“But Noah heeded not the words of Yahweh for the stones were precious to him. And Ham, the father of Canaan, said to his brothers, It is not good that our father has taken the stones. Let us contend with him and take the stones that are rightfully ours. But his brothers said, We shall not rebel against our father.
“And Noah began farming and planted a vineyard, and when he drank of the wine he became drunk. And Ham saw his father’s drunkenness, and vowed to take the stones for himself. But Noah kept the first stone beneath his head, for among them all it was most precious to him, and thus Ham seized only two stones. And when Noah saw what his youngest son had done, he sent forth the adama, but Ham had fled to the land of Canaan. And Noah said, Cursed be Ham, a servant of servants to his brothers he shall be. So all the days of Noah were seventy-seven years upon the mountains of Meri.”
A thoughtful silence settled over them as Dima finished her translation. Finally, Maddock spoke.
“So, Noah had three stones that fell from the sky. They’re powerful individually, but together they can…”
“Make a mess,” Bones provided.
“That’s one way of putting it.”
“And the Trident wants all three,” Dima said. “That guy who tried to snatch me said so.”
“Which proves they’re up to no good.” Maddock sat up straight. “Think about it. I could see how either of the stones we currently have could be used for the common good. If you had the second stone, you’d never have to worry about drought decimating your crops. With the first stone you could keep predators away from your livestock. If Ibrahim Shawa only wanted those two stones, it could be for benevolent purposes, even if we don’t like his underlings’ methods.”
“But the fact that he wants to bring them together proves he wants somebody to die.” Bones nodded slowly.
“If he gets that third stone, he’ll stop at nothing to get the other two,” Maddock said. “We need to find the last stone before he does.”
“What do we do with the stones we have?” Bones asked. “I mean, if bringing the three together causes some sort of catastrophe, aren’t we tempting fate if we bring our two stones along?”
“But we need them,” Dima said. “Think about it. The tests we’ve run indicate there’s nothing special about the stones. They don’t give off any sort of radiation signature or anything that would help us find them. You only found the second stone because of the way the first one reacted to its presence.”
Maddock scratched his chin and nodded. “I also can’t think of anywhere secure to put them at the moment. I guess the hotel safe is out of the question.” He smiled and winked at Dima, whose sudden, panicked look indicated she’d taken his suggestion seriously. “I’ll think on it. The most pressing question right now is, where do we find the last stone? What is this Meri?”
Dima bit her lip. “I have a theory about that, but you’re not going to believe it.”
Chapter 34
“Africa? Are you serious?” Bones asked. “That sounds totally wrong.”
“Hear me out. It’s not as crazy as you might think.” Dima sat down in the armchair facing Maddock and Bones and placed her translation on the table in between them. “First of all, we’ve got the translation. It says the ark came to rest in the mountains of Meri. Meri and Meru are often used interchangeably to describe a particular mountain in Africa.”
“But is that enough to go on? Words can change form,” Bones argued.
“That’s hardly everything. Just hear me out. First of all, there’s a strong scholarly tradition that Noah was, in fact, African, perhaps even nobility. We know he was the grandfather of Kush, from whom the nation of Kush got its name.”
Maddock nodded. Kush was an ancient African kingdom located in present-day Sudan.
“What’s more,” Dima continued, “many nobles in that time kept menageries with male and female specimens for breeding purposes, so Noah might have simply led his own menagerie into the ark. And the rulers during that period controlled the Nile, the Tigris and Euphrates, and Lake Chad, and they used the various waterways as their roads. Noah would have been quite familiar with boats.”
Bones rubbed his chin. “It’s thin.”
“Not as thin as my patience will be if you keep interrupting me.” Dima shifted in her seat, crossed and uncrossed her legs, and folded her hands. “What if I told you there’s only one place in the world that claimed to be Noah’s homeland? It’s called ‘Borno’ or ‘The Land of Noah’ and it’s located in the center of Africa, near Lake Chad, in fact.”
Bones nodded but didn’t interrupt this time.
“The African connection rang a bell with me, and I did a little research. Listen to this Nigerian flood story.” She took out her cell phone, tapped the screen, and began to read.
“The first man, Etim 'Ne, and his wife Ejaw came to earth from the sky. At first, there was no water on earth, so Etim 'Ne asked the god Obassi Osaw for water, and he was given a calabash with seven stones. When Etim 'Ne put a stone in a small hole in the ground, water welled out and became a broad lake. Later, seven sons and seven daughters were born to the couple. After the sons and daughters married and had children of their own, Etim 'Ne gave each household a river or lake of its own. He took away the rivers of three sons who were poor hunters and didn't share their meat, but he restored them when the sons begged him to. When the grandchildren had grown and established new homes, Etim 'Ne sent for all the children and told them each to take seven stones from the streams of their parents, and to plant them at intervals to create new streams. All did so except one son who collected a basketful and emptied all his stones in one place. Waters came, covered his farm, and threatened to cover the whole earth. Everyone ran to Etim 'Ne, fleeing the flood. Etim 'Ne prayed to Obassi, who stopped the flood but let a lake remain covering the farm of the bad son. Etim 'Ne told the others the names of the rivers and streams which remained and told them to remember him as the bringer of water to the world.”
Maddock had to admit he was intrigued by this new piece of information. “Obviously the minor details are different, but that’s the only flood story I ever heard, before we found the Book of Noah, that is, that connects stones with flood mythology. I suppose the actual events of the Book of Noah could be the source of that legend.”
“And the difference in the number of stones can be attributed to storytelling techniques,” Dima agreed. “Seven is considered a powerful or lucky number in many cultures.”
Maddock tried to picture a map of Africa in his mind. Chad lay in central Africa, while Tanzania, where Mount Meru was located, lay in the east. “But how do you get from Lake Chad to Mount Meru? That’s a long way. I suppose if it were a worldwide flood.” He shrugged.
“That’s unlikely, given the archaeological record.” Bones held up his hands. “Sorry, I figured I’m allowed to talk now.”
Dima ignored him. “Remember that Noah lived at a time when the Saharan region, and much of Africa for that matter, was experiencing a wet period, so the boundaries of the major waterways were different than they are today. According to studies done of satellite imagery, Lake Chad, or Mega-Chad as they refer to the old incarnation of the lake, was once a massive body of water. It covered an area at least five times the size of Lake Superior with depths of two hundred to six hundred feet. It’s believed to have extended hundreds of miles beyond its current boundaries, even encompassing Lake Victoria and beyond. It’s a little over two hundred miles from the center of the Chad Basin to Mount Meru, so it’s not impossible that the water could have reached the mountain itself. Add a major flood to that, and there’s no reason the ark couldn’t have settled somewhere on the slopes of Mount Meru.”