I Fell In Love With A Pharaoh

Chapter 4

Several months had gone by while Hebe worked through Dante's vast collection. The work had been slow, but that was fine with her. Hebe liked the work and even though it went slowly, she discovered many new things. Dante was able to reorganize his Greek and Roman collections in a chronological order. Hebe added labels to each artifact that specified the date it was from as a quick reference guide as the collections were rearranged. Later she would add a more detailed label that gave the date of the object, artist if possible, and unique little details that would capture the viewer's attention.

Hebe took a few days break in order to clear her mind and get her ready for the Egyptian collection. Hebe loved working with Egyptian artifacts, but Egyptian history could get confusing. The confusion, from Hebe's point of view, came more from the ancestral relationships between the different pharaohs and the fact that many were the product of incest. It fascinated Hebe that the Egyptians believed that incest was okay because their Gods partook in it. It was a far cry from the beliefs of Greeks and Romans who's Gods didn't believe in incest.

Hebe had a friend who did her dissertation on that very subject. Hebe had been the sounding board for her friend. Many late nights were had over shared pizza and beer while they talked of the blatant incest that happened amongst the Gods and even in some cultures.

The thought of incest was upmost in Hebe's mind as she wandered into the Egyptian collection. Dante unfortunately didn't have any mummies to look at, but Hebe had spent plenty of time in the Cairo museum looking at mummies who were spouses as well as siblings or some other form of relation. As Hebe toured the room he mind was busy trying to compare Dante's artifacts with those she had seen in the Cairo museum and other museums around the world. As far as Hebe could tell, Dante had unique artifacts that no one else had which made her curious as to how he had gotten his hands on them. Hebe hoped that Dante wasn't into tomb raiding.

Hebe wandered the collection numbering them before she started researching them. Hebe paused by the mummified foot and hand. Dante might not have a full blown mummy, but at least he had something close to a mummy. For some unknown reason, Hebe remained fascinated with the mummified body parts. They drew her attention at the oddest moments like when she was taking a shower or while falling asleep.

"I must be losing my mind." Hebe muttered as she moved away from the hand and foot.

The rest of the Egyptian collection was one of the most impressive that Hebe had seen. The only collections that surpassed it were those located in museums. Hebe's practiced eye ran over each one of the more than two hundred artifacts housed in this room. Just looking at them, Hebe could already begin grouping them. She knew what belonged to which dynasty and even some that belonged to pharaohs.

Hebe found herself back in front of the cases containing the hand and foot. She scratched her head and squatted down in front of the cases to study them. Hebe was at a loss as to how she was going to figure out when these body parts were mummified since they contained no wrappings. The only way Hebe could try to ascertain their age would be to physically touch them and see how they were mummified. Different periods of Egyptian history had different styles of burial and mummification. She could do carbon dating, but there was the possibility of ruining the artifacts and Hebe used carbon dating as a last result.

"This is going to be the hardest thing I've ever worked on." Hebe told the inanimate objects. "I mean come on. There are artifacts here that stretch the entire length of Ancient Egyptian history and even into the occupation of Rome."

Hebe looked around her with a sigh as she sat down her sheet of stickers, pen, and notebook. Exhaustion hit Hebe suddenly and she felt the need to sit down. There were benches located in the room for people to sit and contemplate the artifacts. Hebe made her way slowly over to the closest bench and sank weakly down onto it.

Hebe leaned her head back and closed her eyes. Her mind turned sluggish and she felt dizzy. Hebe felt like she was on a ship with no stabilizer and that she could feel each wave that hit the ship. It was enough to make Hebe nauseous and she had never felt that way before.

Without warning the feeling passed. Hebe stayed where she was. She didn't want to move suddenly and get hit by vertigo again. A slight sound caused Hebe to crack open her eyes. A look about the room showed nothing out of the ordinary. Hebe was just getting ready to close her eyes again when she saw something move out of the corner of her eye. Hebe looked to her left over to where the mummified hand and foot rested.

A startled cry escaped Hebe as she jumped to her feet. Standing before her was an Ancient Egyptian man dressed in the regalia of the Pharaohs. He stood looking down at something only he could see. At her startled cry he looked up. His features were stern and proud. As soon as his kohl darkened eyes met hers, he faded from sight.

Hebe stared at the spot as her heart pounded in fear. She slowly stalked over to where he had been standing with cautious steps. Her hand came out and batted at the air where he had been standing. She could detect nothing.

Hebe scratched at her head in bewilderment. Did she really just see what she thought she saw or was she that tired? Hebe shook her head and rubbed wearily at her tired eyes. What she needed was a drink, a nice hot bath, and a good night's sleep. Hebe picked up her stuff and left the room quickly trying to rationalize what she had just seen. No way was what she saw real. It was impossible. Or was it?