The Solomon Scroll

CHAPTER 47

They walked through the doorway of the hidden room and into the past. The beams from their lights danced over a row of wooden chests piled along one wall. At the back of the room stood an altar with an elaborate Coptic cross of gold and precious stones, flanked by tall candlesticks of gold. In front of the altar were two white marble boxes, each about three feet long by two high. The walls were painted with scenes from the Old Testament. The yellow gold and jewels of the cross gleamed in their lights.

"Wow," Diego said.

"It's a shrine. Those marble chests are ossuaries." Selena shone her light across them. "There's writing on them. It should tell us who's inside."

"What are they for?" Diego asked.

"Bones."

"Like a coffin?"

"Sort of. Back then they buried the body in a temporary grave until it decomposed. Then they put the bones in chests like these. You can fit several people into one of these. It took up less space that way. No need for a sprawling cemetery using up good farmland."

"Not the kind of job I'd like. Collecting bones."

Selena knelt down by one of the chests. She traced her fingers along the writing.

Nick squatted down next to her. "What does it say?"

"This is Biblical Aramaic, an old form. It's a quotation from the Old Testament, from the Song of Solomon."

She looked at him, eyes wide. "I think the Queen of Sheba is in here."

"How do you know where the quotation is from?"

"My uncle made sure I was familiar with the Bible. It wasn't hard, I loved the stories. It's got everything. Romance, adventure, war, sex, betrayal, you name it. Not to mention plenty of food for thought."

She turned to the other chest. Nick waited as she worked through the Aramaic in her mind.

"It's another quotation, although it's a little different from what I remember. It's from Kings."

"David is supposed to have been Solomon's father," she said. "This inscription is as much proof as anyone is ever likely to find that he was. That's enough to get everybody excited. According to the Old Testament, God told David that his son would build a house for Him. That would be the First Temple, the one destroyed by the Babylonians."

"Then Solomon is in there?"

"It would seem so. What's left of him, anyway."

While they were looking at the ossuaries, Diego went to one of the wooden trunks and pried loose the primitive lock holding it closed. He lifted the lid.

"Whoa," he said. "Wait till you see this."

They gathered around him. The chest was full of gold coins. Selena picked one up. She studied the face and writing stamped upon it.

"That's Herod Antipas. He ordered the death of John the Baptist and was king when Christ was crucified."

"Different from the other guy?" Diego asked.

"Yes. There were several kings named Herod back then."

"What's this?"

Ronnie had pried open another, larger trunk. It contained a structure of gold that looked like a small house with two doors. The doors were closed.

"I think that's a Torah Ark," Selena said. "There's probably a Torah scroll inside. Don't open it."

"Why not?"

"Well, because. This comes out of Judaism's holiest site. Only a Rabbi is supposed to open it and we should honor that. If that holds the Torah scroll from the Temple, the Israelis are going to be ecstatic when they get this back."

"If they get it back," Nick said.

"Why wouldn't they?"

"It's as much political as it is religious. Rice might decide to use it in the big game. It's a powerful bargaining chip."

"You think he'd keep it from the Israelis?"

"I don't know. That's not my call. When politics gets involved what's right tends to go out the window. Even Rice has to answer to people who don't always make good decisions."

"Are we going to take any of this with us?" Lamont asked.

"I don't think so. That ark is made of solid gold and heavy. I don't see us carrying it or any of these chests down those steps even if we wanted to. It's amazing someone managed to get all this gold up here."

"What do you want to do with it?"

"Leave it right where it is, along with everything else. We found what we were looking for. Now we go home and let somebody else worry about it."

"I know you're right but I don't like it," Selena said. She gestured at the ossuaries. "We should make sure there are actually bones inside before we go."

"Good idea. Give me a hand, guys."

They lifted the heavy lid covering Solomon's ossuary and rested it against the wall. Inside were the bones of a single skeleton. The empty eye sockets of the skull seemed to look at them. A small, wooden box made of cedar lay next to the bones. Nick reached down and lifted it out. He opened the box. Inside was a large gold ring with a raised design of the six pointed star with writing around it. He took it out and shone his light on it.

Selena drew in a breath. "My God. I think you just found the seal of Solomon. I always thought it was a myth."

"What does the writing say?" Nick held his light on the ring. "Weird. It feels warm to the touch."

"I don't know what it says. It's in a language I've never seen before."

"I don't think I've ever heard you say that. What's the big deal about this anyway? Every king has lots of jewelry."

"Not like this," she said. "This ring is supposed to have magical powers, given to Solomon by God."

"What kind of powers?"

"The power to control the wind was one of them. He's supposed to have been able to call upon the wind if he needed to defeat his enemies. It would be a handy thing in the desert against an invading army. You could bury them in a sandstorm. He could talk with animals. The ring also gave him the power to control the jinn."

"Okay," Diego said. "Who are the jinn?"

"Not who, what. They're beings who live in a different dimension and interact with humans."

"Like angels?"

"No, the jinn are different. In Islam there are a lot of stories about them. Remember Aladdin and his magical lamp?"

"With the genie?" Ronnie said.

"Genie and jinn are the same thing. Solomon was supposed to have enslaved them with the ring. There's a story in Islam about Solomon's death. He dies leaning against his staff, which keeps him propped up. All the jinn think he's still alive so they keep doing the things he told them to do. Then God sends a worm to gnaw through the staff until Solomon falls down. That's when the jinn realize they're free. As I recall, they were a little pissed off about it."

"I guess they weren't very smart," Lamont said.

"I suppose not," Selena said. "Can I see that?"

She took the ring from Nick. "This is like finding King Arthur's sword, except it's real and not just a story."

"Maybe it's not the seal," Nick said.

"What else could it be? There's no reason to put it with Solomon's bones if it isn't."

"Maybe we should try calling up a genie," Lamont said. "One who's good-looking, like in that old TV show."

"It's not something to joke about," Selena said. "A lot of times there's something real behind a legend."

"Come on," Diego said. "You don't believe in genies, do you?"

"Maybe not in genies," Selena said. "There are physicists who will tell you there are other dimensions existing right along with ours. There might be beings who live in them. There could be some part of the legend with a basis in reality."

"You been smoking something, Selena?" Lamont asked.

Selena ignored him and handed the ring to Nick. She took out her phone and began taking pictures of the writing on the ossuaries.

"I'm going to keep the ring as physical proof, Nick said. "We've seen enough. Time to let Harker know what we've found."

He climbed back up to the top level and into the front room. After the darkness of the tomb, the light outside was blinding.

Nick stepped into the bright sun. He squinted and held the ring up to look at it.

"I'll take that," a voice said.