The priest left Amram alone after he had shown him that the door
required repair, and had, with an unmistakable gesture, enjoined on
him silence and secrecy.
When Amram was left alone, and found himself for the first time
within the sacred walls which could not overawe a Hebrew's mind, he
yet felt a certain alarm at all the mysteriousness, of which he had
heard since his youth. In order to shake off his fear of the unknown,
he resolved to satisfy his curiosity, though at the risk of being
turned out, if he met anyone. As a pretext he took a fine
plane in his hand, and entered the great hall.
It was very spacious. In the midst was a fountain of red granite,
with an obelisk set upright in the basin. The walls were adorned
with figures painted in simple colours, most of them in red ochre,
but also in yellow and black. He drew off his sandals, and went on
into a gallery where stood mummy-coffins leaning against the wall.
Then he entered a domed room, on the vault of which were painted the
great constellations of the northern hemisphere. In the middle of
the room stood a table, on which lay a half-globe covered with
designs resembling the outlines of a map. By the window stood
another table, with a model of the largest pyramid set upon a
land-surveyor's board, with a scale of measurements.
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