Chapter 2

The three of them were very delighted until Zakaria smelled that disgusting odor. His friends' joy was soon interrupted by his voice saying with disdain: “What is this foul smell? Where is it coming from?”

“I smell it too, Zakaria. It must be coming from below, from this room that we just opened.” one of his friends replied to him.

- Okay... we should wait outside for a bit for the air to get in and humidify it before we go down.

- I won't wait, I don't smell very well these days and I can get in first to discover what awaits us inside.

It was Jamal who didn't wait for a response from either of them and rushed down to the dark room with his oil lamp while the two men watched the road while smoking two pre-rolled cigarettes from Zakaria's metal box which he had tucked into his galabiya which he had taken off before they started working. Some time passed and Amer and Zakaria didn't want to go down to the ancient room as long as this disgusting smell was emanating from it, but soon Jamal came out who had been stung on his face by some insects filling the room downstairs. He was walking slowly as if he was tired so his two friends rushed to support him and carried him outside to get some air and Amer asked him eagerly:

- What did you see downstairs?

- Be patient with him, Amer, until he catches his breath first.

- It's... not a complete tomb, just a wooden coffin decorated with ornaments, writings, drawings, and...

- What's inside the coffin, Jamal? Amer said with anticipation.

- It contains just a mummy of... a beautiful woman.

- How do you know she's beautiful?! Amer laughed at Jamal's words and asked sarcastically.

- They wouldn't have made a coffin for her if she wasn't a queen or princess of stunning beauty.

- Aren't there statues or gold jewelry?!

- No.

- I knew we wouldn't find much in it, that's been our bad luck for a long time.

- Calm down, Amer, the important thing is that we found something, so that's a good start, but what took you down stairs so long, Jamal?

Jamal took a long breath then said after coughing:

- This room is... full of insects and mosquitoes, and that smell that disgusted you from the outside is more concentrated and dense inside, so much so that I almost suffocated and lost consciousness there.

- These insects bit and stung your face, and now your face is getting redder.

- It's okay, what should we do with this coffin now?

Zakaria and Amer thought before Zakaria said after a while:

- I still remember Engineer Salah's talk when he expressed his willingness to pay a full hundred pounds for an archaeological discovery.

- He meant a complete tomb and not a wooden coffin for a woman.

- She is a very beautiful girl, she looks charming with a sad face.

- That does not matter, my friend. What matters is the money.

The next day, Jamal felt more tired and exhausted, so he did not go to work with his two friends who went to Engineer Salah to talk to him about this mummy that would bring them a lot of money that might reach a hundred pounds; it was not difficult for Engineer Salah to understand, who looked at them with a long look of suspicion as if he did not believe them before Amer told him that he, Salah, could see the queen's coffin tonight at midnight before paying them the amount, so he smiled at them and told them that he would come to them at the place they wanted him to come to and time they specified to inspect the coffin before transporting it in the way he wanted, which is what actually happened, as Salah came to this place near the temple of Khnum where Zakaria met him while Amer waited for them alone in the abandoned house where the queen's mummy was located; As soon as Salah arrived, he asked about the coffin. He was in a hurry and perhaps had some doubts about the sincerity of the two men who quietly carried their lamps and took him to the room where the coffin was engraved with words they did not know. It was a regular wooden coffin with a lid, 165 cm long decorated with pictures of beautiful, expertly colored birds, Salah felt how luxurious they were.

Zakaria wiped the dust that filled the sides of the coffin with his robe for engineer Salah to see or read these words written on the coffin if he wanted, but as he looked closely at these words, he did not know their meaning. He only wanted to make sure they were intact and complete without scratching or tampering with their letters. His amazement at the coffin was clear and increased greatly when Amer opened the lid of the coffin for them all to look at this mummified queen inside. Signs of admiration were completely evident on Salah who said after some seconds:

- It does not look like a queen's mummy to me. There is no scepter, crown, or gold pieces, and I do not think you stole these things.

- Of course not, sir, that is how we found it and we told you when we discovered it.

- Are you the first to find it? I mean, Did you guys dig this room? or Did you just find it like this?

- No, we've been digging and excavating for two whole weeks.

- Well, this coffin belongs to an Egyptian princess, not a queen, but I'll buy it anyway. How much is it?

- How much do you want to pay for it?Say your price, sir.

- Fifty pounds.

- No, that's too little.

- Okay, how much do you want?

Amer was silent for a while, not knowing how much to say, while Zakaria said without thinking much:

- Three hundred pounds.

- That's too much, tell your friend to be reasonable and price it well, Amer.

- You asked for a price and we gave it to you.

Salah felt suffocated, so said:

- Let's get out of here first, this smell is killing me, and what are these insects?! They look annoyed.

The three of them came out of the ancient room, coughing and trying to catch their breath, feeling very suffocated. After a few minutes, Amer said:

- What do you think then?

- I don't know, this amount is too much.

- Well, it seems that the princess will wait for some time in this room.

Salah stared at him then said:

- I can agree to two hundred pounds.

- Three hundred pounds.

- You can manage with one hundred pounds each of you.

- We are three men.

Salah paid attention to Zakaria's last words and remembered Jamal Wahdan, whom he knew was their third friend. Here he realized that they would not give up three hundred pounds, so he smiled and said:

- It's Jamal Wahdan, right?

- Yes, that's him.

- Okay, I'll get a car tomorrow to transport the coffin and I'll make sure to have the full three hundred pounds for you.

Amer and Zakaria's faces brightened as they felt that life had just smiled at them after twenty full years of frowning.