Fantasy To Speak The Name Of The Dead Is To Make Him Live Again (MindlessSnow)

[NaomhOr]

Name: William Elliott
Age: 26
Nationality: British
Occupation: Archaeologist
​

William did not stumble upon this well hidden tomb by chance, not even in the slightest. For years, ever since his undergraduate degree, he had been planning on unearthing this particular tomb. He was told it was futile, that this Pharaoh's tomb did not exist. His lecturers, his supervisors, classmates and colleagues thought he was insane.

'If it existed, it would have been found by now Mr. Elliott, you're chasing the unattainable!'​

The words of of the Chairman of the Archaeological Department rang in his ear, remembering how Ms. Vargas threw his proposal back at him, rejecting his request to secure funding in order to unearth the 'phantom' tomb. For the rest of his studies, he kept his plans to himself so he would not face more ridicule but William would not give up, it was his life's dream to find the tomb. Funding be damned.

"Everything seems to be in order, Mr. Elliott, I just need documentation of how you propose to finance your excavation, perhaps you obtained funding from one of the universities?"
​

Mr. Ali, the consulate in the Egyptian Embassy had asked while William tried to obtain his employment visa, but when the archaeologist could not provide the information needed, his application was denied. But he did not let this stop him from his mission. He waited for a few months and then applied again for a travel visa which was approved. However, if he was caught trying to conduct an excavation he could be deported back to the United Kingdom and banned from re-entering Egypt. It was a dreadful though, so William had to be very careful.

William traveled to Egypt and spent a couple of days establishing an alibi as a believable tourist. But one morning, he traveled to the supposed site of the tomb and started his excavation. Thankfully, the site was very remote, it would be unlikely that he would be found easily or if he was about to be stumbled upon, he could pack up his tools and feign ignorance, pretend he had gotten lost. It took two days before William really made any headway, by that time, his arms and back ached terribly from exertion but he toiled on. Eventually, he hit something hard in the ground, clay brick, even if it wasn't what he was looking for, he certainly had found an old tomb.

The archaeologist started working on clearing the area around the tomb, once cleared, William measured the tomb to be about six feet in length - an adult was buried here. There were symbols etched onto the brick, unfortunately, he wasn't an expert on the alphabet on the alphabet of the Ancient Egyptians so he could not translate it, however, he took photographs and sketches of the symbols, in case they were damaged while he opened the tomb. William was positively gleeful while making the preparations to open the tomb; he covered his mouth with a cloth - he did not want to take a chance with any bacteria or viruses living in the tomb. The lid was much heavier than imagined; it would have been much easier to manage with some help but alas, he was alone. Eventually, William managed to push the lid away enough to take a look at the head and chest of the mummy inside. Finally, his perseverance paid off.