Live Streaming: Great Adventure in the Wilderness-Chapter 836 - 832: The Underground Mastaba

The sun had set, but the world had not plunged into complete darkness.

By the campfire, Bi Fang was shaving a tree stick, meticulously peeling away the layers of wood shavings, before pouring them into a cylindrical bark container.

After compacting the layer of shavings, Bi Fang picked out several pieces of intact charcoal from the fire, and after they cooled, he crushed and poured them in.

After multiple layers and iterations, a simple disinfectant mask was completed.

The fat from the ostrich meat was rendered into grease, and Bi Fang tightly bound a piece of hemp rope around half a stick, then soaked it in the grease until the rope had absorbed enough oil, after which he inserted it into the campfire.

The fire snake wound its way up, and in no time, the head of a torch was made, its flames brightening the surroundings.

Bi Fang extinguished the campfire with water and approached the pitch-black cavern entrance.

The light from the fire illuminated the entrance, but it made the cavern itself appear even more ominous, like a black hole that might devour anyone, inadvertently instilling fear.

Bi Fang, wearing the poison mask, still did not rush in; first, he placed the torch at the entrance and waited for about a quarter of an hour, allowing it to burn deeper and deeper until the entire torch was inserted into the cave.

"If it can burn, it means there's oxygen inside, and if it doesn't ignite violently, it means there are no flammable gases; it's safe to take the torch inside," Bi Fang briefly explained.

[Another small detail]

[So detailed, incredibly detailed]

[I suspect you're cursing, and I have ample evidence (Dog's head)]

After making ample preparations, Bi Fang looked at the cave illuminated by the torch, crouched down, and inched his way in.

The cave itself was not large, its diameter on the surface was even less than half a meter, making it quite difficult to enter without crouching.

The orange glow lit up the passage, which was filled with thick gravel, remnants that had backfilled in.

[A bit scared]

[I watch too many horror movies; it feels like something's going to jump out any moment]

[The best part would be if a rattlesnake popped out right now]

[Master Fang: Thank you very much]

In the depths of the cavern, Bi Fang felt the incline of the passage, marking it every three meters.

"The slope is about thirty degrees; we can mark our progress in meters and then calculate the depth," he said.

"Now, we've descended about five meters, indicating that this relic is much larger than we imagined, and it's very likely not some undiscovered pyramid."

Bi Fang whispered, feeling quite hot and stuffy here, and the poison mask made his breathing labored, which left him somewhat breathless.

The passage walls began to change too, no longer just gravel, but mixed with many pieces of Flint Stone, and even some large intact boulders.

The size of the passage was changing as well; Bi Fang had gone from crawling on his stomach to being able to squat and explore, though squating was too tiring, so he chose to continue crawling.

[Why couldn't it be a pyramid?]

[This drone signal is really good]

[High-quality explorer nb]

"Because all Pyramids have a set shape, the length of the square base of the Pyramid multiplied by two, then divided by the height of the Pyramid, is approximately equal to 3.14, which is π, all in proportional relation."

"From the size and depth we've discovered so far, if this really is a Pyramid, then the height of this relic must exceed ten meters, but since entering through the passageway, the total descent was less than five meters."

"This means that this 'Pyramid' has had more than half of it removed, a probability that is extremely, extremely slim. We can hardly imagine what it underwent to be destroyed in such a way."

To the Egyptians, the Pyramids are incredibly sacred, not just as a symbol of royal power but also linked to religion and divine authority. In various wars in the West, invaders might destroy a former dynasty's capital, but they seldom destroy churches unless the invaders are heathens.

Even in the 14th century, as Bi Fang previously mentioned, Sultan Badr al-Din Hasan of the Bahri Dynasty dismantled the limestone casing stones of the Pyramids to build temples, he never thought to destabilize the entire Pyramid.

The Pyramids have withstood a thousand years of erosion by wind and sand. This erosion is all-encompassing; it's not possible for it to erode more than half completely, leaving behind only a perfect base, and besides, the wind and sand are not that fierce.

Crawling down the passageway, the slope suddenly increases after about six meters down. Over just a few meters, it transforms from a gentle thirty-degree incline to an over sixty-degree steep slope.

With an incline of over sixty degrees, without stairs, it's impossible for anyone to stand. Bi Fang, pushing against the walls, began to slide down faster.

This time, the depth of the slide surprised everyone. The slope grew steeper and steeper until it was almost a ninety-degree drop. Were it not for the passageway being narrow enough to brace with his legs, Bi Fang might have fallen.

"Splash!"

The dull sound echoed within the ruins, as large amounts of fine sand followed a figure down, pitter-pattering nonstop.

In the darkness, Bi Fang holding up a torch landed on the ground, throwing up a cloud of dust which obscured his vision for a moment.

[Here it comes!]

[High energy ahead!]

[Finally, we're inside. That was super narrow—good thing it was slippery or entering would've been mega uncomfortable.]

[King of cheeky comments]

[So dark...]

"Finally, we're inside."

Bi Fang, wearing a gas mask, slowly stood up from the ground, the dust not choking him. He patted the sand off his shoulders and then took off his shoes to pour out the sand.

"I really got a fright just now; I had no idea the ruins were this deep."

Bi Fang lifted the torch above his head and could still see the pitch-black passageway, his brief descent had taken him more than twenty meters underground.

"The Sahara Desert is mainly composed of stony hamada and sandy regions. Many sand dunes exceed 180 meters in height, with an average height of about 150 meters, and the highest reaching over three hundred meters. While it's not as deep as the sea, such a depth is more than enough to submerge a city."

Holding the torch, he walked through the profound depths of the ruins.

More than twenty meters below the surface, there was no other source of light. Aside from the torch in his hand, everything around was pitch black, enough to plunge any normal person into claustrophobic fear.

[Damn, I can't handle this environment.]

[Every time I see someone holding a torch in this kind of darkness, I'd rather not have the torch. Being the only light in the darkness makes you stand out, and it feels even more terrifying.]

[Agreed. It's like a moth to a flame; creatures in the shadows love the light (dog's head).]

"Drip."

Water droplets fell, amplified countless times in the silent environment.

Bi Fang followed the sound and moved forward, touching the wall beside him and feeling the dampness on his fingertips.

This relic was filled with a heavy moisture.

Caressing the damp gravel at his fingertips, Bi Fang explained,

"Acquiring water in the Sahara is an extremely difficult task. Without pinpointing the location precisely, digging dozens of meters may yield no water."

"But our current position is quite close to the Nile River."

"Geologists have studied wind-blown sediments and sedimentations produced by running water, then with the help of airplane radar, they saw images of the bedrock near the Nile River."

"Combining data from space shuttle terrain surveys with ground samples, geographers have estimated that the Nile River once flooded Egypt's Qiseba Depression, forming a gigantic lake of 42,000 square kilometers which later became an ancient river channel buried underground."

"These ancient riverbeds would be periodically activated as river systems during warming climate cycles. The latest algorithmic analysis indicates that this ceased around 6500 years ago, and it's currently buried underground again."

"The research team had conducted further investigations, estimating this river extended over 520 kilometers beneath the desert."

"Therefore, it might be related to an even greater ancient water system called the Tamanrasset River Valley."

"But it's not necessarily an underground water system; it could just be the Nile River seeping over here."

After falling to the ground, the corridor had broadened much, fully allowing a person to walk upright, though one could touch the ceiling with an outstretched arm.

The width was about a meter, making it difficult for two people to pass at the same time, but for Bi Fang alone, the size was more than sufficient.

After walking about twenty meters, a corner appeared ahead.

"There are no branches."

Bi Fang pondered,

"This should be a 'Mastaba'."

[Mastaba?]

[What's that?]

[Hurry up and tell us, has Master Fang found something?]

Bi Fang brought the torch closer to the corridor walls, built of mud and stone, covered with strange and eerie patterns.

In the darkness, they looked especially ominous.

"'Mastaba' is a transliteration from Arabic, meaning 'stone bench'. It was initially used for ancient Egyptian residential structures and later became the burial form for nobles before the Old Kingdom."

"As the Pyramids later emerged, this form became the burial of commoners. Of course, when I say commoners, those who could afford such tombs were at least from a wealthy class."

[Before the Pyramids?]

[I thought Pyramids have been around since ancient times]

"Do you really think Pyramids have always existed? They are just an evolution, with the initial foundation being the Mastaba, which is like a Pyramid without a pointed top, only with a base."

The earliest Egyptian tombs were mostly made of mud and stone, shaped like a trapezoidal polyhedron with both underground burial chambers and aboveground offering rooms.

The tombs generally had many rooms, not only for placing the deceased's body but also for the bodies of attendants.

Additionally, there were rooms for placing food, utensils, and clothing. As we entered the Old Kingdom Period, the kings began to use Pyramids instead of Mastabas as burial forms, and the earliest Pyramids evolved from Mastabas.

"Archaeological excavations of well-preserved Mastabas from the First Dynasty revealed that at its core was a rectangular pit below the ground level. The pit was divided into five small chambers, with the largest central chamber used for storing the deceased."

"The four smaller adjacent chambers were for the deceased's belongings used in life. Above the pit were nine rows of small compartments made of mud brick in three longitudinal columns, which were then covered with sand on the outermost layer."

"Look, we just turned two corners, perfectly enclosing a small room."

Bi Fang continued forward, encountering the third corner, and then moving forward, he saw the handful of arrow-shaped gravel that had been left on the ground earlier.

Not wanting to damage the relics, Bi Fang hadn't etched anything on the walls as markers. Instead, he grabbed some sand in his bag and at key junctures, he sprinkled out an arrow.

Seeing the arrow on the ground, the audience suddenly understood.

Looking at it this way, Bi Fang had indeed circled around, and this must be the small room.

"If it were a Pyramid, the interior would not form a series of small rooms like this. Instead, there would only be a few burial chambers, followed by a straight passage. It would be impossible to construct a series of small rooms inside."

"However, a room this size, certainly buried here, must be an important figure."

Now knowing exactly what this place was, Bi Fang was no longer so anxious and carefully observed the paintings on the walls.

"Anyone who knows a little about ancient Egypt would definitely be aware of the ancient Egyptians' beliefs."

"They believed that after death, if the soul's body was preserved intact without decay, it would resurrect and live forever in another world after three thousand years."

"So from the early dynastic period, continuing through later dynasties, the Egyptians were dedicated to developing better and more complex methods of burying bodies, with the primary aim of protecting the corpse from external damage."

"The earliest Egyptian burial method was to dig a simple pit in the sand where the body and personal belongings or useful items for the afterlife were placed together in the grave."

"Due to contact with the dry desert, the body was naturally preserved, but still faced some potential threats."

"Therefore, the Mastaba came into existence, protecting the human body from wild animals and potential thieves."

"But the Mastaba did not protect the body as naturally as the sand did, and this led the Egyptians to develop the mummification system through artificial means."

Updat𝒆d fr𝑜m freewebnøvel.com.

Early Pharaohs of Upper Egypt were buried at the Abydos royal burial site, initially in underground chambers made of mud bricks. Closely stacked tree trunks served as roofs, while the floors and walls were covered with wooden planks.

Later on, they were developed to use stone as a decorative facade and paving, with a small room added to the east side adjacent to the tomb for offerings.

Their mounds were sand dunes shielded by surrounding walls. Outside the low walls were arranged the graves of family members and nobility, forming the early Mastaba tombs.

Bi Fang walked through the corridor, looking at the scale of this Mastaba.

"Given such a large scale, this surely isn't from early on, but quite close to the era when Pyramids were used for tombs."

"This structural design might have originated from Mesopotamian thought, as that civilization was building similar structures and constructions at the same time."

[Awesome, Master Fang really knows his history!]

[Write a book, Master Fang, I think you can]

[Want to see]

[+1 to want to see]

[Wait, if it's a tomb, could there be a lot of burial items? (Dog's head)]

[Holy shit, wouldn't that be a fortune?]

[Master Fang, dig up a gold mask too!]

Hearing there might be treasures, many viewers immediately got excited, all urging Bi Fang to search.

Bi Fang was speechless.

"Even if I found something, it couldn't possibly belong to me. I'm not a robber."