‘And I understand that you overheard them talking?’
‘Yes. But my father said I wasn’t supposed to talk to anyone else.’
‘Why?’
‘He said it might be spies. Not the couple, I mean, but people who ask about them.’
Goliath faked a laugh. ‘Spies? I think he just doesn’t want you talking to journalists.’
‘Journalists?’
‘Reporters. You know – the press.’
‘Oh, yes.’
‘But that isn’t really fair to you, is it? I mean if you want to talk to a reporter, why shouldn’t you?’
He took out some money and held it low, making it obvious to Mas’ud but not to anyone else.
‘What do you want to know?’
‘Everything you can remember. What were they talking about?’
‘Well, they didn’t say anything about going to Israel. I mean, I didn’t realize that’s what they were talking about. But they said something about talking to the Samaritan priests. And they said something about Holon. I didn’t think about it at the time, but I think that’s in Israel.’
Goliath smiled as he handed over the money. He had everything he needed now.
Chapter 75
‘I, Joshua, son of Noon, of the tribe of Neferayim, son of Joseph, give this as my testament.’
Daniel looked at Gabrielle, surprised.
They were sitting in an office in the Conservation Department of the National Library in Jerusalem, together with the Samaritan high priest and two of his colleagues. Outside the office sat an armed guard whose main duty was to lock up when they were finished.
After some robust discussions with the Israeli Antiquities Authority, they had obtained permission to get The Book of the Straight from its bolt-hole in Joseph’s tomb and bring it to this department where they specialized in restoring manuscripts. It was carefully opened by experts and placed between glass. The process had proceeded smoothly except for one brief hair-raising moment in the tomb when Gabrielle had picked up the clay urn which contained the scroll, in breach of protocol. But she had handed it back immediately and apologized for her over- enthusiasm.
The ‘book’ was in fact a papyrus scroll. This surprised Daniel somewhat as he had been expecting it to be parchment, in accordance with Jewish law. But then again, that law may well have come later. And the fact that it was papyrus suggested that the document might have some Egyptian provenance. Indeed, the very first line prompted Daniel to ask a question of Gabrielle, drawing on her expert knowledge of ancient Egypt.
‘ Neferayim? Could that be a variant of Ay?’
‘I’ve never heard of him being called Neferayim.’
‘Okay, but could it have been Nefer -Ay? And then become Neferayim before becoming Ephraim?’
‘The word Nefer means “beautiful” and is a characteristic of female names in Egypt like Nefertiti and Nefertari.’
‘So you’re saying it’s only used for female names?’ asked Daniel.
‘Well no, there were a few men with “Nefer” in the name, like Neferhotep and Neferkheprure. And of course in those ancient times, they sometimes had several names.’
‘So maybe Ay could have had the alternative name of Nefer-Ay, which could then have become Neferayim?’
‘It’s possible,’ she conceded. ‘But like I said, in Egyptian writings he’s never been referred to as Nefer-Ay, let alone Neferayim.’
The priests sat there in silence throughout this exchange. They, at least, were perfectly happy to be patient. But now, the high priest leaned forward.
‘It’s consistent with what we know. Joshua was of the tribe of Ephraim, so Neferayim could be an alternative name for Ephraim.’
‘Okay, well let’s put that aside for now and see what else we can find here. You must understand that because I had to leave my notes behind when I made my escape from Egypt, I’m having to rely on my memory for this translation. You’ll have to be patient with me.’
He continued to read: Now one day Pharaoh was visiting the lands he had conquered in Syria and he went to the jail where the prisoners were kept and he saw the prisoner Joseph and he asked He broke off and looked at Gabrielle.
‘I’m Anglicizing the name. But just tell me one thing, does that fit the historical record?’
‘It could be true of several pharaohs. I think I have an idea which one it was, but I don’t want to say just yet. Carry on.’
Daniel looked down and continued translating, the words coming not in a flow, but almost in a burst of energy. He asked Joseph what crime he had committed and Joseph said that he had fought against Pharaoh and was defeated. But he said that he had been betrayed by his brothers who surrendered and offered him as a prisoner that their lives may be spared. He said that they were jealous of him because he wore a coat of many colours and they took his coat away from him when they delivered him into captivity.
Gabrielle was nodding enthusiastically at this. ‘A coat of many colours was a sign of leadership. It started with a people called the Hyksos who invaded Egypt 4,000 years ago and were driven out 500 years later.’
‘According to the Bible,’ said Daniel, ‘Jacob gave Joseph a coat of many colours, showing that he was the favoured son.’
‘And that made his brothers jealous,’ added one of the Samaritan priests.
Daniel carried on reading. Then Pharaoh told him that he too was in conflict with his brother, for his brother was older and had a greater claim to the throne. And Joseph told him to say to the people that he had had a dream and that in the dream the Sphinx spoke to him and told him to sweep the sand from his feet and that if he did this he would be king.
Daniel broke off, not because he couldn’t read any further but because Gabrielle was gripping his arm.
‘What is it?’ he asked.
‘The Dream stele,’ she choked.
‘What’s that?’
‘Thutmose the Fourth, the grandfather of Akhenaten, is believed to have visited Syria after conquering it… or reconquering it. He had an older brother, but somehow managed to gain power for himself. He then did some restoration work on the Sphinx and had this event commemorated in a small inscribed stone placed between the paws of the Sphinx. On the stone it described how he was out on a hunting trip when he fell asleep and had a dream. And in the dream the Sphinx spoke to him and told him that if he swept the sand away from its feet he would be made king. The stone is called the Dream stele and this passage fits in neatly with it.’
‘And I guess it also links up neatly with the idea that Joseph was an interpreter of dreams.’
‘Except that according to this account, he wasn’t so much the interpreter of dreams as the inventor.’
Daniel looked up at the priests to see how they were responding. This was presumably not what they wanted to hear. They were seeking confirmation of the Bible, not a rewriting of it – especially not one that cast their ancestor Joseph in a somewhat more cynical light. They did not look happy, but only one of them looked angry.
Daniel returned his attention to the manuscript before him. And Pharaoh saw that Joseph was a wise man and he told him that if he agreed to serve him he would give him his freedom and he agreed. And so Pharaoh ordered the jailer to set him free and made him his adviser. And there was a great harvest that year and Pharaoh and the people were happy. But Joseph advised him that God’s will was like the seasons and that God’s bounty would not always be with him. And he said to Pharaoh ‘Build storehouses for the grain and save some of the grain because the years of plenty will be followed by famine.’
Daniel looked up at the priests. They seemed a lot happier at this. He carried on reading: And Joseph was saddened by the idolatry of the Egyptians and he said to Pharaoh: ‘What use is it to you to have many gods? Do you have many kings? Is it not better to have one god, just as you are one king?’ And Pharaoh saw great wisdom in
