Solomon's Gold

CHAPTER 16

Back at the vehicles, they considered the next move.

Friedman scratched his chin. "The scroll said the next marker is twenty-two parasas to the south."

"What's a parasa in modern measurements?" Ronnie asked.

"In biblical times, they measured distance by parts of the human body," Friedman said. "An arm, a leg, the width of the palm, the length of a finger and so on. You combined those measurements into larger and larger amounts until you got to a parasa, or parsa'ot in old Hebrew. Because they used measurements that varied according to the size of the body, it's not an exact distance. Roughly, a parasa is four point eight kilometers."

"So, twenty-two parasas would be somewhere around a hundred plus kilometers?"

"That's correct."

Nick looked at a map. "That would put us right in the middle of the Wilderness of Zin."

"I see a problem with this," Gideon said.

"What's that?"

"You're saying that the next marker could be a hundred kilometers or more from here. That's a lot of territory. Plus we don't have any idea what route Moses actually followed. It's not like he had roads, he was walking in the desert. You see where I'm going?"

"A wild duck chase," Rivka said.

"Goose, not duck," Nick said. "A wild goose chase."

"It's a good point, Gideon," Selena said. "But when Solomon wrote the scroll he would have known that. There has to be something to indicate where that second marker is located, something more than a rough distance."

"Let's think about this for a minute," Nick said. "The instructions say to follow in the steps of Moses, right?"

Gideon nodded. "Right."

"So where did Moses go?"

"Wandering in the desert, for forty years," Ronnie said.

"Sure, but where did he go? Where are the important stops?"

"Mount Sinai," Rivka said. "But that's in Egypt."

"Not necessarily," Friedman said.

"What do you mean?" Lamont asked. "In Sunday school they told us it was in Egypt."

"You went to Sunday school?" Ronnie asked.

"Every week. My grandma made sure I went. Besides, I liked the stories. And we got cookies."

"That explains it," Ronnie said

Friedman cleared his throat. "If I can go on?"

"Sorry, Doc," Ronnie said.

"There are several mountains that could be Mount Sinai. One of them is in the Wilderness of Zin, Mount Karkom. That's almost exactly twenty-two parasas from here."

"You think the second marker is on Mount Karkom?"

"It could be," Friedman said. "There are reputable archaeologists who think Mount Karkom is the Mount Sinai of Genesis. It's a theory. No one's sure where it is."

Nick said, "Gideon's right. Heading into the desert and hoping for the best isn't going to work. Mount Karkom could be right. It fits with everything else in the scroll."

"Guess we'll be camping in the desert tonight," Lamont said.

"Oh, that won't be necessary," Rivka said. "It would be dark by the time we reached Mount Karkom. We wouldn't be able to see much of anything. On the way there, we pass a development called Mitzpe Ramon. There's a good hotel, the Beresheet. We can leave in the morning."

"I like this idea," Selena said. "I don't mind sleeping out, but I'd prefer a nice, comfortable bed."

"How's the food there?" Lamont asked.

"They have an excellent restaurant," Rivka said. "You could try some of our Israeli specialties."

Gideon said, "I know the place. It's expensive, but it's a nice hotel and it's not that far from where we're going."

"That settles it," Nick said. "Mitzpe it is."

They got into the vehicles and headed south on Highway 40. It was late afternoon when they checked into the hotel.

Lamont looked around as they walked in.

"Man, this is the kind of camping I really like."

"You're getting soft in your old age," Ronnie said.

"Careful who you're calling old," Lamont said.

The lobby floor was marble, inlaid with a pattern that suggested an abstract Star of David. A bowl-like fountain was set in the center of the floor. The colors of the hotel matched the colors of the desert outside, rich browns and warm tans, with cream accents. It was elegant and understated.

They got their keys.

"Let's meet in the restaurant at six," Nick said.

"Can't be too soon for me," Lamont said.

"You ever think about anything except food?" Ronnie asked.

"Unlike some people I know, I appreciate good food."

"Yeah, right, I've seen you dig into those MREs like a real gourmet."

"Hey, food's food. I like MREs."

The hotel was built on the northern edge of Ramon Crater, a geological oddity twenty-five miles long and fifteen hundred feet deep. The entire area was a national park. Selena and Nick had a room that looked out over the crater and the desert beyond. The view extended as far as they could see.

"It's beautiful, but barren as the moon," Nick said. "Can you imagine walking around in that for forty years?"

"No, I can't," Selena said. "It's probably not literal history. Forty years is a generic term for a long time."

"Forty days or forty years, it's still too long as far as I'm concerned. Places like this make me nervous. There's nothing out there except what you bring with you. It reminds me some of Afghanistan."

"At least here no one is shooting at you," Selena said.

"That's a definite plus," Nick said. "Not to mention that nice comfortable bed. You know, we still have more than an hour before we eat."

Selena put her hands on Nick's shoulders and looked into his gray eyes.

"Do you think that will be long enough?" she said.