CHAPTER 2
SOUTH OF IRAQ
WHEN PASSING HIS HAND REMOVING the sweat that was perspiring on his face, Dr. Richard Hulmann raised his head, his eyes then fixed on the stone colossus that, about three hundred meters away, contemplated him with the same enigmatic look that for millennia disturbed everyone who came across his majestic and imposing face.
— On here! I found it — shouted the native hired by the expedition. The Doctor. Richard ran towards the man who was waving frantically, pointing to a huge tombstone with weathered cuneiform inscriptions blocking the entrance to an underground tomb.
With instruments brought by his assistant, the American professor carefully cleaned. His face then lit up as he beheld the famous effigy.
He finally discovered the lost tomb of Nimrod — the great Babylonian wizard who had terrorized the ancient world in Abraham's time. The stone was removed after a few hours of heroic effort, and with a torch, followed by his assistant Jeremy Niles and the natives.
The Doctor. Richard descended the sixty steps of a staircase that, for millennia, no one had passed. The mortuary room was an immense rectangle, the sight of the walls, in auto-relief, representing ancient battles, forgotten in history, was soon replaced by the dazzling brightness of dozens of life-size statues of men and gods of ancient Babylon.
— This is fantastic!
Everyone there nodded, for hundreds of years they sought that place.
— Doctor, this is gold! — said Jeremy Niles as he brushed off the layer of dust that coated the haughty face of the god Gilgamesh — a man with a long beard. The splendor was extraordinary —treasures piled up wherever the eye turned.
— We're rich.
And famous, thought the professor who for decades studied Nimrod, the most powerful man in the Bible, the man who had defied God.
— Where's the sarcophagus? — asked the professor, returning to reality.
Everyone looked at each other
— Sarcophagus?
They had discovered the treasures of a legendary king and the old man was worried about a sarcophagus?
— Professor Richard — said the assistant — perhaps there is no sarcophagus.
— Don't talk nonsense, Jeremy! If this is a tomb, then there must be a sarcophagus — he said, as he walked towards the bottom of the tomb, oblivious to dozens of chests full of gold and jewels, which were so crowded that some pieces had fallen to the ground, making the old teacher, no matter how careful he was, walking on pearls and necklaces.
— My God, look at those inscriptions, Jeremy!
The attendant was reluctant to take his attention away from the huge alabaster vases, which were topped with jewels covered with diamonds.
— Jeremy, look at this — the professor continued.
The assistant's eyes then found the walls pointed out by the teacher.
— What's so special about these drawings, Professor? — he asked as his attention returned to the alabaster vases.
— The original Tower of Babel...— continued the old man, staring at the drawings. — Jeremy, this is amazing!
The assistant's attention turned to the professor.
— What do you mean, professor? — The Tower of Babel is a myth.
— No, Jeremy…it's a metaphor, at least, that's what we thought it was, but now we know it's real.
The professor took the golden cuneiform plate and admired it, that without a doubt was the find of the millennium, it was what had given him the power to be the most powerful man in the world, a man who even made God fearful.
— Yes... This proves...
— Professor, here's a lever!
Part of the inscriptions that covered the wall had collapsed due to the action of time, leaving a lever, once hidden, partially visible.
— The sarcophagus must be here somewhere behind these inscriptions—help me with the lever, Jeremy!
They pushed, but had no success.
— It's jammed, Professor!
A section of the wall receded a few inches.
— Look, the wall has moved!
With the effort of Jeremy and the natives, shouldering the wall that slowly gave way, leaving a secret chamber visible.
— Heavens! — Nimrod's coffin — exclaimed the old man in fascination.
— Completely gold, Professor!
The secret chamber was a semicircle, whose walls were covered with unknown inscriptions, had in its center a golden sarcophagus bearing a winged figure in lapis lazuli on its upper part.
— Look at this, Jeremy — said the Professor, indicating the embossed design on the sarcophagus.
— It's strange, Professor, I've never seen such a depiction in any history book! —
— Because it doesn't exist in any books.
The assistant was waiting for some answer, but all that had left the professor speechless.
— No, Jeremy... — the Professor was visibly excited — it's not a known inscription, it's true proof of...
— What are you saying? — Asked the assistant in surprise.
— That's right, Jeremy, now isn't a Sumerian symbol either...
— And what would it be then?
— Jeremy — the old Egyptologist's voice came out with difficulty, and overcome by emotion he continued: — perhaps we are finding, when opening this sarcophagus, one of the most terrible secrets ever revealed to man, which we believed was lost in the night of time. I'm afraid, Jeremy, that humanity isn't ready to access what might be in there!
— Professor — the young assistant's eyes sparkled — I'm more curious than scared. What could be so terrible as that to frighten you inside a sarcophagus over six thousand years old?
— The beginnings of civilization... one older than humanity as we know it...
The assistant paid attention to the teacher's speech.
— But not the civilizations we know, originating in the Fertile Crescent and the Nile Delta. An even older civilization, even pre-flood, the city of Atlantis, according to the parchment: the city of sin.
— Sin City? How so, teacher?
— This city, according to the parchment, would be the very cause of the flood. You will probably never find this in the encyclopedias, as there are not more than ten people in the world who know anything about this city, but let me continue: — according to the parchment, and here we are going to find some things that parallel the Bible, the sons of God were seduced by the daughters of men and from this union extremely powerful men were born who oppressed and enslaved the people of that time. His power was not due to enormous physical strength, but to the secret knowledge revealed by his magnificent parents. Such was the depravity of these men, that they founded the city of Atlantis, and from there subjugated the whole ancient world.
— With that God punished them with the deluge to annihilate the evil in the Earth. Only Noah and his family survived to repopulate it.
The professor nodded and continued.
— However, the parchment tells us that Nimrod, grandson of Ham, one of the sons of Noah, when making excavations to found a new city between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, where the ancient city of Atlantis was located, found a book, not a book. any book, but a book of gold.
— The Golden Book of Atlantis, as it came to be known.
— In possession of this book, his mind had access to the hidden mysteries of magic, in such a way that Nimrod ended up expelled from the city he founded, due to the evil that dominated him.
Suddenly, something jumped out at them.
— Is it the book? — Their eyes landed on the sarcophagus.
— For God! Look at Jeremy, the Golden Book of Atlantis!
The old man had to hold on to the edges of the sarcophagus, his legs had given out. The young man's face lit up contemplating the beautiful golden book with details in relief: a double-headed eagle in the center of a pyramid. His hand then went inside the coat in search of something.
— Professor, pass me the book...
The old man paid no attention to him, he was absorbed in his thoughts, until he made a decision:
— We're taking you to New York, Jeremy...
— Professor... hand me the book, now!
The doctor turned to the assistant, his smile drooping the moment he saw the revolver pointed in his direction.
— Jeremy, what the hell is this?
The doctor was totally perplexed.
— I'm sorry, Professor, but there are things you wouldn't understand.
With his eyes turned to his assistant, he noticed the seal on his ring finger that contained the design of an eagle similar to the one on the sarcophagus.
— Perhaps you still don't understand, but I'll clarify: remember what you told me a moment ago, that the manuscripts were from an ancient secret sect? Well then, I am a member of that secret society!
— Stop kidding, Jeremy, you're not even Jewish! — Said the teacher.
— You're right, I'm not a Jew, I'm an Englishman of ancient lineage, but what surprises me is that, as a scholar like you can't understand the dynamics of life, you really think that all the mysteries of Atlantis were hidden in that book and closed until today? No, Professor, you are mistaken... It is true that terrible mysteries once lost will now be revealed, but it is also true that there were, and still are, other mages besides Nimrod, who in our time dedicate themselves to perfecting the occult knowledge that is passed down from generation to generation among the enlightened ones.
— But to what end? — Why this secrecy?
Bewilderment had given way to disquiet in the old scholar's mind.
— What's the point? Now, professor, don't be naive! Knowledge is power, the more exclusive, the more vigorous; more increases the strength of those who hold it, see the emblem of the two-headed phoenix on the banners of Alexander the Great, Charles V, Napoleon... Do you think that the power they achieved was by chance?
— My God! — Exclaimed the old man — this is madness!
— No, professor, there is no room for madness. Secret knowledge has been guarded from generation to generation for millennia, and kings, princes, priests and wizards have gained their powers through it. Science itself owes much of its progress to sparks of that knowledge, revealed here and there to a few wise men, as they best served our purposes. Take the case of Pythagoras: history itself records that it was in a secret society in Egypt that he achieved his knowledge.
— What you are telling me is something of a megalomaniac mind, no conspiracy could last that long!
— Let's not go any further, Professor! — It is enough for me to tell you that I am just a small cog in the service of a great and ancient purpose. We, the heirs of ancient mysteries and guardians of secret knowledge, have been preparing since the beginning of time for the Great Revelation, but it is with sadness that I recognize that, despite our redoubled efforts, the world is not yet ready...
The teacher tried to walk to the side and was immediately intercepted by the assistant.
— Unfortunately I have to, you know a lot about us, but look on the bright side: there's no better place in the world to die than in the tomb of the greatest king that ever walked the earth, inside the tomb of Nimrod, don't you think?
— Jeremy, don't do this!
— I'm sorry, Professor! — I wouldn't want to do that myself, you don't deserve to die, but unfortunately, you know a lot about us, and I would risk a lot at stake...
The teacher realized that death was a unique and inevitable event for everyone.