An Egyptian Find

I can't believe you! You're such a hypocrite!

These words resounded in Brent's mind as sipped his morning coffee and began to scroll through the emails on his phone. They were the words that his son had shouted at him during the last weekend that they had spent together. Brent knew that he and his ex-wife would soon need to meet and talk concerning their son, and how to approach this sudden negative attitude that he had adopted towards... everything.

As he examined his emails, Brent came across one from his online stock trading platform. The message said that there had been significant activity since his last login. His phone now had his undivided attention as he touched the app and entered his username and password. Once the account summary page loaded, Brent could hardly believe his eyes as he saw that his balance was twenty thousand dollars. Apparently, a stock that he had spent next to nothing on months ago had rallied tremendously and now was quite valuable.

Brent did not even hesitate to close his position and liquidate the stock. But as he attempted to transfer the funds into his bank account, the platform gave a message that the amount was not immediately available. It would be a few days before everything would clear, and then he would able to access his funds. Although he was disappointed at first, Brent realized that in just a few short days he would be able to launch the Egyptian dig that he had been pursuing.

As an archaeologist, Brent lived for the pursuit of the unknown and the promise of the answer to the question. He had experienced a moderate amount of success in his field through his previous digs, but this was the big one. Egypt was the pinnacle for any archaeologist, the ideal location to excavate.

The days passed slowly, but finally his day had come. The funds were available and he was able to make the arrangements for the dig. There was much to do; plane tickets, hotel accommodations, and reaching out to those with the rights to the excavation site to make sure that their previous agreement was still valid. He would also need to text his ex-wife and son to let them know he would be traveling out of the country. Excitement and elation began to swell inside of Brent as he began to take care of each task that was needed before he could fly to Egypt. Brent had always been a profound enthusiast of Egyptian culture, and as he saw the indifferent emoji contained in the reply from his son, he began to envy the ancient Egyptian fathers who were most likely honored and respected by their sons.

Brent's flight was the longest flight that he had ever been on. It seemed as if it would never end. But after many hours, the plane landed at Cairo International Airport. Once he had obtained his luggage, he climbed into the vehicle he had arranged, and proceeded on to the excavation site.

Upon arrival, Brent saw that his colleagues were already there and were busy at work. They couldn't stand to wait, he thought with a smile, and I expected no less. He reached into his backpack and pulled out a small black notebook and a pencil. He wrote into the notebook under the heading of Egyptian Excavation, arrived at 8:33 a.m. 21 Jan 2021, and began to work.

Day after day passed without Brent or his team finding anything. The air felt heavy with the weight of frustration and impending failure. Surely he had not come all this way for nothing. Surely he had not wasted the profits from his fortunate stock experience. As each day dawned, the pressure intensified. Then on the twenty seventh at mid-morning, Brent had finally uncovered something.

After a lot of careful and precise digging and brushing, the top of the structure that the team had uncovered was clearly visible. Anyone whose eyes were fortunate enough to behold the marvel was beyond speechless. There were rows upon rows of hieroglyphs present in every section of the structure that had been uncovered. As the leading expert in ancient languages, Brent had ceased to dig and was now focusing only on deciphering the Egyptian language.

It was sometimes difficult for Brent to concentrate due to the outbursts of pure unadulterated glee every time a member of the team made a new discovery. Despite the distraction, he continued to work on translating the pictures. Many of them were written in honor of the Nile river and the annual flood that caused the Egyptian crops to flourish as they did. Some were stories about the Pharaohs that ruled the land and others were a reflection of the ancient Egyptians' different beliefs. Suddenly, one of his colleagues called for him and then came to him, insisting that he take a look at what he had uncovered.

It was a set of hieroglyphs with a style that was distinctly different from the others and located on an obscure corner of the structure. It even seemed to be older than the others. Wow, what a day! Brent could not wait to begin deciphering this new set of pictures. As he got to work on it, he could clearly see that this was not written by a Pharaoh, or any other who held a place of honor. This was written by a common Egyptian man.

Once he had finished with the translation, Brent located his notebook and began to update his log of findings for the day. He began with a record of the initial find, and then continued to record the different messages within the hieroglyphs on the top of the structure. He could not help but smile in disbelief as he reported his most recent find to the black notebook.

5:30 p.m. 27 Jan 2021

Arthur alerted me to a new set of hieroglyphs on the southwest corner of the structure that I determined after observation, were clearly written by a common Egyptian man. They told the story of a man and his son. The story began with the boy as a child, and continued through adulthood. It would seem that the dynamics of a parent-child relationship hasn't changed much over the millennia...

As Brent endured the long flight home, he had many hours to reflect on the excavation in Egypt. It was unclear whether this discovery would be award winning, or if what Brent and his team had uncovered was the entire find or simply the tip of the iceberg. But the last set of hieroglyphs that was found that day had gifted Brent with a completely different perspective. He knew when he arrived home and spent the next weekend with his son, he would consider the experience of the one who came before him. He would learn to appreciate even this most difficult phase of the relationship, knowing that it would pass soon. He would also take comfort in the knowledge that the hard conversations that he had with his son in the present time would be appreciated at a time in the future. The first weekend of the month was just a few days away.