“Fane of the Black Pharaoh” (Weird Tales, December 1937)

Bloch, Robert. “Fane of the Black Pharaoh.” Weird Tales, December 1937, pp. 665-676.
https://archive.org/details/Weird_Tales_v30n05_1937-11_ATLPM-Urf/page/n65/mode/2up

Captain Carteret is an Egyptologist in Cairo who is approached by a strange man who offers him the chance to explore the heretofore undiscovered crypt of Nephren-Ka, an ancient sorcerer king devoted to Nyarlathotep. Even though he senses he is being manipulated and possibly even coerced, Carteret cannot resist the offer. He explains all he knows to the mysterious stranger who then escorts him across Cairo and into the catacombs beneath the city. Nephren-Ka was gifted with prophecy, and he spent his final years inscribing onto the walls of his temple a history of Egypt and the world for all time to come. Lest they be rendered insane, the high priest of the temple reveals only one day at a time to followers. The rest—the future of humanity—is concealed behind a heavy curtain. As they make their way through this long tunnel, Carteret resists looking at the walls. He knows that if the account of the prophecy were true, then all of the horrific lore associated with it must also be true. Finally, his will breaks, and he studies the wall. All of history is revealed, all the work of a single hand, a single artist. Just before the concealing curtain, he seems an image of himself escorted by the stranger—the high priest of Nephren-Ka—into the secret great hall. The priest tells him that midnight has arrived, and it is now time to reveal the events of the new day. The image revealed himself being killed by the priest of Nephren-Ka exactly at the moment when the fatal knife plunged into this back.

This is such a fun story! It features the blowhard European explorer who wants the riches and is unwilling to admit that the supernatural lore might be true. I loved the Wall of Truth, that in a frenzy of activity as he neared death, Nephren-Ka laid out the entire history of Egypt and beyond for his followers and that his followers, knowing what might happen, covered it up. they did give themselves the advantage of knowledge one day in advance, and that’s an interesting accommodation to individual sanity and good social order. My favorite moment has to be when captain Carteret is walking with the priest through the Great Hall saying to himself “Don’t look! Don’t look!” but then, in less than page, his will breaks and he absorbs the full sweep of history. James Maliszewski has some deep thoughts about this story in his blog, Grognardia, which is always fun!