MAG 64: Burial Rites

Statement of Donna Gwynne, regarding an unlicensed archaeological dig near the Red Sea in Egypt.
==Statement==
Donna Gwynne took part in an unlicensed dig for a man she identifies as 'Stavo'. He contacted her three years ago, saying they would be dealing in high value goods and trading quickly. Their previous Identifier, an anthropology expert from Harvard, was caught smuggling goods out of China and he needed a replacement.
She worked for him for a few years, along with a geologist Grigori; Norman, their middle man; and two Albanians, Barry and Paul.
The group got wind of the University of Pennsylvania being denied permission to investigate a tomb complex between Cairo and the Red Sea in the middle of the Eastern Desert. They hired two police officers to look vaguely legitimate and headed out.
They found the location easily and managed to open it in a day. Above the entrance was the closed loop of the Shen Ring (symbol of infinity) which usually suggested a royal burial, but they saw no cartouches. Stavo chipped off the Shen Ring and they headed inside. The tomb itself was huge but with little ornamentation, although it didn't look robbed. The path to the Tomb was labyrinthine, but only when returning to the entrance, so the group brought a 150 foot winch cable to retrace their steps.
The central chamber was built of limestone. On a raised dais in the center lay the remains of an unpainted wooden sarcophagus with untarnished copper bands but rotten wood. Bandages rotted away and flesh could be seen beneath. A half-dozen small dice made from animal bones lay in the corner of the chamber.
Stavo went over to the mummy, furious at the lack of saleable goods. Donna explained that the mummy could be profitable and Stavo began to apologize to Donna, when he suddenly went pale. A blackened hand was holding his wrist. The corpse opened its empty eye sockets and tried to scream. Stavo shot the mummy, blowing off the back of its skull; he and the rest of the group fled, leaving Donna.
As it crawled towards her, she drew her hunting knife. It grabbed her shin and she stabbed it in the throat, but the mummy grabbed the knife and pulled it out of itself. Holding the knife in Donna's hand, it stabbed itself 5 times where its heart would be.
Donna fled to the entrance where the rest of the team resealed the tomb and buried it again.
== Post-Statement Follow-Up ==
Jonathan was not able to do any follow up in this case, but was able to confirm that Donna is now a teacher, against her earlier wishes.
== Supplemental ==
Jonathan went to the police station to ask Basira more about the tapes, but she became hostile, saying she was already under scrutiny.
== Continuity ==
* This episode bears thematic resemblance to MAG 29 with the undead nature of the mummy and the connection to gambling with the dice.
* Related Entity: The End
Category:The Magnus Archives Episodes