A series of lines divided the ceiling into sections, and in the bottom section, a procession of Egyptian deities walked towards the rear of the chamber. The upper sections were filled with stars and symbols. Zodiac? No, not exactly, but the stars, the symbols, this must be the Egyptian equivalent. But how do we know this is Alexander’s tomb?

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He stepped backward to secure his balance from craning his neck upward, and gravel crunched under his shoe. He turned to the far end of the room. The Egyptian motif transitioned as the hieroglyphs ended at two columns that glowed in the torchlight, each one hugging a wall, part in support and part as a divider of merging worlds. 

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Marble with Corinthian capitals? thought Darwin. These came here at fantastic expense. The curling leafy frond pattern that flowed outward from top of each column confirmed their Greek origins, or at least the origin of the artistic style.

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“Oh, my God,” said Tessa, and he turned to look at what triggered her comment.

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A couple meters past the columns another doorway mirrored the one they had come through from the outside. But whereas the front wall blocks were local stone, the rear wall was marble similar to the columns and double the thickness of the front wall. Its lintel stretched in one solid piece between the side walls and was topped by an elaborate shelf. The space above and beyond the shelf was recessed, and Darwin’s light settled on what had taken Tessa’s breath away.

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Sphinxes.

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Two massive marble statues perched atop the wall and grinned downward at a spot directly between the columns. The muscles in their lean feline bodies betrayed a ferocity and hunger, and their claws, as large as a grown lion’s, menacingly grasped the lintel.

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Wings curled upward from each shoulder as if the creatures could drop from their perch in the blink of an eye. But what captured Darwin’s attention were the heads. Human female faces adorned the fantastic beasts. Each creature’s lips curled upward beneath broad cheek bones that supported large round eyes. Delicate curls flowed under simple curved crowns and spilled in long braids down each shoulder.

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But it was the eyes that added a sinister feel to the inhuman appearance. Devoid of any pupil, the empty expression from the ocular cavity belied their deadly purpose. In Greek mythology, sphinxes were merciless guards of sacred spaces. An incorrect answer to their riddle and the ravenous monster ripped you apart.

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Darwin shivered as a line from Percy Shelley’s poem about Ramses II popped into his head: Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!

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The sphinxes were beyond any doubt Greek and their presence shouted:

 

I am Alexander the Great!