Smoke and the sound of wailing. Some say the Temple has begun to burn.’
Patrick looked up. He could hear the sound of the clock ticking and the scratch of a pencil as someone took notes at another table. O’Malley watched him, impassive, like a teacher waiting for his star pupil to show what he is made of.
‘Am I to take it that this is genuine?’ whispered Patrick.
‘I don’t know. What do you think? You’re the one who reads Aramaic, not me.’
Patrick pondered. It was years since he had read Josephus, but there could be no mistake.
‘I think it’s a description of the Siege of Jerusalem in AD 70, during the Jewish War with the Romans. But that’s impossible. Nothing in writing survived the siege.’
‘You mean nothing anyone knew of before this.’
Patrick nodded. There was nothing inherently implausible in such a document having been rescued.
‘Do you think they could fetch me a magnifying glass? This script is very fine.’
‘Good idea. Make them do a bit of work.’
O’Malley summoned an assistant, and minutes later
an enormous magnifying glass made its appearance on the table in front of Patrick. He lifted it and continued reading.
‘Passover has come and gone, but there has been no deliverance. Three weeks ago, the Continual Sacrifice ceased and the altar was deserted. Outside the city walls, the armies of Pharaoh’s son are massed. Four legions, and with them Arab and Syrian auxiliaries.’
For a moment Patrick was puzzled. Then he understood. The Roman general in charge of the campaign was Titus. His father, Vespasian, had just been made Emperor. So Vespasian was ‘Pharaoh’ and Titus was ‘Pharaoh’s son’.
‘He has moved his own camp to a spot opposite the Tower of Psephinus. The Tenth Legion remains on the Mount of Olives. Their engines of war are the largest and the most terrible: quick-loaders, stone-throwers, catapults. They hurl great stones of white marble into the city. The watchers on the walls cry out when they see them coming, and we flee in terror. On every side, the sound of battering rams rises to the heavens. But our prayers stay here below. They have brought rams to the western arcade of the Temple. The end cannot be long now. Lord, why have youforsaken your people?
‘Those of the brethren that remain in the city meet daily in the house of John the Zealot, who was blessed by James in the days before his death. We pray no longer for forgiveness, but for understanding. There is one still among us who remembers the words of our Lord, when he came out of the Temple with his disciples. He said to them: “See you all these? I tell you solemnly, not one stone here shall remain on another: all will be destroyed.” Even so, it is coming to pass. Then, we pray, all things will be fulfilled, and his promise unto us, that he will return.’
Patrick looked up, rubbing his eyes.
‘Whoever wrote this was a Christian. Did you know that?’
‘Oh, yes, certainly. What you are holding in your hands is without question the earliest surviving document of the Christian church. I think you’ll find your man was a Jewish Christian, not one of Paul’s upstart Gentiles.’
Patrick nodded. James, the brother of Jesus, had been head of the church in Jerusalem. He and his followers, unlike Paul and those he converted, had observed the Jewish law and attended the Temple regularly, while teaching that Jesus was the Messiah. Up to the destruction of the city in the year 70, they had been the most important group in the early church. Then Jerusalem was destroyed and they were either killed or scattered, leaving Paul and his followers free to run the new faith as they wished.
Patrick continued reading.
‘Of the brotherhood of Jesus that were in the city before the days of Passover, breaking bread together and praying according to the teaching of the apostles, but a few are now left. We pray daily that our brothers who have gone have reached Egypt in safety, and that they will be spared the wrath of these last days.
‘A party among us, numbering seven, according to the number of deacons presented to the Twelve, have met on this, the eighth day of Loos, to take counsel together in secret. Chief among us is John the Zealot, a holy man fired by the love of God, and a prophet sent to guide the brethren in these days of darkness. He was appointed head of the Twelve by James, the brother of the Lord, in the days before they stoned him to death. Beneath him are seated Eleazar bar Simon, Judas of Gamala, Barnabas the son of Jeshua the Elder, Jonathon, a deacon of Emmaus, Paul of Acrabetta, and myself, Simon bar Matthias, the Levite.
We have named ourselves the Seven of the Tomb, swearing to defend the sepulchre of our Lord, in which are also buried his brother James and his mother. The sepulchre lies hidden among the tombs that lie beyond the walls, to the north of the tomb of Simon the Just. John knows a secret way that passes through the Valley of Hinnom in the south. From there, we shall go by night westwards, skirting the camps of the invader, until we come again to the north.
‘And when there comes to pass that which has been decreed for the city, that it may fall stone from stone, if any still be alive, by God’s grace, he shall go unto Egypt, which is Babylon, that he may strike down Pharaoh, even as he sits on his throne, in vengeance for God’s Temple, both the earthly Temple and the Temple that was crucified.
‘And that shall be the true Passover, that God’s chosen people shall pass out of the land of Egypt and come into the Land of the Promise. And our Lord shall return. There shall be a new Jerusalem, and God and the Lamb shall be its Temple. Egypt shall fall then, and Babylon, all them that have scattered the children of God among the nations. For Jesus said: “Do not think I have come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.”And so it shall be.
‘And if all die, let him that conies after take up the sword in our place, that the days may be numbered and the wicked brought to a reckoning. For the Tomb is a sacred trust, and the sword also, that goodness endure and all manner of wickedness perish from the earth.’
Patrick looked up.
‘That’s the main text. There are just a few more lines in a different hand, in Hebrew. They’re a bit more difficult to read.’
‘I’m sure you can manage. Have a go.’
Slowly, Patrick deciphered the broken script in front of him.
‘I, John of Amathus, known as the Zealot, though long baptized, leave here what Simon the Levite has written concerning the last days of Jerusalem, that it may serve as a testimony to others. Of the Brotherhood of the Tomb, I alone remain alive. I shall seal the sepulchre and seek refuge in Egypt, where others have gone before me. I shall carry with me the secret of the tomb, and the secret of him that entered it, and of the manner in which he came to enter it, lest those things be forgotten. There are among the believers who have preceded me still a number that know a little of those matters. If God wills it, I shall choose among them six Elders to lead the Brotherhood. These words I leave for him whom God shall send in the latter days, that he may take up this sword and deliver God’s people out of bondage. May he finish what I have begun and determine all things with justice.’
Patrick looked up. O’Malley was looking at him intently.
‘So now you know,’ he said.
FORTY-FIVE
When they returned to the apartment, the others had already eaten lunch. Francesca prepared fresh pasta and fish and left them in the kitchen to eat it in peace.
When they finally joined the others in the living room, coffee had been prepared. Francesca poured out large cups of espresso and passed round a plate of amaretti. Father O’Malley was the first to speak.
‘You must be wondering by now what this is all about. I didn’t like to say too much until I’d had a chance to show something to Patrick.’ He paused and glanced at Assefa. ‘Roberto will have explained to you, Father Makonnen, why I thought it best not to have you with us. We paid a little visit to the Vatican Archives, Patrick and I, and there was a fair to even chance that someone there or in the vicinity would have recognized you. At the moment, even an old friend could be unwittingly dangerous to you. I’m sure you understand the reasons for my caution.’
Assefa nodded. A sense of personal danger had become second nature to him by now. He wondered how he
