The Pharaoh's Gold

By Rosemary Gemmell

Ten-year-old friends, Matthew and Nikki, attend a workshop on Ancient Egypt at the local museum during the school holidays. But when they try on hidden Egyptian gold jewellery, they're transported back to Ancient Egypt.

 

Their adventures begin when they meet Nephta, a relative of the new Pharaoh. Someone in her household is planning to steal the jewels from the previous Pharaoh's burial tomb and Matthew and Nikki end up in danger, while their bully of a classmate nearly becomes a mummy.

 

Will Matthew and Nikki escape from the pyramid in time?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Rosemary Gemmell
• Release date: Nov 1, 2021
• ISBN: 9781739858513

Book preview

For Iona the best ever granddaughter

With much love

Chapter One

Matthew, I’ve been telling your mum about the workshop they’re having down at the museum this week about Ancient Egypt. You know pyramids and things. Why don’t you go with Nikki? Her friend had to call off. It’s only in the mornings.

Matthew looked up from his computer game at Mrs Thomson’s suggestion. Ancient Egypt? He loved anything to do with Egypt. They’d been studying it in school a while ago and he wanted to go there one day. Maybe even be an archaeologist so he could look for buried tombs and priceless treasure.

He was bored with the summer holidays already. Nothing ever happened in their small town beside the River Clyde and Mum couldn’t afford to take him on holiday this year. Since his dad died, she had to be careful with money. At least she was a teacher and had the whole summer off like him, promising to take him on days out down the coast or to the cinema.

Yeah, that sounds cool, thanks, Mrs Thomson, Matthew answered.

He glanced at Nikki, who grinned at him. He’d even put up with her for a few days. They were in the same class at school and she was ten like him, but he ignored her as much as possible, especially when she was with her giggly friends.

Since their mums were teacher friends, he supposed he’d see quite a lot of her this year. Most of his other friends had already gone off on aeroplanes abroad or to one of the Scottish islands for their holiday.

See you at nine thirty tomorrow morning and I'll run the two of you down to the museum, Nikki’s mum said, as they were leaving.

That evening, Matthew searched out all the information he had on Egypt and found his school project at the bottom of a drawer, crumpled but easy enough to read. He pushed all his comics, clothes and computer games off the bed onto the floor and leaned back against his pillows to read what he’d written.

He skipped over the bits about how the people lived beside the River Nile and why it was important to them, read a little about the clothes and make-up the people wore, then stopped at the picture he’d drawn of the pyramids.

His favourite bit was how these were built and who was put into them. Especially The Valley of the Kings and the boy king Tutankhamun. The pyramids were supposed to make a direct path to the sun, moon and stars which was kind of cool. The Step Pyramid was like a giant stairway right to the Sun God, Ra.

He was in the middle of reading about the pharaohs buried inside, and all the false passages and doors to confuse the grave robbers, when his mother called up.

Matthew, time to put the light out. Remember you’ve got to get up earlier in the morning.

Okay, Mum, he called back.

Before he switched off his lamp, he read to the end of the section. Some of the pharaohs were buried in a subterranean chamber. A ‘Hall of Gold’ at the end of a deep corridor called the way of the Sun God. Then all their jewellery, clothing and gilded furniture surrounded them for the afterlife.

He laughed when he read that a model boat was even left for the Pharaoh to travel along the Nile in the afterlife, wherever it was supposed to be. Amazing.

Maybe his dad was in some kind of afterlife and he’d see him again one day. He tried not to let on how much he missed him so he wouldn’t upset mum but it was good to think he might be happy some place.

When he finally put the light out, he imagined what it must have been like to be a boy pharaoh like Tutankhamun, and he fell asleep looking forward to hearing more about Egypt at the workshop.

Next morning, Matthew walked on in front of Nikki into the museum as he didn’t want everyone to know they were together. About a dozen other boys and girls already sat at the big table.

His heart jumped when he saw the class bully from school, Pete Simpson, glowering at him. He’d been hoping to avoid him all summer.

Two young women waited to greet them.

Right, let’s find you a seat. I’m Julie and this is Sue.

Julie was fair-haired and smiled at them as she introduced herself and Sue, the brown-haired girl. They were dressed like everyone else in jeans and sweatshirt and seemed friendly enough.

Matthew took the seat next to Nikki since all the others were taken but he noticed the horrible smirk on Pete’s face.

We’ll find out your names first, and try to remember them as we go along. Sue started going round the table, writing down each person’s name.

The table was spread with sheets of paper, showing pyramids, the sphinx, Cleopatra and some funny little drawings.

Now, does anyone know what the ancient Egyptian writing was called? Julie asked, as she held up some of the drawings.

Matthew put his hand up. This was easy. Is it hieroglyphics? he asked.

That sounds about right. Julie smiled at him. Hieroglyphs. It was the way they communicated in writing, by drawing these strange little symbols. If it was a royal name, the symbols were usually enclosed within an oval shape called a cartouche.

How do we know what they say? Matthew asked.

Sue continued the explanation. They’ve discovered lots of them on ancient walls and monuments in Egypt. But no one understood them until about the 1800s when someone found the Rosetta stone with three types of script. They eventually worked out what the hieroglyphs meant.

Cool, Matthew said.

Teacher’s wee pet, Pete hissed at Matthew,