Chapter 77
Daniel looked up from the papyrus at Gabrielle, expectantly. ‘It…
Chapter 78
‘Why did we let them get hold of the manuscript?’…
Chapter 79
‘Shall I wait for them?’ Daniel asked Gabrielle when she…
Chapter 80
‘You have to send me in there,’ Sarit told Dovi.
Chapter 81
‘Look, I know this is painful,’ said Daniel. ‘If you…
Chapter 82
‘Which bus do I need for the Hebrew University?’ Goliath…
Chapter 83
‘Maybe we should wait until they come back,’ said Daniel.
Chapter 84
Sarit never had been one for following orders. Besides, Dov…
Chapter 85
‘I assume you know who I am?’ Goliath said.
Chapter 86
There was an eerie silence in the Conservation Department when…
Chapter 87
‘Do not give him any sign that you are under…
Chapter 88
‘I’m telling you – I didn’t do it!’ Sarit explained…
Chapter 89
‘There’s something I don’t understand,’ said Goliath as they clambered…
Chapter 90
‘What the hell do you think you were playing at?’
Chapter 91
‘We shouldn’t be doing this,’ said Daniel, still in a…
Chapter 92
‘Excuse me, I know this is going to sound awfully…
Chapter 93
Daniel had recovered his composure and was reading out loud.
Chapter 94
Finding the Snake Monument and the path leading to it…
Chapter 95
‘Now then,’ said Professor Fikri, ‘what is this fascinating academic…
Chapter 96
Goliath had taken the bus from Petra back to Amman,…
Chapter 97
‘The spores must have got reactivated at Petra and become…
Chapter 98
There was a look of solemnity on the faces of…
Chapter 99
‘What do you mean “an emergency”? Daniel asked, although he…
Chapter 100
Recognizing the encroaching danger in the professor’s approach, Audrey stood…
Chapter 101
‘So what is this organization that hates Israel and the…
Chapter 102
‘It says that the crossing is open till eight!’ Goliath…
Chapter 103
‘How far are we?’ asked Daniel.
Chapter 104
Goliath had made it into Israel and the Sea of…
Chapter 105
While Daniel and Gabrielle remained in the car, Sarit had…
Chapter 106
Goliath pulled up and got out of the car. He…
Epilogue
A couple of weeks later, on the morning of 19…
About the Author
Foreword
Extensive research went into this book, during the course of which I made some amazing discoveries. The historical references herein are a mixture of known facts, conjecture by Egyptologists and my own fertile imagination. For those who are interested in separating the fact from the fiction, there is a wealth of material on Egyptology and Jewish history available from booksellers and in libraries (if our esteemed politicians can be persuaded to keep them open). I sincerely hope this book piques your interest in the subject.
Prologue
‘Joshua, my time is coming and the mantle of leadership will pass to you.’
The white-haired man was lying down in the cave on a bed of hay, looking at the one whom he had chosen as his successor. The younger man, a dark-haired forty-year-old, had torn his robes in mourning, while the older man yet lived. There were tears of grief in his eyes.
‘I will not leave your side, my teacher.’
Joshua had long known that this day would come, that one day the man who had led the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt would be taken to God’s bosom and that he, the loyal disciple, would take over the mantle of leadership from the man to whom he owed so much. Yet he still felt ill-prepared for the duties that would fall upon him. It wasn’t just the fact that this once vibrant man was now reduced to the frail figure before him. It was also the terrifying sight of the red lesions on his mentor’s flesh that looked like fiery snakes.
‘I am not long for this earth, Joshua. When I die, you must bury me here and leave this place forever.’
From the valley below the sound of the murmuring of the people, as they awaited news of their leader, billowed up to the cave on the desert wind.
‘But why must we leave?’ asked Joshua. ‘Why can we not stay here and make peace with the Snake God?’
‘Because the Snake God is false!’ The old man’s voice resonated once again with the
