The Alexandria Link

locations are not there. They lie hundreds of miles to the south, in Saudi Arabia.”

“And why has no one ever noticed this before?”

Thorvaldsen appreciated the question, as he’d been thinking the same thing.

“There are only half a dozen or so scholars alive who can effectively understand Old Hebrew. None of them, besides Haddad, apparently was curious enough to investigate. But to be certain, I hired one of those experts three years ago to confirm Haddad’s findings. And he did. Down to the last detail.”

“Can we speak with your expert?” a member quickly asked.

“Unfortunately, he was elderly and passed away last year.”

More likely the man was helped into the grave, Thorvaldsen thought. The last thing Hermann needed was a second scholar claiming a spectacular biblical coup.

“But I have a detailed written report that can be studied. It’s quite compelling.”

Another image appeared on the screen. A second illustration of the Asir region.

“Here’s one example to demonstrate Haddad’s point. In Judges 18, the Israelite tribe of Dan established a settlement in a town called Laish, in a region of the same name. The Bible says that this town was close to another called Zidon. Near Zidon lay the fortified city of Zor. Christian historians in the fourth century CE supposedly identified Dan with a village at the headwaters of the Jordan River. In 1838 a team searched and found a mound, which they announced as the remnants of the biblical Dan. That site is now the accepted location of Dan. There’s even a modern Israeli settlement, actually called Dan, that flourishes there today.”

Thorvaldsen noticed that Hermann seemed to be enjoying himself, as if he’d prepared for this moment a long time. But he wondered if perhaps his unanticipated move on Margarete may have accelerated his host’s timetable.

“Archaeologists have explored the mound for the past forty years. Not one piece of evidence has been found to confirm the biblical identity of that site as Dan.” Hermann motioned, and the screen changed again. Names appeared on the second map of Asir.

“This is what Haddad discovered. The biblical Dan can easily be identified with a west Arabian village called al-Danadinah, which is located in a coastal region called al-Lith, the principal town of which is also called al-Lith. Translated, that name is identical with the biblical word Laish. Also, to this day, a village called Zidon lies nearby. Even closer to al-Danadinah stands al-Sur, which, translated, is Zor.”

Thorvaldsen had to admit that the geographic coincidences were intriguing. He removed his rimless glasses and fingered the bridge of his nose, massaging the pinched groove, trying to think.

“And there are more topographical correlations. In 2 Samuel 24:6, the town of Dan was close to a land called Tahtim. No place known as Tahtim survives anywhere in Palestine. But in west Arabia, the village of al-Danadinah stands near a coastal ridge called Jabal Tahyatayn, which is an Arabic form of Tahtim. That cannot be an accident. Haddad wrote that if archaeologists dug in this area, there would be evidence to support the presence of an ancient Jewish settlement. But that has never occurred. The Saudis absolutely forbid digging. In fact, five years ago, when faced with a possible threat from Haddad’s academic conclusions, the Saudis destroyed villages in this area, contaminating the sites, making it nearly impossible for any definitive archaeological evidence ever to be found.”

Thorvaldsen noticed that as the Assembly grew more attentive, Hermann became more confident.

“There’s more. Throughout the Old Testament, Jordan is noted by the Hebrew yarden. But nowhere is that term ever described as a river. The word actually means ”to descend, a fall in the land.“ Yet translation after translation describes the Jordan as a river, its crossing a momentous event. The Palestinian Jordan River is no great waterway. The inhabitants of both banks have waded across it for centuries. But here”-he pointed to mountains that cut across the map-“is the great West Arabian Escarpment. Impossible to cross except where the ranges fold, and even there it’s difficult. Every instance where the Old Testament speaks of Jordan, the geography and the story match what’s on the ground here, in Arabia.”

“The Jordan is a mountain range?”

“No other translation from the Old Hebrew makes any sense.”

He studied the faces staring back at him and said, “Place-names are handed down as sacred tradition. Old names survive in folk memory and usually reassert themselves. Haddad found that particularly true in Asir.”

“Have there not been discoveries that link Palestine with the Bible?”

“There have been discoveries. But none of the inscriptions unearthed so far proves anything. The Moabite Stele found in 1868 speaks of wars fought between Moab and Israel, as mentioned in Kings. Another artifact found in the Jordan Valley in 1993 says the same. But neither say that Israel was located in Palestine. Assyrian and Babylonian records tell of conquests in Israel, but none says where that Israel was located. Kings says the armies of Israel, Judah, and Edom marched seven days in waterless desert. But the rift valley of Palestine, which is commonly regarded as that desert, is no more than one day long and contains plenty of water.”

Now Hermann’s words came freely, as if he’d held the truths inside far too long.

“Not one remnant of the first Solomon’s Temple remains. Nothing has ever been found, though Kings says he used great stones, costly stones, hewed stones. Would not a block have survived?”

He came to the point.

“What’s happened is that scholars have allowed their preconceptions to color their interpretations. They wanted Palestine to be the land of the ancient Jews from the Old Testament, so the end governed the means. Reality is far different. Archaeology has indeed proven one thing-that the Palestine of the Old Testament consisted of a people living in hamlets or small towns, mainly scrub farmers, with only fragments of high culture. A rustic society, not the highly astute Israelites of the post-Solomon era. That is a scientific fact.”

“What does the Psalm say?” a member asked. “Truth shall spring out of the earth.”

“What do you want to do?” someone asked.

Hermann clearly appreciated the inquiry. “Regardless of the Saudis’ refusal to allow any archaeological research, Haddad believed there is proof of his theory that still exists. We are presently trying to locate that proof. If his theory can be substantiated-at least enough to call into question the validity of the Old Testament promises- think of the consequences. Not only Israel, but Saudi Arabia, too, would be destabilized. And we’ve all been frustrated by that government’s corruption. Imagine what the radical Muslims there would do. Their most sacred spot is actually the biblical Jewish homeland? This would be similar to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, where all three major religions claim a home. That site has bred chaos for thousands of years. The chaos in west Arabia would be equally incalculable.”

Thorvaldsen had sat silent long enough. He stood. “You can’t believe that these revelations, even if proven, would have such far-reaching effects. What else is there that so interested the Political Committee?”

Hermann stared at him with a contempt that only the two of them understood. The Circle had acted on Cotton Malone, taking his son. Now he’d acted on Hermann. Of course the Blue Chair would never reveal that weakness. Thorvaldsen had wisely played his trump card here, at the Assembly, where Hermann must be careful. But something told him that the Austrian still held one card.

And the smile that curled on the old man’s thin lips caused Thorvaldsen to pause.

“That’s right, Henrik. There is another aspect. One that will bring the Christians into the fight, as well.”

FIFTY-EIGHT

VIENNA

10:50 PM

ALFRED HERMANN CLOSED THE DOOR TO HIS PRIVATE APARTMENT and removed his robe and neck chain. Their combined weight taxed his tired limbs. He laid the garments across his bed, pleased with the Assembly. After three hours, the members had finally begun to understand. The Order’s plan was both grandiose and ingenious. Now he needed to back up his explanation that the proof would be forthcoming.