The entrance had been discovered only three days earlier when Ayrton had noticed an odd ledge along one of the larger stones they were in the process of unearthing, leading them to the ground and outline of a stone step.  It was the beginning of a long-forgotten passageway filled with collapsed sand and rocky debris.

Now, with enough removed by their crew, both men were able to crawl through the tight opening on hands and knees, sliding clumsily over the tops of boulders until reaching what appeared to be the final wall, or door, to the tomb.

Even after the second stone had been pulled free, it would take several more hours to move enough debris to create a hole large enough to squeeze through, carefully stacking each piece to avoid blocking their exit.

With a groan, Ayrton scrambled over a stone too large to move and extended his leg through the opening until he could feel the cool, dry air on his exposed calf.  Then, awkwardly, he folded his body at the waist and used his backside to push through, immediately losing his footing in the darkness and falling inside with a sudden yell.

The sound of a crack was heard, followed by two heavy thuds.

“Are you all right?!”

The question was followed by a long silence, with only the cloud of fine dust swirling between them before Ayrton’s voice was heard.

“I think so,” he groaned.  “My lamp went out.  Can’t see a blasted thing.  Pass me yours.”

The second lamp was passed through the hole, its flame flickering feebly in the darkness, grasped by Ayrton’s dirty hand.

When the flame disappeared from view, scuffling sounds were all the second man, Mahid, could make out until they ended and were followed by complete and utter silence.

“Blimey,” Ayrton finally whispered as he stared in awe at the dim images before him.

“What is it?”

Ayrton regained his bearings and turned back around, looking for his own lamp and spotting it amongst the rocks. He retrieved it, then relit it with the second.

He scrambled carefully back to the wall and extended Mahid’s lamp through the opening.  “Mind that first step—it’s a doozy.”

Once both men were inside, they spread apart, using their oil lamps to maximize the illumination over dozens of objects.

Not far from the entrance were parts of a dismantled, gilded shrine related to what appeared to be the tomb’s original door.  Against the southern wall and lying atop the decayed remains of a lion-headed bier was a sarcophagus with its lid appearing slightly ajar.

Above the coffin rested four Canopic jars made from Egyptian alabaster.  And in the far corner were remnants of what remained of several wooden boxes and their contents.

Completing his scan, Ayrton turned back to the shrine and bent down, studying several different seal impressions, and next to them, four bricks with hieroglyphic etchings still visible on two.