The Lost Testament

59

Within just a few minutes of looking at the images of the parchment on the website, Angela typed and sent a simple reply to Anum Husani, stating that she was in Madrid, was interested in buying the parchment for the British Museum, and asking him where and when he wanted to meet. She didn’t mention the other museum official who would have to be there as well.

George Stebbins, a specialist in ancient manuscripts, and especially parchments, had also emailed her to say he’d just arrived in the city. He had been sent out by the British Museum to assess the relic and provide Angela with expert advice on its authenticity. Stebbins had checked into a hotel not too far away from the one where Angela and Bronson were staying, and suggested they meet that afternoon.

‘Would he be a good judge of the provenance?’ Chris asked.

‘Not the provenance, because that’s down to the seller, but he’ll certainly be able to confirm its authenticity,’ Angela said. ‘He’s one of the foremost experts in the field for this period. He’ll be vital in getting the parchment authenticated.’

‘And have you had a chance to figure out any more of the text on the parchment?’

Angela shook her head.‘When do you think I’ve had the time to do that? Plus I really need to see it before I can do more. The photographs Ali Mohammed took show far more of the writing than can be seen with the naked eye, but there are several parts of it that still aren’t legible. I’m sure we’ve got enough sophisticated gear at the museum to read pretty much all of it, which is why we need to take possession of it.’

Bronson looked slightly puzzled.

‘But if you don’t know exactly what the text on the parchment says, how do you know it’s of any value at all? Surely you’re not just going by that name you read on it? Yusef or whatever it was?’

Angela looked at him with an expression of mild irritation on her face.

‘Actually,’ she replied, ‘I am, because that wasn’t just a name. Yusef bar Heli wasn’t just some bloke wandering about Judaea two thousand years ago. He was a person that almost everybody in the world has heard of, but somebody about whom very little is actually known, because he was side-lined by his son. In modern English, we would translate Yusef as “Joseph” and, according to those few accounts that have survived, a man called by that name married a woman called Mary, and they were the parents of a man who was much later known as Jesus Christ.’

‘You’re kidding,’ Bronson said.

‘I’m not. I still have no idea what the parchment is describing, but that name is clear enough to read, as is the name of the Judaean town of Tzippori, and it is believed that Joseph spent at least some of his life in that area.’

‘But surely “Yusef” was a very common name at that time?’ Bronson argued. ‘And how do we know that Joseph’s father was called “Heli”?’

‘We don’t, but it’s believed he was named either Heli or Yacob. As I said, very little is actually known about him. But the Tzippori reference, plus the fact that two men who had access to the parchment have been brutally murdered, suggests that the text probably does refer to this particular Joseph.’

She looked down again at her computer screen, then back up at Bronson.

‘I don’t know what event or fact the text on the parchment is describing, but I’m as sure as I can be that there must be something, some ground-breaking secret, that the relic reveals. And if the parchment does reveal something about Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus, or even something about Jesus himself, then there’s one very obvious candidate who would rather it were kept quiet.’

‘The Catholic Church again? Do you really think so?’

‘I know it sounds crazy — but it’s the only possibility I can think of. They have the reach and the motivation. If this parchment turns out to be a contemporary account of something that proves beyond doubt that, for example, Jesus wasn’t crucified, then the entire basis of the Christian faith could be destroyed. This could go straight to the very heart of the religion.’