Far Horizons: Tales of Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Horror. Issue #17 August 2015 | Page 49

The Death Mask
of Tijaboo
By Daniel S. Liuzzi

I stood next to my student assistant in the
forensic lab in the basement of the anthropology
building of the university; the two of us were not sure
whether to smile and approach the artefact or to keep
a clear distance from it. This artefact was the subject
of years of research by a colleague, Dr Richard
Mentz before he left to continue his research which
eventually took him to the Democratic Republic of
the Congo. Where this sinister relic came from. Dr
Mentz studied early civilizations, dead languages
and Forensic Anthropology, my field of research. The
two of us became partners back when we both taught
here at the university. Mentz became intrigued, no,
obsessed with the Bantu language. He took a great
interest in one legend in particular, about a living
god named Tijaboo, who was said to come from the
sun and was both respected and feared by the ancient
Africans.
Mentz’s research over the years found that
Tijaboo was originally believed to be a primitive
version of the word ‘and’, since it made frequent
appearances. However recent breakthroughs showed
that the first half, ‘Tija’ meant ‘bringer’ or ‘deliverer
of’. Further discoveries of surviving texts throughout
ancient sites mainly in Egypt and Sudan, by Mentz,
showed that Tijaboo was more feared than respected
by ancient Africans. This made sense since the
year before leaving the University Mentz made a
breakthrough in his research of the ancient dialect
discovering that “boo” meant “destruction” or
“plague”. This shed light on why this god was feared,
Tijaboo meant “Bringer of Plague” or “Deliverer
of Destruction”. Mentz left for Africa following a

discovery of where Tijaboo was said to be buried after
he was overthrown by his worshipers; confirming that
there was truth to these stories that this individual was
at one point an actual person saying they were a god.
Mentz’s expedition found the site and weeks later the
fruit of his research was sent back here for me to look
at, the death mask of Tijaboo.
“Physical evidence of a god?” my assistant
asked with a nervous smile.
“Gods don’t die and need death masks.” I said
back to my pupil.
“Why is it called a mask, it’s more like a...
vessel,” my assistant said finally approaching the
death mask.
He was right; this ‘mask’ looked like a head
shaped container. It was made from carved malachite,
a green stone with a cosmic oil slick pattern to it.
Most ancient death masks I’ve seen showed images
depicting the person in life, usually in good health, but
this mask was different. The face in the stone was full
of resentment with a gaping mouth and scowling eyes
that were sunken into the head. This face was not of a
person who the craftsmen felt later generations should
admire.
“Is it true?” my assistant asked looking back at
me from the mask, “that you already X-rayed this?”
“Yes, this morning.” I knew my assistant had
heard the rumours and I was