Today all these ancient languages are dead. In the comic Edifis' scribe says he speaks all the living languages: Latin, Greek and Egyptian.Obelix destroying the Sphinx's nose explains why it has no nose nowadays.Funny Background Event: Cleopatra and Getafix are calmly discussing the poisoned cake, somehow not being drowned out by Asterix and Obelix having a shouting match over the appropriateness of eating leftover almonds in the presence of a queen.
Artifis incites a worker's rebellion, and sabotages shipments of stone, but both are stopped by the magic potion. The construction of the palace is inhibited by Edifis' rival Artifis, who would love to see the former fed to the crocs.
Since such a thing would not be possible without magic, Edifis goes to Gaul and enlist the aid of his friend Getafix, with Asterix, Obelix, and Dogmatix along for the ride. The Queen of the Nile warns her architect Edifis that if he fails to make the three-month time limit, he will be fed to the crocodiles. To prove him wrong, Cleopatra declares that she will have a palace for him built within three months. Julius Caesar has insulted Cleopatra VII by saying that the Egyptians have become decadent.