Amongst them is an unknown animal of tremendous size that looks like a giant hyena — such an animal is unknown in Egypt, in all Africa, in fact. And then, in the Cairo Museum, there is a statue of a girl found in the ruins of the city of Akhetaton, built in the 14th century B.C. — she is not an Egyptian and the work is not Egyptian, it is like something from another world. My colleagues will tell you that it is con-ven-tion-al-ized,” drawled the archaeologist with a touch of sarcasm. “In connection with this I always like to recall another story. On those same Egyptian wall paintings you often come across a little fish. Just a tiny fish with nothing special about it except that it is always drawn upside down, belly upwards. How could the Egyptians, whose drawings are always so precise, draw such an unnatural fish. Explanations, of course, were forthcoming: it was explained away by conventionalism, by religion, by the influence of the cult of the god Amon. The conclusions were quite convincing and everybody was satisfied. Then it was discovered that there is a fish in the Nile today exactly like the one in the paintings — it swims belly upwards! Very instructive. But I’m running away with myself! Good-bye, you’ll find the riddles of history interesting…”

“Just a minute, Professor!” exclaimed the girl. “Excuse me, but can’t you explain this riddle yourself… Tell us what you think about the stone…” The girl stopped in embarrassment.

The archaeologist smiled.

“There’s no getting away from you. All that I can tell you is sheer guesswork, that’s all. One thing is certain: real art reflects life, art itself is living and can only rise to new heights in the struggle against the old. In the distant past, when that cameo was carved, slavery, oppression and lawlessness reigned supreme. Many people lived out their lives in perpetual misery. There were slaves, however, who fought for their emancipation, and oppressed people who rose up in arms against their oppressors.