‘So it’s a perfect match,’ said Gabrielle excitedly.
‘Let’s not jump to conclusions just yet. Let’s see if we can find anything else. Again, using the two recognized words of El and Jehovah, if we look just above the middle of the second tablet, we see the name Jehovah, the word El and also …’ His inflection was rising as he felt the growing excitement. ‘…the word Yisral, which appears to be an early form of the name Israel.’
By now, even Mansoor’s hitherto sceptical eyes were lit up with the fire of enthusiasm. ‘Does that mean what I think it means?’
Daniel was pleased to hear emotion in Mansoor’s tone for once and he was unable to conceal the passion in his own. ‘It means we’ve gone some way to deciphering Proto-Sinaitic script. But more important than that… it means that what you’ve got back in Cairo are the remnants of the original Mosaic tablets!’
Chapter 11
‘Look, could you at least give me my phone back so that I can call my folks?’
Jane’s tone was like that of a stroppy teenager. She was being held in the isolation wing of a military hospital along with the other volunteers from the dig and also some of the soldiers. They were segregated from each other in order to further reduce the risk of infection.
They had been told very little, beyond the fact that it was a precaution and it was for their own wellbeing.
‘We aren’t allowing phone calls for the time being,’ the man from the Ministry of Health explained to her, in the tone of a kindergarten teacher to a not very bright child.
‘Why not?’
‘We don’t want to start a panic.’
‘You’re probably starting more of a panic by holding us incommunicado like this.’
The man from the Health Ministry, an alumnus of Harvard, looked impressed by Jane’s vocabulary as he thought of her as an empty-headed blonde. She sensed the patronizing attitude from the smile on his face, even though he said nothing.
‘My father’s a United States senator.’
‘I know,’ said the official, still smiling. ‘And this is against your constitutional rights.’
‘Look, it’s not funny!’
‘I’m sorry, I shouldn’t laugh. But you have to understand that a panic is the last thing we need. We depend heavily on the tourist industry in this country.’
‘Look, I’m not going to start a panic. Besides, my father already knows.’
The official looked at her blankly and then understood.
‘Oh yes, aren’t you the one who smuggled a phone into the dig?’
She blushed and then smiled, realizing that the look on the health official’s face was actually one of approval.
‘Okay, yes that was me. Look, I know I shouldn’t have done it, but I just didn’t want him to worry.’
She gave the official a seductive smile. He looked at her hesitantly.
‘Okay, one call. And don’t mention that anyone else is in quarantine. You can tell him that you’re okay – and that you’ll be released in two weeks.’
She smiled as he handed his mobile phone through the sliding drawer into the isolation area. Then she took the phone and put in the call.
‘Hallo Dad.’
‘Jane,’ said Senator Morris.
‘Listen, I’ve got some bad news. Because of what happened at the dig with Joel, we’ve been put into quarantine.’
‘What? At the hospital?’ The shock was palpable.
‘Yes, but a different hospital. They’ve said they’ll release me in two weeks, but I’m not allowed to have my phone with me.’
‘Why not?’
She looked at the health official, wondering how much she was free to say.
‘Something about contamination.’
‘Did you manage to get any of Joel’s clothes?’
‘No, I didn’t have a chance.’
‘Okay, well, look… don’t feel bad. You tried your best.’
She did feel bad though, or at least mildly guilty. ‘Thanks, Dad.’
‘Oh, just one thing.’
‘Yes?’
‘You’re sure they don’t know that I told you to get a sample of Joel’s clothes?’
‘Absolutely.’
‘Okay, that’s good.’
They said goodbye and Jane handed the phone back to the official through the sliding drawer. He picked it up with an alcohol wipe and cleaned it all over before putting it in his pocket.
Amused as she was by the official’s paranoia, Jane was more concerned by what her father was up to. She could tell from his tone that whatever he was doing, he wasn’t finished yet.
Chapter 12
‘This is where we keep all the artefacts that aren’t on display,’ Mansoor was explaining as he led Daniel and Gabrielle through a labyrinth of corridors in the basement of the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities.
Daniel had worked on the details of the translation of the text from the stones on the plane back from Sharm. It was painstaking work, matching the recognized words and then pairing up single words or groups of words from the stones with the counterparts in the Bible. But after a while it had become easier. It was like a crossword puzzle: the more matches he found, the easier it was to find suitable matches for the remainder.
By the time they landed in Cairo, he had finished the translation and created a concordance of some 138 words in the old language and the equivalent in biblical Hebrew.
‘I think we need to agree the terms we’re working on,’ Mansoor had said on the plane. ‘Whilst it’s your translation, Professor Klein, and Gabrielle was in charge of the dig, I am the senior scholar amongst the three of us and I think it should be my name first when we publish our findings.’
This was more than just a wish. It was a firm decision. He couldn’t actually stop Daniel from publishing a paper from memory about the language in abstract, but the finding of the original Mosaic tablets was much bigger news than the mere decipherment of an old script. Mansoor had control over the stone fragments themselves.
Furthermore, as Vice Minister of Culture, he could stop either of them from working in Egypt again. This would have been more of a blow to Gabrielle than to Daniel, but it was Daniel who was the more conciliatory of the two.
‘That’s fine with me. I don’t even mind if my name goes last. I’m just thrilled and honoured to be part of this.’
Mansoor responded to Daniel’s pliant reply by offering him a consolation prize.
‘You do know of course that we have another long document in the ancient script.’