13-THE SECRET OF THE PYRAMIDS

THE SECRET OF THE PYRAMIDS We mounted two camels standing outside the lab and galloped off. The sun was setting over the desert sand, painting the dunes pink. I pulled out my camera. Somehow I managed to take a few great shots without falling off the camel. click click click Oh, what a day! After a wild ride, we finally spotted Cheops's pyramid.

The professor jumped off his camel and parked it like a pro. I slid off mine and crumpled to the ground. My snout was GREEN from the crazy ride.

"HOLEY CHEESE!..." I murmured. My camel gave me a look that said, You are one sorry, sorry mouse, Stilton. I wasn't sure why we had stopped, but I quickly found out. It seemed the professor had a little history lesson in store for me. He began to recite. "The pyramids were

funerary monuments dedicated to the pharaohs, like Cheops, Chephren, and Mykerinos. The pyramids have a SQUARE base. Inside, there are one or more burial chambers connected by secret corridors and passages.

"After his death, the pharaoh's body would be emptied of its internal organs. It was then treated with a special substance called mum to preserve it. Finally, it was wrapped in linen bandages and placed in a sarcophagus, a big stone coffin. "The pharaoh's mummy was sealed inside the sarcophagus. Then, all of the pharaoh's riches were placed around it. That's because the Egyptians believed that after death, the soul went on a journey to the afterlife, taking all its treasures with it! Robbers have been digging through the pyramids for centuries, looking

for the riches left beside the pharaohs' sarcophagi. "The pyramids are still a great MYSTERY to this day. They were built thanks to the labor of thousands of workers. Most of them were peasants. The peasants built these huge monuments to honor their pharaoh. "Cheops's pyramid is the biggest stone structure ever built. How were the Egyptian workers able to lift such incredibly heavy blocks? No one knows for sure. Perhaps the workers transported the blocks using wooden rollers to slide them along!" Professor Spitfur coughed. Then he added in a low voice, "According to some theories, the Egyptians lifted the blocks by the use of telepathy, or the power of thought. It is said