Just in time! The trap door opened, and the two adventurers, soaked but safe, found themselves in a giant room where bluish lights lit up the square tile floor. Each tile contained a number.
Tutankhammel’s voice flickered from afar: “TO CROSS THE ROOM, THERE’S ONLY ONE PATH: THE ONE INDICATED BY BLOCKS OF THREE TILES THAT MAKE UP CORRECT ADDITION OR SUBTRACTION EQUATIONS. IF YOU CHOOSE THE WRONG TILES, OBLIVION AWAITS!”
Find aLL tHe sets oF tHree tiLes tHat are correct addition or subtraction equations, as sHown in tHe exaMpLe, to Find your way to tHe door. but be careFuL: eacH set oF tHree tiLes begins witH tHe answer to tHe previous one!
A HINT: you can subtract or add in any direction verticaL, HorizontaL, or diagonaL.
But the door had no handle! There was nothing but an empty rectangle at the center and a few geometric shapes in stone on a box off to the side.
The voice of Tutankhammel echoed: “ONLY BY ARRANGING ALL THE SHAPES IN THE RECTANGLE WILL THE DOOR OPEN!”
tHe sHapes in tHe box can be Found on page 53. cut tHeM out, and HeLp Marco and FatiMa arrange tHeM so tHat tHey aLL Fit in tHe rectangLe.
As soon as Fatima placed the last piece in the right place, the door opened, revealing a small room. They entered, and the door closed behind them, keeping the ever-rising water at bay.
The two adventurers took a few minutes to observe the new space.
“Marco, come look at this. There are three levers. One is near a hieroglyph of a snake, one is near a dog, and the last one an ibis.”
Raising his gaze, Marco saw a slab full of symbols.
“I don’t know which one it is, but we have to figure it out and fast,” Fatima said, seeing the water that was seeping through a few cracks in the wood behind them. I don’t think the door will hold for long!"
( ( ( ( + + + = = = = = = 24 16 500 15 30 100 x x x x x x x ( (
“Finally! We finished all those calculations!” exclaimed Marco. “But how do we get out of here?” They looked around, and Fatima noticed a few round incisions in the floor. Some of them had medallions arranged into an arrow. The wall in front of them read: IF FROM THIS ROOM YOU WISH TO ESCAPE, THE ARROW YOU MUST RESHAPE.
NOW IT’S POINTING DOWN. TURN IT AROUND! DON’T MOVE MORE THAN THREE, OR WARY YOU MUST BE!”
cut out tHe MedaLLions on page 53 and pLace tHeM Here on tHe iMage beLow. FroM tHat starting point, try to HeLp FatiMa by Moving tHeM so tHat tHey ForM an upward arrow, as sHown in tHe exaMpLe at LeFt. reMeMber: you can onLy Move tHree.
Once they set the third medallion in its place, the part of the wall that the arrow pointed at began to slide open. A long hallway extended in front of them.
As soon as the scale was balanced, a “clack” let them know that some gadget had sprung into action. A stela began to rise up in the place of the scale. A pyramid of numbers was carved on its surface. There were also a few holes.
“I guess we have to figure out the rule that determines the order of the numbers,” Marco said to himself.
iF you Figure it out beFore tHey do, HeLp tHeM pass tHe test by writing tHe Missing nuMbers in tHe eMpty spaces.
With each riddle, the two adventurers got one step closer to Tutankhammel's stone. “I wonder what the next test will be,” they said in unison. They didn't have to wait long for the answer. At their feet, the sand shifted, revealing a few tesserae, an empty grid, and four statues. There were a few numbers and mathematical symbols on the grid. The statues held four tiles, each one with a different symbol. A sentence below their feet read:
“THE RIGHT NUMBERS WILL GIVE YOU THE ANSWER YOU SEEK.” 1 2 5 6 3 4 7 8 10 9
2 7 3
“Hey! They look like the geometric shapes we used before!” said Marco. Two boards emerged from the floor. Two unique shapes were carved into their surface.
“We have to complete another two puzzles. Let’s get to work,” Fatima said encouragingly.
HeLp Marco and FatiMa correctLy arrange tHe pieces you aLready cut out on tHese new sHapes.
Fatima slowly brought her hand to the mirror with the chosen number. “What if I’m wrong?” she thought. As soon as she touched the mirror, the room began to change. There were now six walls. The two adventurers stood in the center of a checkerboard made of hexagons, but suddenly a few tiles vanished and they found themselves stuck in the middle. Numbers marked the remaining tiles.
A familiar voice rang out: “WALK ONLY ON MULTIPLES OF 3.”
The sound of the sistra opened a new path to the next level. “Great job!” exclaimed the mummy. Marco and Fatima didn’t respond. Something about his tone of voice was off.
Once they got to the top, they found a sarcophagus with three ropes coming out of it and a new riddle: “I CONTAIN AN UNLIT BRAZIER. WHEN PULLED, ONE OF THE THREE ROPES WILL LIGHT IT. PULL IT AGAIN TO PUT IT OUT. THE OTHER ROPES WILL DO NOTHING AT ALL. YOU CAN PULL THE ROPES AS MANY TIMES AS YOU WANT, BUT ONCE I’M OPEN, NO OTHER ROPES CAN BE PULLED.”
wHicH rope LigHts up tHe brazier?
Here’s a Hint: tHe two soLutions are a bLend oF Logic and intuition.
Here’s a bit oF advice: Heat can HeLp you out.
Marco hesitantly pulled on the cord that seemed like the right one, and more stairs appeared. On the third level, they found a wooden slab with a triangle drawn on it, sort of like a pyramid, but divided into smaller triangles.
to get to tHe next LeveL, tHe two Friends Have to count aLL tHe triangLes in tHe drawing. can you HeLp tHeM?