The sweltering heat outside of the Giza pyramids was almost unbearable. (It was about tea time, they calculated). But the press waited anyway. Inside, the archaeologists swarmed over the tomb, hustling over each other, holding tools they themselves could sometimes not identify.

Breaths were held as the sealed sarcophagus of the legendary Queen Hetepheres was opened. There was silence as the lid slid off strenuously, making everyone constrict their windpipes further.

There was no appreciative cheer when it was fully off – instead, a deadly, thick silence.

There was no mummy. Canopic jars, yes. But NO MUMMY .

“What is the meaning of this?!” one of them exclaimed.

The head archaeologist walked outside, calm whilst he faced the hordes of flashing cameras and bustling, pretentious reporters.

There was silence again as he spoke.

“The Queen is not receiving today.”

And, with that, he walked away.

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This actually happened in 1925