"Professor Smith, can you understand what that white-robed priest said?" Matthew turned to ask the professor, who was well versed in ancient Egyptian studies.
Professor Smith said, "I can read ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs... but I'm not very familiar with the pronunciation. I could only catch the general meaning. It seemed to say—those who disturb the gods' slumber will suffer divine punishment..."
Archaeological work generally did not require pronunciation, so he could not be completely certain.
After saying that, he took a book on ancient Egyptian linguistics from his backpack and began looking through it.
A moment later, he closed the book. "My translation was correct. That is roughly what it means."
Matthew nodded. It seemed the other party had left behind a bit of ancient Egyptian trash talk before fleeing.
Matthew stepped forward to inspect the statue of Set, the god of war, deserts, and storms. He could tell that this, too, was an alchemical creation.
Matthew touched the statue's base and concluded, "It looks like the entire temple has been treated with alchemical techniques..."
The statue was integrated with the temple itself. There was not the slightest gap between its base and the floor; they were one whole.
One of the archaeologists found a book inside the stone box placed before the statue. "Professor Smith, Mr. Black, come take a look at this."
It was a book made of papyrus. This kind of paper could be preserved for thousands of years without decaying in dry conditions, and many important ancient Egyptian texts unearthed from ruins had been made from this material.
Matthew flipped through several pages. The book was also written in ancient Egyptian script. Unable to read it, he handed it to Professor Smith.
After browsing it for a while, Professor Smith said, "What is recorded here are