'There are a lot of different versions of the myths and legends surrounding Moses, but most Christians and Jews believe he was the man who led the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt and delivered them to the Promised Land in what is now Israel. What's quite interesting is how often Moses appears in source books of different religions. In Judaism, for example, he appears in a whole host of stories to be found in the Jewish apocrypha, as well as in the Mishnah and the Talmud. In the Christian Bible he appears in both the Old and New Testaments, and he's the single most dominant character in the Qur'an. The Mormons include the Book of Moses – that's supposed to be his translated writings – in their scriptural canon. On a lighter note, the founder of Scientology, L. Ron Hubbard, claimed that Moses owned a disintegrator pistol which was useful in fighting off the aliens who had invaded ancient Egypt.'
Bronson shook his head. 'But do you mean Moses did exist or didn't? And if he didn't exist, how can the Mosaic Covenant ever have existed?'
'Nobody knows if Moses was a real flesh-and-blood man,' Angela replied, 'but the historical validity of the Mosaic Covenant is quite difficult to dispute, simply because there are so many contemporary references to the Ark, the gilded box in which it was housed. The Jews carried something around in it, something that was of crucial importance to their religion.'
She looked at her watch and stood up. 'We need to leave right now to meet Yosef.' She paused. 'Listen, Chris, we don't mention the clay tablets, and certainly not the Mosaic Covenant. In fact, just let me do most of the talking.'
56
Their new hotel was near Namal Tel Aviv – the port at the northern end of the city – in a maze of one-way streets, but close to Rokach Avenue, which Bronson hoped would offer them a fast route out of Tel Aviv if the need ever arose. Angela had arranged to meet Yosef Ben Halevi in a bar just off Jabotinsky, near the Ha'Azma'ut Garden and the Hilton Beach.
It was only a short walk in the relative cool of the evening, but Bronson decided they'd take the pretty route, simply so he could satisfy himself that they weren't being followed. So instead of walking straight down Hayark or Ben Yehuda, they followed the Havakook pedestrian walkway past the Sheraton Beach, and then cut through the Hilton Hotel itself.
The city was buzzing, elegantly dressed couples strolling beside the deep blue waters of the Mediterranean as the sun sank below the western horizon in a chaotic artist's palette of primary colours – reds and blues and yellows. But once they entered the tangle of narrow streets to the east of the Ha'Azma'ut Garden – many named after the world's major cities, like Basel, Frankfurt and Prague – the scene changed. The hotels were replaced by whitepainted low-rise apartment buildings, four and five storeys high, walls studded with air-conditioning units, their ground floors a scattering of bars and shops, emblazoned with unfamiliar and exotic signs in Hebrew. Every available parking space seemed to be occupied, frustrating drivers who were nudging their slow-moving vehicles through the crowds of pedestrians as they looked for somewhere to stop.
'There it is,' Bronson said, leading Angela across the street towards the bar. He'd spotted nobody taking the slightest interest in them.
For some reason, Bronson had been expecting that Yosef Ben Halevi would be a venerable professor, bent, grey and stooped, and probably well on the wrong side of sixty. The man who stood up to greet them as they walked into the small and quiet bar was none of these things. About thirty, tall, slim and handsome, and with a mop of curly black hair, he cut an almost Byronic figure.
'Angela,' he said, his smile revealing perfect teeth, their whiteness dazzling against his tanned face.
Bronson disliked him immediately.
'Hullo, Yosef,' Angela said, raising her face to be kissed on both cheeks. 'This is Chris Bronson – he used to be my husband. Chris, this is Yosef Ben Halevi.'
Ben Halevi turned to Angela as they all sat down. 'You were very mysterious on the phone,' he said. 'What are you doing out here, and how can I help you?'
'It's a little complicated—' Angela began.
'Isn't it always?' Ben Halevi interrupted, with another brilliant smile.
'We're here on holiday, but I've also been asked to do some research into certain aspects of first-century Jewish history, because of some inscriptions that have turned up back in London.'
'A working holiday, then?' Ben Halevi suggested, with a glance at Bronson.
'Exactly. Specifically, I'm looking into events that took place in the vicinity of Qumran, towards the end of the first century AD.'
Yosef Ben Halevi nodded. 'The Essenes and the Sicarii, I suppose? With a side order of Roman legions and the Emperors Nero, Vespasian and Titus, probably.'
The man clearly knew his subject, and Bronson was glad that Angela had chosen such a quiet place to meet him. There were only a handful of people in the bar, and they could talk freely at their corner table without any danger of being overheard.
Angela nodded. 'One of the things that puzzles me is the word "Gedi", which seems to be a proper name, or perhaps part of one. Does that ring any bells with you?'
'Certainly. It depends on the context, obviously, but the most obvious answer is that it's a reference to Ein-Gedi. And, if it is, that's a probable link to the Sicarii. Where did you come across it?'
'It's part of an inscription we unearthed,' Angela said smoothly.
'Right, Ein-Gedi,' Ben Halevi said. 'It's a very fertile oasis lying to the west of the Dead Sea, what the ancients used to call Lake Asphaltitus, not far from both Qumran and Masada.'
'Only an oasis?' Bronson said. 'That's not very exciting.'
'It's not only an oasis. It's been mentioned numerous times in the Bible, particularly in Chronicles, Ezekiel and Joshua. It even gets a probable name-check in the Song of Solomon – Ein-Gedi is the most obvious interpretation of the word "Engaddi" that occurs in one verse – and allegedly King David hid there when he was being pursued by Saul. It was a really important place throughout quite a long period of Jewish history.'
'And the Sicarii?'
'I was just getting to that. According to Josephus – you've heard of him, I hope – while the Romans were actually besieging Masada, some of the garrison of Sicarii managed to slip out and launch a raid on the Jewish settlement at Ein-Gedi. It was a major attack, and they killed over seven hundred people. You have to remember that at this period in history Jews fighting other Jews wasn't that uncommon.
'Not much is known about the inhabitants of Ein-Gedi at the time, but the oasis must have been reasonably prosperous to have been able to support that many people.
Presumably the Sicarii were looking for food or weapons, that kind of thing, to help them in their fight against the Roman forces encircling Masada. Of course,' Ben Halevi finished, 'it didn't do them any good, because the citadel fell not that long afterwards, and all the Sicarii there perished.'
'That's interesting, Yosef,' Angela said, making a mental note, then changed the subject. 'We're also interested in the background to the story of the Mosaic Covenant. For Chris's benefit, could you explain a bit about that as well?'
'The Mosaic Covenant?' Ben Halevi said, looking closely at Angela – too closely for Bronson's liking. 'Right.
Well, according to your Bible – the Old Testament, obviously – one of the most sacred objects owned by the Israelites was the Ark of the Covenant, which was stored in several different sanctuaries in Judea over the years, including Shiloh and Shechem. When Jerusalem was captured by King David, he decided to build a permanent resting place for the relic there, and the Temple Mount in the old part of the city was the obvious choice.