on the number of tourists. The interior can be sweltering from the humidity brought on by the accumulation of human breath and perspiration, and certain passageways require one to bend over while descending groups pass by. The uncomfortable and variable climes mean that few people stay in the [Great] pyramid for long. 

FYI - The Kings Chamber measures 10.45 meters by 5.20 meters, and is 5.80 meters high and is made entirely of pink granite. (That would be 34.28 feet by 17.1 feet, and 19 feet high.)