“Naturally,” Alex said, “when constructing a vast complex such as this, you would think one would notice. Unless it was built before the neighborhood upstairs moved in.”
“Yes,” Ed answered as his attention remained in the direction of the longer main passageway. “I would offer that one would notice the construction of such a large complex.”
“How far is this tunnel again?”
“It’s quite far, my friend. And considering your physical condition and that you still may be a little tipsy, I would recommend grabbing a ride on the surface; besides, my feet are sore.”
“I won’t argue with that. My feet are also stressed, not to forget soaking wet.”
They made it back to the main doorway and re-entered the chamber.
Ed led him directly to the writing. “This,” Ed said, holding his light directly at it, “is the wall that I am going to name, ‘The End of Days Wall.’”
Alex aimed his light over the faded mural. “So, we have a faded painting of a bearded man sitting on a blackish cloud with,” he lowered his light, “writing under the cloud.” He lowered his light further. “And seven candles below that.” He shot his light under each candle from left to right. “And writing under each candle.” He again lowered the light.
“Over another row of writing; all of it appears to be ancient Hebrew.” He lowered it to the base of the wall at the brass statue buried face up, “And that.”
“I thought you would like that,” Ed said, kneeling next to it. “When we were down here the first time it was much darker and we were being shot at.”
Alex knelt down next to him, “So in other words, it was business as usual.”
“It would be an odd day if we were not being shot at,” Ed said, shining his light over the statue’s head to illuminate the writing. “There is another statue in the other chamber, but without writing.”
“This is not something I would expect to find outside of Europe,” Alex said, twisting his head to see the writing. “You have deciphered all of it?”
“I believe so.” Ed began reading,
“In... of the giants... Returning from the everlasting...
Establish their throne.”
Ed stood up. “My initial impression zeroed in on the words Giants and Everlasting.”
Alex remained kneeling, “I would agree.” He spent a few seconds analyzing the writing. He then added, “Let me speculate that your impression would be to re-calibrate the Hebrew words.”
“Precisely my thought.”
Alex stood up, examined the writing under the seven candles briefly and asked, “So the rest of this you believe is a continuation of the other codes?”
“It’s a strong possibility.”
“Well,” Alex continued, “there is more going on here than meets the eye.” He pointed to the black cloud the bearded man was engulfed in. “Look.” He stepped closer to the wall. “Because it appears,” he aimed his light directly at the cloud, “that part is not a cloud.”
Ed also stepped closer and examined the wall. “You’re right. There’s an outline of something, but what is it?”
Alex swept his light directly over the seven candles and stopped on the center one. “Whatever it is, it seems to be pointing to this candle.”
“Indeed it is,” Ed said, following his lead. He stepped directly in front of the image examining its outline. “It almost has the appearance of an Egyptian structure.” He aimed his light back down at the statue, “Almost like this fellow here.”
Alex knelt back down and after a few seconds, he laughed.
“Yes,” Ed asked, “what is so funny?”
“Your statue here.”
Ed glanced down at it, “Yes?”
Alex reached over and knocked on the chest area, “It’s a woman.”
“Oh,” Ed responded, looking closer. He noticed he was hammering on the brass contour of breasts. Ed was slightly embarrassed that he did not notice that obvious detail earlier. “Well, you’re right. It is a woman.” He stepped back getting a broader view. “If you’re a woman,” he said, speaking to the statue, “then you must be a goddess.”
Alex looked up at the faded Hebrew writing under the black cloud. After a few moments of studying it, he began reading,
“The return...
Shall be... The lighting of the...
Seven seals of Erra through the Earth...”
He then moved his light under the first of the seven candles on the right and read the writing, “First seal of Tubal...
He moved the light to the second candle,
“And the horse...”
Next, the third candle,
“Second seal of Masech...”
Fourth candle,
“Third seal of Rosh...”
He paused, stood up, and leaned in closer to see the next small row of Hebrew characters under the fifth candle. “Is that what I think it is?” he asked, keeping his gaze on the wall.
Ed noticed that Alex stopped on an important word. He cleared his throat, “That is also something I wanted you to see.”
“This can’t be right,” Alex said, and began reading,
“The end of days...
Will be in the day Gog days...
Followed by...
The stars passing...
And the great waters...
Will cover the Earth...
And Babylon will return and the gate of Ba’al shall open.”
He glanced at Ed, “Did I get that right?”
“Difficult to say, but I came to the same conclusion.”
“Tubal, Masech, and Rosh are all biblical names,” Alex said.
“But the mention of Gog,” Ed added, “is something totally different.”
Alex stood up, rubbing his chin for a while as he contemplated the writing. He then crossed his arms on his belly in his usual fashion and asked, “And you don’t have a fixed date on this writing yet.”
“Being that you are a master at deciphering hidden codes within codes,” Ed said, “and the fact that you are now fixated on these newly discovered writings, this could only mean that the trauma of being shot, interrogated, and drugged must be wearing off.”
Alex turned his light on Ed, gave him an upset look. “Is that a yes or a no?” he demanded.
“No,” Ed answered, happy that his old friend was back, “I mean yes.”
“Don’t go getting soft on me now,” Alex said.
“When I initially did a rough translation of this wall...”
Alex cut him off, “While under fire.”
“Yes, of course,” Ed answered, snickering at him. “I concluded,” he corrected himself, “well, rather I should say, a preliminary conclusion is that the word Gog in this manner is a numeric word syllable code.”
“Oh, really.” Alex was surprised. He aimed his light back at the three Hebrew characters spelling Gog. “So, if I understand you correctly,” he said, “then, the use of Gog in this form, is a date?”
Ed straightened up and answered, “Yes, I believe so; that is, of course, if we are translating it correctly.”
“Very well. Shall I ruin my lunch by asking what date you have come up with?”
“Ah,” Ed said, glaring at the wall. “Before all the mischief started with all that shooting I calculated a date of 2240.”
Alex did not respond and began studying the wall again. He moved his light back and forth examining different parts and eventually said, “I do not easily gather how you came up with that.”
“I suggest,” Ed said, pulling out his camera, “that we document this wall and I will explain it to you over a cup of tea.”
“That sounds like a great idea, but I want to examine the other entrance soon.”
Ed took several more pictures of his ‘end of days’ wall and then joined Alex at the other faded painting.
Alex had his light aimed at another faded image of a bearded fellow sitting on a throne holding an open book with his left hand. The cover of the book was facing outward and Greek letters were visible on the right side with the left side blank. “The only writing on this wall appears to be on the book cover.”
Ed handed the camera to Alex and added, “The American government has given you and me first rights of investigation. When we leave, they will immediately tear this place apart in their own investigation.”
“I was wondering about that,” Alex answered as he began taking pictures.
When he had finished, they both began climbing the rope ladder to the surface.