‘The Vatican has never been able to hide the fact that John the Baptist might have been associated with the Essenes and he baptised Christ not far from here where the Jordan enters the Dead Sea,’ Allegra said. ‘I agree with you, the peaceful and celibate description was probably manufactured to fit the dogma.’
‘Got it in one,’ David said with a grin. ‘If you have to allow John the Baptist to be part of a sect like the Essenes, you wouldn’t want a story circulating that has him wandering past the forge and asking his mates how the weapons were coming on. In reality, when they were provoked, the Essenes were fierce fighters. Over there,’ David continued, ‘you can see the cemetery. It contained over twelve hundred graves, many of them women and children, which tends to make the consensus on celibacy look a bit shaky. I reckon if they’d had them back then we would have found a few used condoms in the rubble!’ he said, chuckling to himself.
‘You are incorrigible!’
‘The Essenes detested the priests and the corruption in the second temple in Jerusalem,’ David said as they walked into the stone surrounds of an ancient courtyard. Brilliant red and yellow flowers that had bloomed after the desert rains were clustered around several palm trees, fronds rustling defiantly against the hot wind that blew in from the Dead Sea. ‘They dressed in long Pythagorean robes made from white linen and these courtyards were built for meditation. There is quite a bit of evidence pointing to Christ being part of this community, which would explain his provoked aggression in overturning the tables of the temple moneychangers. Yossi thinks that the Omega Scroll might prove Mary Magdalene was here as well, but I’m not so sure.’
‘I think if Jesus studied his early philosophy with this group, which stands to reason if John the Baptist baptised him here, then there would be little doubt that Mary Magdalene would have been here as well.’
‘Why do you say that?’ David asked, intrigued as to why Allegra would be so sure.
‘You’re going to find out eventually, so I may as well tell you now. In a former life I was a nun.’
‘That lapsed, eh.’ David’s grin was wicked. Their eyes met, each wondering what the other was thinking.
‘There’s quite a lot you don’t know about me,’ Allegra said, ‘but in time, all will be revealed.’
‘I’m looking forward to seeing that.’
‘I will ignore that remark,’ she said with a smile. ‘When you piece together the story of Mary Magdalene it says a lot more than the Church would have you believe. Some argue differently, but I’m with those who think Mary Magdalene and Mary of Bethany were one and the same. When her brother Lazarus died, under Jewish custom a sister was required to stay with the body and “sit shiva”. The only exception that allowed her to leave was if she was required by her husband. There’s a little-quoted passage in John where Mary Magdalene’s sister tells her that Jesus wants to see her and she gets up immediately. And there is a second Jewish custom in which a bride is required to anoint her bridegroom’s feet. It is Mary Magdalene who does that for Jesus.’
‘You think they were married?’
Allegra nodded. ‘I think there’s very strong evidence. I used not to,’ she said, as she remembered her days in Tricarico. ‘Mother Superior would not have approved, but when you’re allowed the freedom to think, the evidence has always been there. It was Mary who went to the tomb with the other women, and in a strong Jewish society, only a wife would do that, but the most persuasive evidence is in the copies of the Gnostic Gospels that were discovered at Nag Hammadi on the Nile.’
‘Which might explain why the early Church Fathers tried to have them all destroyed,’ David ventured.
‘Exactly. Apart from the sayings of Jesus in the Gospel of Thomas that threatened the power of the priesthood, Mary wrote her own gospel after the crucifixion, and in it she explains how she had to give the disciples a pep talk. If I remember it correctly, Mary Magdalene says, “Do not weep, and do not grieve, and do not doubt, for his grace will be with you completely, and will protect you.” In a patriarchal Jewish culture, only a very powerful woman would give directions to men, and then there’s the Gospel of Philip.’
‘Ah yes,’ David said mischievously, ‘where the disciples are all a bit pissed off because Jesus keeps kissing Mary on the mouth.’
‘That’s one way of putting it,’ she said, shaking her head. Allegra knew the quote from the Gospel of Philip by heart:… the companion of the Saviour is Mary Magdalene. But Christ loved her more than all the disciples, and used to kiss her often on the mouth. The rest of the disciples were offended…
‘In Judaic culture men were expected to marry,’ Allegra said. ‘Jesus was charismatic, fun, charming and attracted to the company of women.’
‘Sounds a bit like me really.’
‘Well, he was also a thorough gentleman and I doubt that “pissed off” would have been in his vocabulary,’ she said, her dark eyes sparkling. ‘Perhaps the Omega Scroll might throw a bit of light on all of this.’ Allegra was still reluctant to tell David everything, but in time she knew she would. If the scroll was ever found and the number 153 appeared amongst the Magdalene Numbers, that would be the decisive proof.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Langley, Virginia
M ike McKinnon put down the file ‘Nuclear Fallout – Medical Issues’ and shook his head. Even if al-Qaeda issued a 30-minute warning and the emergency broadcast system was activated over TV and radio, only those few who had immediate access to a nuclear fallout shelter would be able to react. Even those who survived the devastating blast would suffer terribly. The radioactive cloud, Mike knew, could cover hundreds of square miles, especially if the wind and weather conditions were un-favourable. The brain cells in people subjected to any more than a few thousand of what were known as rads or radiation doses would be so damaged they would immediately start to swell. After a day of vomiting, excruciating headaches and seizures, tens of thousands would die. Even after a few hundred rads, half those exposed, perhaps a million people in the larger cities, would experience intense abdominal pain as the cells of their intestinal lining were destroyed. Their hair would drop out, bleeding would occur from the gums and anus, and death would occur within days. Those who staffed the city hospitals would themselves be part of the death toll. The countdown for civilisation had begun the day that man split the atom, Mike thought bleakly. As soon as they were ready, he knew the Islamic fundamentalists would not hesitate.
Mike reached for Professor Kaufmann’s paper on ‘The Omega Scroll and the Islamic Nuclear Factor’ and again he wondered whether there was a connection between the nuclear suitcases now in the hands of al-Qaeda and the ancient Dead Sea Scroll. Kaufmann had argued persuasively that in monotheistic religions there had been three revelations, the first to the Jews, the second to the Christians and finally to the Muslims, and he had now deciphered the ancient codes that seemed to make a connection with the third revelation, Islam and a coming atomic holocaust.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Qumran
A nother pair of patrolling Israeli F-16s shrieked over the ruins of Qumran and Allegra and David watched them disappear, twin trails of hot exhaust drifting down over the Dead Sea border with Jordan.