The Moses Stone (31 page)
“And the Sicarii?”
“I was just getting to that. According to Josephus—you’ve heard of him, I hope—while the Romans were actually besieging Masada, some of the garrison of Sicarii managed to slip out and launch a raid on the Jewish settlement at Ein-Gedi. It was a major attack, and they killed over seven hundred people. You have to remember that at this period in history Jews fighting other Jews wasn’t that uncommon.
“Not much is known about the inhabitants of Ein-Gedi at the time, but the oasis must have been reasonably prosperous to have been able to support that many people. Presumably the Sicarii were looking for food or weapons, that kind of thing, to help them in their fight against the Roman forces encircling Masada. Of course,” Ben Halevi finished, “it didn’t do them any good, because the citadel fell not that long afterward, and all the Sicarii there perished.”
“That’s interesting, Yosef,” Angela said, making a mental note, then changed the subject. “We’re also interested in the background to the story of the Mosaic Covenant. For Chris’s benefit, could you explain a bit about that as well?”
“The Mosaic Covenant?” Ben Halevi said, looking closely at Angela—too closely for Bronson’s liking. “Right. Well, according to your Bible—the Old Testament, obviously—one of the most sacred objects owned by the Israelites was the Ark of the Covenant, which was stored in several different sanctuaries in Judea over the years, including Shiloh and Shechem. When Jerusalem was captured by King David, he decided to build a permanent resting place for the relic there, and the Temple Mount in the old part of the city was the obvious choice.
“Solomon was the second son of David, and ascended to the throne as King of Israel in 961 BC. He continued the work his father had started, and completed the temple in 957 BC. The building was not only the home of the Ark itself, which had its own special room there called the
devir
, or holy of holies, but also a place of worship for the people. According to legend, though the temple was fairly small, it had a courtyard large enough to accommodate a substantial number of worshippers. It was apparently constructed primarily of cedar, but with a lot of gold ornamentation inside. This became known as the Temple of Solomon, and later as the First Temple. It lasted for some three hundred and seventy years until Nebuchadnezzar, king of Chaldea, razed Jerusalem to the ground and completely destroyed the building. The Ark of the Covenant vanished from the historical record some time during this period.”
devir
, or holy of holies, but also a place of worship for the people. According to legend, though the temple was fairly small, it had a courtyard large enough to accommodate a substantial number of worshippers. It was apparently constructed primarily of cedar, but with a lot of gold ornamentation inside. This became known as the Temple of Solomon, and later as the First Temple. It lasted for some three hundred and seventy years until Nebuchadnezzar, king of Chaldea, razed Jerusalem to the ground and completely destroyed the building. The Ark of the Covenant vanished from the historical record some time during this period.”
“What was the Ark made of?” Bronson asked. “Gold, I suppose?”
Ben Halevi shook his head. “Most accounts state that it appeared to be gold, but we believe it was actually made of acacia wood that was then covered in gold leaf. It was apparently very highly decorated, with an ornamented lid and rings on the sides that allowed it to be carried using poles thrust through them. If that description was correct, the chances are that the wood had rotted and the Ark itself might well have disintegrated by this time, so it may not have been stolen.
“Anyway,” Ben Halevi continued, “about half a century later, work started on erecting the Second Temple, which was probably similar in design to the Temple of Solomon, but more modest in scale. It was destroyed in AD 70 by the Romans—and as you probably know there’s been no Jewish temple on the Mount since then, and that’s a problem for many Jews.”
Ben Halevi gestured toward the waiter, who brought over a bottle of red wine and refilled their glasses.
“You mean because you don’t have a place to worship?” Bronson asked.
Ben Halevi shook his head. “Not just that, though obviously it’s an important point. No, to fully understand why the lack of a temple is so important, you have to delve into your Old Testament, into the Book of Revelation, in fact. You’re familiar with it, I presume?” he asked, another smile slowly becoming visible.
Bronson and Angela both shook their heads.
“Shame on you,” Ben Halevi said lightly. “Let me explain. The Book of Revelation was allegedly written by a man called John of Patmos, who was possibly also the Apostle John, because he was believed to have been exiled to the island of Patmos in the Aegean late in the first century AD. It’s probably the most difficult book in your Bible to understand, because it’s entirely apocalyptic, all to do with the Second Coming and the end of the world, which is why early versions of the book were known as ‘The Apocalypse of John.’ Now, the truth is that nobody knows if the author was the Apostle John or somebody completely different, just as nobody knows if the man who wrote it was a true visionary, a seer, who was accurately describing visions and images sent to him by God, or just a harmless loony who’d flipped from living on a sun-baked rock in the Aegean surrounded by goats.
“The trouble is that a lot of people have taken what’s written in the Book of Revelation as the gospel truth, literally believing every word. Predictably enough, most of these fundamentalist believers live in America, a nice long distance away from us on the front line in Israel, but there are quite a lot of people here who share the same beliefs. And one of the crucial ideas culled from Revelation is that there will be a Second Coming, a day of Apocalypse, when Jesus will return to the earth, but this time as a warrior, not a messiah, and His arrival will herald the final battle between good and evil. After that battle, which the forces of good will win—obviously—Jesus will reign over a peaceful earth for a thousand years.”
“Do you believe that stuff?” Bronson asked, his expression openly skeptical.
“I’m a Jew,” Ben Halevi replied. “I’m just reminding you of what
your
Bible says.
My
beliefs are irrelevant.”
your
Bible says.
My
beliefs are irrelevant.”
“But do you?” Bronson persisted.
“Since you ask, no, but it’s what the majority believes that’s important, and you’d be surprised how many people do expect the world to end pretty much as Revelation foretells.”
“And this revolves around the Third Temple?” Angela suggested.
“Exactly. According to one interpretation of Revelation—and not everyone agrees with this—Jesus will only return to earth when the Jews possess all of the Holy Land. The closest we came to that was in 1967 when our soldiers captured Jerusalem, and for the first time in almost two millennia we regained control of the Western Wall and the Temple Mount itself. But control of the Mount was almost immediately handed back to the Muslims by Moshe Dayan.”
“Why on earth did he do that?”
“Well, Dayan was the Minister of Defense at the time, so the decision was his, and it’s even possible to argue that it was the
right
decision. The Temple Mount was already occupied by the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque, two of the holiest sites in Islam. If Israel had retained control of the Mount, there would have been enormous pressure to destroy these buildings in order to erect the Third Temple, and if that had been done, we would almost certainly have found ourselves at war with the entire Muslim world, a war we probably wouldn’t have been able to win. What Dayan did brought at least a measure of peace—or the hope of it, anyway.”
right
decision. The Temple Mount was already occupied by the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque, two of the holiest sites in Islam. If Israel had retained control of the Mount, there would have been enormous pressure to destroy these buildings in order to erect the Third Temple, and if that had been done, we would almost certainly have found ourselves at war with the entire Muslim world, a war we probably wouldn’t have been able to win. What Dayan did brought at least a measure of peace—or the hope of it, anyway.”
He sighed, and Bronson knew that he was thinking of the recent terrible unrest and the continuing battles between the Palestinians and Israelis.
Angela leaned forward slightly and looked at Ben Halevi.
“Finally, Yosef, what’s your opinion of the Copper Scroll? Do you think it’s a genuine listing of some treasures, or just a hoax?”
The Israeli smiled slightly. “That’s fairly easy to answer,” he said. “I think most researchers are satisfied that the Copper Scroll is a real listing of real treasure. It’s also been suggested that it was only ever intended to record the hiding places of the treasure for a short time, the idea being that the objects would be recovered within a matter of months or a few years at the latest after being hidden. But if that is the case, why didn’t the authors of the scroll write it on papyrus instead? Why would they take such enormous time and trouble to prepare a document apparently intended to last for eternity, if the text they were going to produce would only be applicable for a few years?
“And if the Copper Scroll
is
a real listing, that suggests that the reference to another document—the so-called Silver Scroll—is also real, in which case the short-term hiding place argument takes another hit. Why produce the Copper Scroll
and
another, possibly silver, scroll, to record something so ephemeral? Nobody has so far offered a convincing reason for that discrepancy.
is
a real listing, that suggests that the reference to another document—the so-called Silver Scroll—is also real, in which case the short-term hiding place argument takes another hit. Why produce the Copper Scroll
and
another, possibly silver, scroll, to record something so ephemeral? Nobody has so far offered a convincing reason for that discrepancy.
“The only believable suggestion I’ve heard was that the two scrolls would have to be read together to decipher what was meant. In other words, the Silver Scroll would positively identify the area where something was hidden, and then the detailed reference on the Copper Scroll would lead you to the exact hiding place. In that case, it would make sense to hide the two scrolls in separate locations, which we know was done, because there’s nothing like the Silver Scroll concealed anywhere at Qumran.”
Bronson and Angela exchanged glances. That was a sort of confirmation of what they had deduced from the inscription on the clay tablets.
“To some extent,” Ben Halevi finished, “that argument is supported by the fact that the Copper Scroll wasn’t really hidden—it was just placed in a cave with a lot of other scrolls. And it
does
refer to the Silver Scroll being properly concealed somewhere. So does it exist? I have no idea, but we know the Copper Scroll is real, and the consensus is that the record is genuine, so that makes me think that there could well be a second document, another scroll, hidden somewhere. Unfortunately, we’ve not the slightest idea where.”
does
refer to the Silver Scroll being properly concealed somewhere. So does it exist? I have no idea, but we know the Copper Scroll is real, and the consensus is that the record is genuine, so that makes me think that there could well be a second document, another scroll, hidden somewhere. Unfortunately, we’ve not the slightest idea where.”
He glanced at his watch, got to his feet, shook Bronson’s hand and kissed Angela. “It’s late and I have to work tomorrow,” he said. “Reading between the lines, it sounds to me as if you’re on the track of something interesting, maybe even significant. Please keep in touch with me, and whatever you need, I’ll do my very best to help you.”
57
“Where are they?” Yacoub asked, his voice quiet and controlled.
“They’ve checked out of their hotel.”
“I already know that, Musab,” the man with the frozen face said, his voice still calm. “That wasn’t what I asked you. Where are they now?”
Musab—one of the three men Yacoub had selected to accompany him to Israel for the operation—looked away, unable to hold his boss’s gaze. “I don’t know, Yacoub,” he admitted. “I didn’t expect them to leave their hotel, because they’d booked their rooms for a week.”
“What are you doing about it?”
“I’ve got one of our contacts checking every hotel in Tel Aviv. We’ll find them, I promise.”
For a few seconds Yacoub didn’t reply, just settled his lopsided gaze on his subordinate. “I know you will,” he said finally. “What concerns me is how long it will take. If we don’t know where they are, we can’t know what they’re doing, and we’ve come too far to lose them now.”
“As soon as I hear, Yacoub, I’ll tell you.”
“And suppose they’ve moved to Jerusalem? Or Haifa? Or somewhere else in Israel? Or left the country and gone elsewhere in the Middle East? What then?”
Musab looked noticeably paler. Obviously not all of these possibilities had occurred to him.
“I want them found, Musab, and I want them found right now. And then we’ll grab them, because they might already have found the relics. Even if they haven’t, it’s time they told us what they know. Do you understand?”
The other man nodded enthusiastically. “I’ll get my man to start checking other locations straightaway.”
Yacoub turned to the other man standing beside the door of their hotel room. “Go and get the car,” he ordered. “We’ll take a drive around the city and see if we can spot them. Most of the hotels are on the west side, near the sea.”
“Do you want me to come as well?” Hassan asked. He was lying on the bed, an ice-pack pressed to the side of his head where Bronson had caught him with the heavy flashlight.
“No,” Yacoub replied. “Stay where you are.” He looked back at Musab. “When you track them down, call my mobile.”
“I’ll find them within the hour, I promise.”
“I hope you do, because now your life depends on it. But I’ll be generous. I’ll give you ninety minutes.”
As Musab turned away to reach for the telephone, his hands were trembling.
58
“Did that help?” Bronson asked.
They had left the small bar and were walking slowly back toward their hotel through the streets of Tel Aviv. The night was warm and the city busy, dozens of people still crowding the pavements, walking purposefully or standing in groups and talking outside the bars. Fleetingly, Bronson wished he was simply in Israel on holiday; that he and Angela were carelessly strolling back to their hotel after a romantic meal. Instead, he was watching the shadows for armed men while the two of them tried to work out where to start looking for a couple of almost mythical relics lost to the world for over two millennia.
“It’s starting to make a bit more sense now,” Angela told him. “I think that when the Sicarii raided Ein-Gedi, they found something more than just food and supplies, and that’s what the inscription is telling us. It’s at least possible that the Sicarii found
all
of the relics referred to in the clay tablets when they mounted that raid. There were contemporary accounts of important treasures being moved out of Jerusalem for safekeeping during the wars with the Romans. As Yosef said, Ein-Gedi was an important—perhaps even the most important—Jewish settlement close to the city during this period, so maybe it was chosen to hold various objects for safekeeping. But before they could be restored to the temple in Jerusalem or wherever they came from, the Sicarii stormed the oasis and stole everything they could lay their hands on. And according to the coded inscription we’ve deciphered on these clay tablets, that explicitly included the Copper Scroll as well as the Silver Scroll, and the tablets of the temple of Jerusalem.”
all
of the relics referred to in the clay tablets when they mounted that raid. There were contemporary accounts of important treasures being moved out of Jerusalem for safekeeping during the wars with the Romans. As Yosef said, Ein-Gedi was an important—perhaps even the most important—Jewish settlement close to the city during this period, so maybe it was chosen to hold various objects for safekeeping. But before they could be restored to the temple in Jerusalem or wherever they came from, the Sicarii stormed the oasis and stole everything they could lay their hands on. And according to the coded inscription we’ve deciphered on these clay tablets, that explicitly included the Copper Scroll as well as the Silver Scroll, and the tablets of the temple of Jerusalem.”
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