“THIS wasn’t the normal entrance. That ring would be for tying off a ship.” “Yes. Now, let’s go. The stairs have crumbled in spots, so watch your step.” I start down the stairs, and Rana turns a copper wheel that makes the ring lower and the door rumble closed. We descend by her pale light, a steep staircase in a passage so narrow I have to turn my shoulders and duck my head to fit. Down and down we go, the staircase making hairpin turns. The air is dank and close and chalky, and I am sure we have descended as far as the actual pyramid’s height, but we keep going down farther and farther. The air begins to cool, to feel like underground. “Shouldn’t there be pharaohs’ tombs?” I ask. “We are well below those now. They came much later. This tunnel was built during the original construction. A temple before the pyramid. Long before.” The lower we go, the better condition the stairs are in, and the hall begins to widen, too. Finally, it flattens and the passage opens into a vast darkness.
