Read Online The Lost Catacomb by Shifra Hochberg - Free Book Online

marble, which had become slightly pitted with the passage of time,
though their strigilated, decoratively etched surfaces still bore the markings
of the craftsman ’ s skill.
    While most sarcophagi were purchased ready-made from a
local stonemason, with additional engravings or carvings custom ordered, these
two were particularly remarkable in the richness of their ornamentation.   Their lids were embellished with
identical medallions, or a clipeus , at the center, displaying an
elaborately intertwined crucifix and Star of David, with the Hebrew word Shalom — שלום — etched
underneath.
    Hesitating only briefly, Nicola turned to Bruno and asked, “ I know
this might sound kind of creepy, but do you think we should try to move the
lids of the sarcophagi?   I know they ’ re very
heavy, but maybe there ’ s something important inside.   I mean, besides the bones.   Maybe something hidden with the bodies
that will help us identify who ’ s buried here. ”
    Bruno looked at her in disbelief.   “ You can ’ t be serious, Nicola.   Please tell me you ’ re kidding. ”
    “ Come on,
Bruno, ” she
tried to insist.   “ By now
there should be nothing left inside but dry bones.    Even if the bodies were embalmed
all those years ago, it ’ s not as if we ’ re going to find a mummy or anything. ”
    “ Okay, ” he finally
said.   “ I ’ ll help
you look inside.   But not
today.   And not before lunch, which
by the way, is long overdue, ” he
added, glancing at the luminous dial of his watch and noting that it was
already three o ’ clock in the afternoon.
    “ All right, ” she
conceded with a rueful smile.   “ I wouldn ’ t want to
spoil your appetite.   But can we at
least have a closer look at the iconography on the plaques outside the cryptbefore we leave?   Please? ” she
begged.   “ Maybe
there ’ s something there that ’ s been overlooked.   Something that might indicate some sort of corroborative symbology.   Or maybe something pointing to another
carefully concealed chamber behind the loculi . ”
    “ Okay, I
suppose that would be a good idea, ” he
agreed somewhat reluctantly. “ We ’ re already down here, so we might as well begin now.   I guess lunch can wait. ”
    As they paced the corridor leading away from the crypt,
flashlights and magnifying glasses in hand, they examined its roughly textured
walls with meticulous care, one small section at a time, to see if anything
might require treatment with an antiscaling agent to remove salt crystals and
other degradation products on the surface.
    “ I ’ m going
back inside to get the barium peroxide and ammonium carbonate, ” Nicola
said.   “ I ’ d like to
try to clean the surface of the tufa near the entrance to the
chamber.   Maybe you can dry brush
some of the areas first, so the solvents will work more quickly. ”
    After half an hour of painstaking effort, Nicola thought
she saw a glint of silvery-looking metal between two of the bricks, several
feet away from the entrance to the hypogeum .   Covered in layers of crumbling mortar,
centuries of dust, and chemical deposits, it was barely noticeable.
    “ Look,
Bruno, ” she
called out.   “ There
seems to be something buried in the wall, over here, next to one of the fake loculi . ”
    Carefully they brushed the surface again and slowly abraded
the margin of the bricks to reveal something wedged inside that looked like a
small hand on a long sculpted stick.
    “ I wonder
what that could be, ” Nicola
said.   “ Do you
think it might be a toy?   Like a
rattle?   Maybe something that was
cemented into the wrong place, by accident?    After all, we ’ ve seen
quite a few children ’ s graves along the way that are decorated with dolls. ”
    Gingerly, Bruno pulled out the object with a pair of flat
tweezers.   He turned it over in the
palm of his own hand and shone the flashlight on it.
    “ It appears
to be made of silver, ” he
observed as he