The Moses Legacy

Chapter 19

‘Well, I’m pleased to tell you, Professor Klein, that you are free to go. For now. You’re being released on bail as we may have some more questions for you. However, one of your bail conditions is that you remain in the country, so we’ll be retaining your passport for the time being.’

‘Thank you,’ said Daniel, not sure what he was thanking the DCI for.

Ten minutes later, back in possession of his other personal items, Gaby was driving him back to his place in North London.

‘So let’s assume that it was one of the papyri from Deir el-Medina, it could be the key to unlocking a sizeable chunk of Jewish history. I mean, it could open up the whole history of the Israelites in Egypt from the arrival of Joseph to the exodus of Moses.’

‘Look, Gaby, I don’t mean to be rude, but this isn’t really what you want to talk about, is it?’

‘What else would I want to talk about?’

‘Your uncle.’

‘I do not want to talk about my uncle!’ she snapped. ‘And it’s Gabrielle.’

‘Look… I’m sorry. I know this is painful-’

‘I said I don’t want to talk about it! My uncle’s death is a tragedy, but there’s not much we can do about it. Some burglar who doesn’t like to leave evidence behind… some disgruntled former student… some rival academic… some local lunatic… Whoever it was, we’re in no position to catch them. That’s the job of the police.’

An uncomfortable few seconds went by. Daniel knew that any further attempts to comfort her would only backfire, that much was certain. So he returned to the subject of the mysterious papyrus and its origins.

‘Okay. Well, let’s consider your theory, Professor Gusack,’ he said with a forced smile. ‘The scribes who worked at the necropolis were fully literate in the various writing systems of the day, including hieroglyphics. Indeed, most if not all of the workers there were fully literate.’

‘I know. They were skilled workers – paid workers, not slaves. In fact, the Deir el-Medina papyri even contain the first known record of a strike, when they downed tools after going unpaid for too long.’

‘Which just goes to prove my point. The stonemasons had to be literate in order to carve the hieroglyphic characters into the rock.’

‘Your point being?’

‘My point being that Proto-Sinaitic script was used by the uneducated. Why would the literate, skilled workers at the necropolis bother with it?’

‘Have you got a better theory?’

‘Well yes, as a matter of fact I have. Who says the papyrus had to have been found at an archaeological dig?’

‘What else is there?’

‘I was thinking about it while I was cooling my heels in the police cells. I was wondering if it might have been found accidentally during some building project.’

‘ Which building project?’

‘Only one of the biggest in the world! The Aswan High Dam.’

‘How do you mean?’

‘Well, maybe one of the workers was operating a bulldozer? Or clearing out the rubble that the bulldozer had dug up.’

Gaby’s mind drifted back.

The bulldozer… moving forward… forward…

Get out of the way!

‘Gaby?’

‘What?’

‘You were miles away.’

‘Sorry.’

He wouldn’t have been so worried if it wasn’t for the fact that it was Gabrielle who was driving.

‘I’ve just thought of something, Daniel. Aswan is just across the river from Elephantine…’

‘…And Elephantine was the site of a huge discovery of papyri, dating from the fifth century BC, connected with the Jewish community that lived in the area when it was under Persian control – the so-called Elephantine papyri.’

‘How much do you know about that?’ Gabrielle asked.

‘Quite a lot, actually,’ said Daniel. ‘This is right up my street. When the Kingdom of Judah was destroyed by the Babylonians, they brought most of the Jews as captives to Babylon. But when the Babylonians were defeated by the Persians, Cyrus of Persia allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem, and also tolerated them in other parts of the Persian Empire, including Elephantine, where they grew into a flourishing community.

‘And were any of these Elephantine papyri in Proto-Sinaitic?’

Daniel pursed his lips. ‘That’s the downer. They were written in a variety of languages: hieratic and demotic Egyptian, Aramaic, Greek, Latin and Coptic. But not Proto-Sinaitic. The majority of those that specifically concerned the Jews were in Aramaic, using the old Aramaic script that developed round about the eighth century BC.’

‘Is it possible that they were still using the Proto-Sinaitic in the fifth century BC?’

Daniel thought for a moment. The answer, dictated by his scholarship, was not encouraging.

‘It’s highly unlikely.’

Daniel was disappointed. Gabrielle’s question had brought him right back down to earth. They had arrived at his house and Gabrielle parked the rented car in the driveway.

When they got inside, Daniel put his suitcase in the master bedroom while Gabrielle went to the kitchen to put the kettle on. He was about to unpack when he heard a cry from Gabrielle. He raced into the kitchen to see her holding her mobile phone to her ear, listening to something.

‘What is it?’

‘You’ve got to hear this!’

She handed him the phone and pointed to the button to play the message again. It was from Mansoor.

‘Hallo, Gabrielle, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you this before, but there are some things happening here that we need to talk about. I heard about Harrison Carmichael being killed and I understand that Daniel has fallen under some sort of suspicion. I have explained to the British authorities that I invited him here. I do not know if this helps, but in the meantime, I have to tell you that I have not been completely honest with you. There was no food poisoning epidemic at the dig site, but there was some sort of outbreak of disease which we think may have had something to do with the site itself. We are looking into this but in the meantime we have put the volunteers into quarantine. However, the first one to become ill was at another hospital and he has since died. The reason I am calling you is that a nurse in the hospital wing where he was being treated was murdered. It is unclear if the two things are connected, but I just want you to know that we have concerns on a number of fronts. Please call me as soon as you can.’

‘You’d better call him,’ said Daniel, handing back the phone.

‘I don’t think you should bother unpacking,’ Gabrielle responded.

He looked at her in shock.

‘I can’t leave now. I’m on bail.’

‘I’ll talk to Mansoor, but I think we’ve got more important things to worry about than you being on bail.’

At the back of Daniel’s mind, he was thinking about the outbreak at the dig site and remembering Harrison’s words about the resurgence of the plague. Harrison had said that he knew the plague could return based on his translation of an old manuscript in Proto-Sinaitic script. Mansoor had shown him such a manuscript. Could that be the one that his mentor had translated?

Yet there was still one obstacle in his way.

‘They’ve got my passport.’

A smile lit Gabrielle’s face.

‘What about your US passport – the one you had when you were married to Charlotte?’