Temple of the Inscriptions

by Humphrey Price

Table of Contents

Chapter 2: The Temple

When we got to the base of the Temple of the Inscriptions, a tour group was meandering down the steps. We stood aside to let them pass before we scaled the narrow stone stairway up to the apex of the pyramid. It was a steep climb up the 69 steps, but we were in good physical shape, so we were hardly winded when we arrived at the rectangular stone house-like structure perched at the top. Unlike any other Mayan or Aztec pyramids yet discovered, this had an internal stairway that led from an opening at the top down to a crypt deep inside the pyramid.

The stone house was fascinating, with an amazing series of carved pictures and hieroglyphs, but we wanted to see the crypt before it closed up for the day. There was a wrought iron gate blocking the entrance to the stairway, and a nicely dressed man in a guayabera shirt was in the process of chaining it closed with a padlock. One of the signs on the gate said in English, “Crypt can only be viewed in tour groups.” There was a schedule of times listed below which probably had no bearing as to when the tours were actually conducted.

“¿Señor, por favor, es posible que ver el crypto?”

He responded in very good English, “I’m sorry, but the last tour just finished. I have to close up for the day. The next tour is at eight tomorrow.”

“We really would like to look at the crypt today.” I pulled out a 100-peso bill. “Can you give us a quick private tour?”

He examined the bill with a stern expression then looked me in the eye and gave a sly smile. “Do you each have a flashlight?”

“Yes, we do. In our backpacks.”

He held out his hand, and I gave him the bill. Then he pulled off the chain and opened the gate.

“I have to close up the rest of the site so I can leave on time. Are you up for going down to the crypt by yourself? It’s very safe.”

“Sure. No problem,” I said eagerly.

“There are no lights on down there, so you need to keep both your flashlights on in case one fails. Go on down. Don’t touch anything, and be sure to stay behind the chains that say ‘Keep out’.”

“You bet. Thanks!”

“I’ll be back in about twenty minutes. Please be out by then. Have fun!” Then he walked away, leaving Karyn and me staring into a dark rectangular hole in the floor.

She shined her flashlight down onto the steep, narrow stone steps that plummeted into the black unknown. “Looks pretty spooky,” she said.

“Do you want me to go first?”

“Yes.”

With my flashlight, I led the way. I had to stoop to avoid hitting my head on the ceiling at the entrance, but Karyn, following behind me, could walk upright. Once we were all the way into the stairwell, it opened up into a vaulted top, and I could easily stand up.

“You okay back there, Space Girl?”

“I’m cool. In fact, it’s getting cooler in here as we go down. I like it.”

It was pitch black, and our flashlights could penetrate only a short distance ahead. At our careful pace, we were descending for some time. Abruptly the steps terminated at a small landing, and we were facing a smooth, flat vertical wall.

Searching with our lights, we saw an opening to another flight of stairs on the right that went down in the opposite direction, back toward the center of the pyramid.

“Well, Señor Frog, shall we continue on down to our certain doom?”

“Wait. I’m trying to remember what I read about this. There’s supposed to be something in the wall here. I think it’s called a psycho-duct.”

“Sounds kinda crazy to me.”

“A lot of pyramids and tombs have them, even in Egypt. Let’s turn off our lights for a minute.”

After a pause, she said, “Okay, but I want you to hold my hand.”

I held her hand, and we both turned off our flashlights. It was completely dark. “Wait a minute for our eyes to adjust.”

After about thirty seconds, Karyn said, “I can see something now. I think it’s light back from the entrance.”

“Yeah, I’m just starting to see something. Hey, over here! This is what I’m looking for. I’m going to pull your hand over to it.” I guided her hand over to a small round patch on the wall illuminated with a faint glow. Together we felt around it to discover it was a hole that slanted upward.

My eyes had acclimated enough to see Karyn’s face right next to the hole. “It’s a shaft! I can see a faint light inside. I think it goes all the way to the outside.”

“Do you think it’s an air vent?”

“Well, it probably is that, but... I think it may be something else, too. I’m going to turn on my light.” She aimed her flashlight down the next flight of steps. “Now let’s see if I’m right.” She inserted the butt of her flashlight into the hole of the psycho-duct so that the light was aimed in the same direction as the shaft.

The beam of light was aimed directly down the center of the stairway going to the bottom of the crypt. “Ha! This is so cool! Do you know what this means?”

“Uh, the spirit of the dead king has a straight shot to heaven up the stairway and through the hole, or... it makes a great flashlight holder.”

“No and no. What it means is that at some exact time on one exact day of the year, the sun will shine directly down this shaft and light up the lower stairway. Not only that, it will light up some exact spot at the bottom.”

“Wow. How long will it stay lit?”

“Given that it’s such a narrow angle, and given how fast the sun’s apparent motion is, I would guess about one minute. About how long it takes to see the sun set on a clear horizon.”

“One minute of light for a whole year.”

With that amazing thought in our brains, we proceeded down the final stairway to the bottom of the ancient tomb, deep inside the pyramid. We were getting used to the dark, steep, creepy stone stairway, and we made quick time to the bottom.

There was a landing at the footing and an opening into a chamber with a rectangular stone coffin. In awe-struck silence, we turned our lights onto the crypt. Karyn gasped as we focused our beams on the intricately carved cover of the sarcophagus.

Our eyes were drawn to the life-size image of the Mayan king, or demi-god, whose face in profile seemed to be staring intently at something. Was he looking at the controls of a spaceship? He was reclining on an unusual-looking seat and was in a position with his knees up, very similar to an astronaut in a space capsule. One of his feet looked like it fit into a stirrup or some kind of pedal. In the engraving, there were many ornate features around him which might be high tech machinery, spiritual symbols, or fanciful hallucinations.

There wasn’t much clearance between the sarcophagus cover and the high point of the opening into the crypt, so we could only view the engraving from a very oblique angle. Even though I had a 75-peso artist’s copy of the picture, I wanted to get a better look at the real thing. I slipped off my backpack, set it on the landing, and got out my 35mm camera. Then I told Karyn, “I’m going to climb over there and take a closer look.”

“Scott, the guy said we couldn’t touch anything!”

“I’ll be careful,” I promised as I climbed over the keep-out chain and stepped down off the landing onto the stone floor of the burial chamber.

“I don’t know, Señor Frog. This seems like a bad idea.”

“Shine your light over here so I can see what I’m doing.”

I was able to get a good handhold on the edge of the sarcophagus cover, swing my legs up, and hoist my body up on top of the slab. Piece of cake. I turned my light on and looked at the engraving close up.

“This is incredible! It’s so well preserved.”

“I don’t think you’re helping with the preservation part.”

I was crawling around on my hands and knees to see the engraving. “There’s a lot of detail here. C’mon, Space Girl, ya gotta see this! I think there’s room for two people up here. It’ll be a little cozy.”

She thought about this for a moment. “Okay, I’m going to climb over there and get on the slab with you. Now don’t get any ideas.”

“Oh, I have lots of ideas.”

“Okay, Señor Frog, you can have ideas. They just need to remain ideas.” She jumped down off the landing, scrambled up to the top of the sarcophagus, and crouched down next to me on the slab.

Together we took a tour around the ornately carved ancient work of art, inspecting each detail close up and marveling at its magnificence. I took flash photos. Ultimately, we focused on the Mayan god-king and the intent look of concentration on his profiled face.

“Just what is he looking at?” Karyn wondered.

“I think he’s staring at this thing that looks like a dashboard over here.” Karyn followed me over to another location. She was leaning down close to the slab when we heard a sharp snap from right under her, startling us. We both turned our lights over to the sound and saw that her meteorite pendant was stuck on top of a small round bump, pulling her necklace chain taut. The bump was in the middle of a larger engraved circle that made it look like a bulls-eye.

She tugged sideways on the chain and said, “It’s not letting go! It’s like a strong magnet.”

“Let me try.” I got a good grip on the pendant and tried to wiggle it. It was like it was welded onto the small stone feature. I thought about the super-strong permanent magnets we had in the lab and how we took them apart when they got stuck together. I twisted it while I slid the pendant to the side rather than trying to just pull it straight up. Sure enough, as I moved it to the side, the force weakened, and I was able to pull it away.

“Let me try something,” I said, as I pulled out a small screwdriver that was clipped to my shirt pocket. I used it often to adjust the idle and the carburetor on the VW. “I’ve got a magnet on this screwdriver. I want to see if it works.”

I put it on the bump, but there was no attraction. “Hmmm. Nothing! Why doesn’t it stick? Let me try your meteorite again.” She scooted over close and handed me her pendant.

Snap! It stuck to the bump with great force. I grasped the chunk of iron meteorite with both of my thumbs and forefingers and pulled straight up. As we watched in amazement, the bump lifted up on a cylindrical shaft. Then, surprisingly, the pendant came loose, and I almost lost my balance as it flew away.

Karyn took her pendant back and repeatedly touched the bump and the shaft it was raised up on. “There’s no attraction at all now.” She put one finger on the bump and pushed down. The shaft silently slid back down into the stone slab, and the bump went back to its original placement. “Wow! I wonder if the pendant will stick n...”

We were startled by a terrifying loud noise, like a giant boulder rolling down a hill. It lasted for about five seconds then stopped with an even louder WHAM that reverberated in the ensuing silence.

Proceed to Chapter 3...

Copyright © 2023 by Humphrey Price