“It’s just a myth,” Layne said.
Hasan nodded. “That is one thing we can agree on, Dr. Rush.”
“Zerzura?” Declan said with a frown.
“You don’t know the legend of Zerzura?” Hasan said. “The White City in the desert? A group of British adventurers back during World War II formed the Zerzura Club, and tried to find this treasure-filled city.” Hasan’s brow creased. “And there was a Hungarian as well, they made a movie about his life.”
Layne nodded. “The adventurers found lots of caves filled with prehistoric cave paintings, around the border with Egypt and Libya. But they never found Zerzura. The legend begins farther back than that, though. Ancient writings tell of a caravan that sets out from the Nile, heading to the oases. A sandstorm hits. One traveler barely survives, and once the storm has passed, everything looks different. He’s rescued by the Zerzurans—fair-skinned, blue-eyed people who live in a fantastic white city.”
“Fair-skinned?” Declan raised a brow. “Unlikely out here.”
“Did you know that Ramses II and several other pharaohs were fair-skinned with red hair?” Layne said.
“Really?” Declan glanced at Hasan.
The Egyptian man nodded. “DNA analysis links Tutankhamun to Western European ancestors. My country was a melting pot of peoples.”
Layne hurried on. She might doubt Zerzura existed, but she loved the tale her parents had told her so many times. “Ancient Egyptians called themselves red men, but there were clearly paler-skinned people in the mix.”
“Okay,” Declan said, shoving his hands in his pockets. “Why? Why build a city way out in the middle of a dangerous desert, far from the Nile and what passed for civilization back then?”
Layne opened her mouth, closed it. “I don’t know.”
“I doubt it was real,” Hasan said. “A myth. Like so many things mentioned in Ancient Egyptian mythology.”
“My research leads me to suspect it has something to do with the god Seth,” Layne added.
“Really?” Hasan leaned forward.
“His symbol is right there.” She waved at the set-animal. “And he was god of the Western Desert. I believe Zerzura was his mythological home.”
Hasan nodded. “A good theory.”
“Seth?” Declan said. “The god of destruction?”
Layne huffed out a breath. “Seth is seriously misunderstood. In early texts, he was considered a warrior and a protector.”
“He did slay the demon snake, Apep,” Hasan said, nodding.
“He was vilified in later years,” Layne said. “When Upper and Lower Egypt joined, Seth was the god of Upper Egypt. But people in Lower Egypt, the winners in the conflict, worshipped Osiris and his son Horus. They clearly felt the need to demonize Seth and install their own gods as the righteous victors.”
“Horus. The falcon god,” Declan said.
“You have a pretty decent knowledge of Egyptian history,” she said.
He shrugged. “I work around a lot of historical artifacts. It rubs off. Besides, my parents…work in the history field, too.”
Layne tucked her hair behind her ear, enjoying sharing her thoughts. “The legends surrounding Seth changed. They say he was jealous and killed his brother, Osiris, and chopped his body into pieces and spread them across Egypt. It’s the most famous myth in Egyptian history. Osiris’ wife, Isis, found the pieces and used her magic to bring him back to life long enough to conceive a child. Horus. Seth then battled his nephew for the throne.”
“So the Horus followers started bad-mouthing Seth?” Declan gave a thoughtful nod. “Propaganda.”
“Exactly. Seth got relegated to being god of the desert, destruction, storms, foreigners, etc. Anything scary.”
“So, there is a myth about a lost oasis filled with treasure, and you think it was the home of Seth, a demonized god.” Declan shook his head. “The world is littered with myths and legends of lost cities, sunken cities, destroyed cities…all of them filled with treasure.”
Layne nodded. “And lost cities are for fools.”
“I thought you’d made a few legendary discoveries, Rush?”
Just how much did he know about her? “All on well-researched, legitimate digs. I don’t go dashing into jungles and deserts on a whim and a myth.”
“Nor does Anders. Unfortunately, he’s no fool.” Declan scowled at the wall, lost in thought.
Layne sensed something. Declan and this Anders had some sort of history, and from the bad vibes coming off Declan, it couldn’t have been good.
“Anders is either really desperate, or he has something that makes him think Zerzura is real,” Declan said.