suggesting a slurred sort of speech. The translation tries to capture the characterization the author made every effort to depict. A note about the handwriting: Anatiya’s handwriting is not nearly as consistent or as artful as that of Baruch or Ben Sira. Over the course of her scroll it changes from tightly wound, small letters to a looser, more languidly flowing, downward sloping script. Throughout, however, is her signature letter yud, which has three little sweeps at the top.
The historical value of this piece is indisputable. A passage describing King Josiah provides exciting proof text that the scroll mentioned in the Book of Kings II long suspected to be Deuteronomy, the fifth of the five books of Moses, actually is Deuteronomy. The small group of scholars that have long held that Deuteronomy was in fact composed by Jeremiah and Baruch here find powerful textual basis for these claims. Anatiya lends tremendous historicity to such figures as Ezekiel, lesser known prophets as Hanamel and Uriah, priestly figures such as Pashhur and Zephania. Past archeological discoveries, including the “Seal of Baruch” found in 1975, and the soldered “I love you” amulets and bracelets discovered throughout the Jezreel valley, here find resource as well. The scroll contributes to the completion of the picture we have of this region and era, with its mention of hitherto unreferenced sites such as Coffee Alley and Baker’s Street, its brief tour of the palace and Temple, as well as its references to unknown texts such as the hidden books of Anatot and letters written by Anatiya to her son. It goes without saying that Anatiya makes an immeasurable contribution to filling out the historic landscape. How could we have ever read Jeremiah’s letter to the exiles, portions of Ezekiel, or for that matter, the entire Books of Lamentations and Jeremiah, without this clarifying, captivating, and complicated voice? Simultaneously, of course, the Scroll of Anatiya raises as many, if not more, questions than it answers.
As valuable as Anatiya is historically, the literary value of the scroll can never be dismissed. It maps an internal landscape of emotion and desire with as much, if not more, precision than it details historic events. It cannot fairly be compared to any other known text of its time. The romantic and erotic Song of Songs is clearly a compilation of sonnets, although there are those who would argue it is the story of two lovers over a period of time. The Book of Ruth and the Book of Judith are both character- and plot-driven, but never escape the agenda of their redactors. Anatiya is a first person, honest, and vulnerable account of an orphaned, passion-driven disciple of Jeremiah, perhaps a prophetess in her own right, composed as an epic love poem in which an immensely personal philosophy is expressed and nurtured, and in which a political agenda is subtle and noncompetitive with the overarching themes. It remains the most character-driven and thematic of any known Hebraic text, more comparable to certain Greek epics of a later date. Anatiya is a rare window into an incredible world and a beautiful mind, and what emerges, out of this century of war, wrath, starvation, and exile is a timeless theology of love that is sure to redefine trends in the history of mankind and thought.
I present to you the first complete English translation of the Scroll of Anatiya.
Jordanna Lamm
The Missing Page, Inc.
An Intuitive Translation Service
1
The words of Anatiya, daughter of Avigayil, one of the handmaids at the temple at Anatot in the territory of Benjamin. 2She fell deeply in love with Jeremiah in her thirteenth year. 3Her body was so faint with love for Jeremiah that her soul caught in her throat and made her mute for the remainder of her days. 4In the quietude of her love, she penned the songs of her heart. 5She shadowed Jeremiah all of his days like a faint aroma of meadow, like a distant memory of lilies abloom in the valley of Sharon. 6A child-spook, a brittle tea-leaf, she hid within her a passion for the prophet Jeremiah that was silver-trumpet-loud.
7The moment I saw you I knew:
That I had been destined for you when my soul was yet on high;
before I was a swell in my mother’s belly, I was consecrated
to be the one to love you as a desert flower loves a drop of dew.
8I saw you
surrounded with God
and I fell upon my face
and praised God, and blessed you,
9and I knew that surely I would die
should I lift my eyes and see
the Holy One face to face,
10but I heard your brave little voice
as a clear glass bell ring out:
“Ah, Lord God,
I don’t know how to speak!”
11I lifted my eyes,
I could not help myself!
Your voice stirred me so.
12I looked up and saw you
standing at God’s very core,
and you were not consumed!
13No, you radiated like a beacon
in a pure star-dewy mist,
your skin was translucent,
luminous,
a veil of sunlight over
a sky-blue soul.
14Your eyes were two black moons
sailing through your open face,
Your skin gleamed like a polished marble floor.
15Your ears were small
as a newborn’s open palms,
snatching at God’s words,
which filled the air like thin bubbles.
16You dazzled me.
I opened my mouth to cry out to you,
and the God that surrounded you streamed into my throat, swelling my soul.
17I thought I might die, but I lost my voice instead of my life
~wrote Anatiya.
18When God put out a hand and touched your mouth,
God put out another hand,
and touched the tip of a finger to my lips,
whispering, “Shhhh.” 19I never spoke again.
But I would gladly give my tongue, Jeremiah,
if I might be your life companion,
that I might be your quiet rose
among the damsels of the land.
20I tucked almond blossoms into my hair
and scratched your name with a twig under my thigh,
over
