legend.
He pressed a small green button below the glass which beeped before sliding open. Ben Isaac lifted the document very carefully, as if it were a newborn baby, and brought it close to his eyes. What emotion! Touching an object that Jesus himself might have touched two thousand years before. How privileged he was. He could touch it whenever he wanted. If a pope had succeeded in putting his hands on this document, any pope, he would have immediately been accused of sacrilege. But Ben Isaac confirmed it was authentic, he knew it as true.
He returned the parchment to its place and pushed the button to return the glass to its protective position. He moved on to the middle case, in which a much older parchment lay, degraded in some parts, so that some of the written characters could not be seen. But it was possible to read the essential message, which he remembered every day with a shiver and didn’t have the courage to read aloud. He didn’t want to touch this, never wanted to. The parchment was many years older than the other, but more important. It wasn’t a simple legal authorization, but a gospel known only to two people: Ben Isaac and a learned man whom he had approached to interpret the text, under a pact of silence. Ben Isaac was an expert at this. He let nothing slip.
The last showcase held two documents on letterhead paper, with the papal coat of arms at the top. Both texts were in English and easy to read.
November 8, 1960
Vatican City
I grant Ben Isaac, citizen of Israel, resident of London, a concession over the parchments found in the Qumran valley for a period of twenty-five years. While this agreement is in force, neither party will make the discoveries public. The Holy See will not attempt in any way to recover the documents, which it considers its own by right. At the end of the fixed time my successor and those of Ben Isaac will have to arrange a new agreement.
God be with you.
John P.P. XXIII
Ben Isaac (and three illegible signatures)
The other document was similar, with a different coat of arms and a shorter text.
November 8, 1985
Vatican City
I grant an extension of the agreement of November 8, 1960, for the identical term, at the end of which new arrangements will be made by the heirs.
Agreed to and signed by
John Paul P.P. II
Ben Isaac (and five illegible signatures)
Ben Isaac read and reread the documents. He remembered the negotiations. The cardinals, the prelates, the apostolic nuncios, the simple priests who came and went for two years with recommendations, offers, trivial details, curses, threats … the Five Gentlemen. He never met John XXIII or John Paul II, despite their having signed the documents. Perhaps it had been a mistake. Too many special envoys when it would have been simpler to sit down at the same table and talk. A nuncio came and offered him $2 million for the documents before the first agreement. He doubted that John XXIII had offered so much. Certainly, after the contract was signed, he was never troubled again. So many mistakes made over the course of his life. This had nothing to do with religion. He thought about Magda, tears blinding his eyes, and then Myriam filled his thoughts.
With a final glance at the parchments, Ben Isaac sighed. He looked at his watch. It was time. He left the vault and turned back to the stairs. He was too old for the battle, but he couldn’t turn his back on it. Life was a battle, nothing more.
Time was up. The agreement had expired.
4
The elderly archaeologist coughed and struggled. He didn’t have to wait for the blow, hard and clean, remorseless.
‘The next one will knock you out,’ a voice at his ear whispered, cold, terrifying.
The archaeologist knew he was telling the truth.
He had caught him in the most absurd way imaginable. A telephone call in the middle of the night, unusual, but not crazy. He awoke groggy and bad tempered, but the message woke him up at once. A parchment needed to be translated. It dated from the
He pressed a small green button below the glass which beeped before sliding open. Ben Isaac lifted the document very carefully, as if it were a newborn baby, and brought it close to his eyes. What emotion! Touching an object that Jesus himself might have touched two thousand years before. How privileged he was. He could touch it whenever he wanted. If a pope had succeeded in putting his hands on this document, any pope, he would have immediately been accused of sacrilege. But Ben Isaac confirmed it was authentic, he knew it as true.
He returned the parchment to its place and pushed the button to return the glass to its protective position. He moved on to the middle case, in which a much older parchment lay, degraded in some parts, so that some of the written characters could not be seen. But it was possible to read the essential message, which he remembered every day with a shiver and didn’t have the courage to read aloud. He didn’t want to touch this, never wanted to. The parchment was many years older than the other, but more important. It wasn’t a simple legal authorization, but a gospel known only to two people: Ben Isaac and a learned man whom he had approached to interpret the text, under a pact of silence. Ben Isaac was an expert at this. He let nothing slip.
The last showcase held two documents on letterhead paper, with the papal coat of arms at the top. Both texts were in English and easy to read.
November 8, 1960
Vatican City
I grant Ben Isaac, citizen of Israel, resident of London, a concession over the parchments found in the Qumran valley for a period of twenty-five years. While this agreement is in force, neither party will make the discoveries public. The Holy See will not attempt in any way to recover the documents, which it considers its own by right. At the end of the fixed time my successor and those of Ben Isaac will have to arrange a new agreement.
God be with you.
John P.P. XXIII
Ben Isaac (and three illegible signatures)
The other document was similar, with a different coat of arms and a shorter text.
November 8, 1985
Vatican City
I grant an extension of the agreement of November 8, 1960, for the identical term, at the end of which new arrangements will be made by the heirs.
Agreed to and signed by
John Paul P.P. II
Ben Isaac (and five illegible signatures)
Ben Isaac read and reread the documents. He remembered the negotiations. The cardinals, the prelates, the apostolic nuncios, the simple priests who came and went for two years with recommendations, offers, trivial details, curses, threats … the Five Gentlemen. He never met John XXIII or John Paul II, despite their having signed the documents. Perhaps it had been a mistake. Too many special envoys when it would have been simpler to sit down at the same table and talk. A nuncio came and offered him $2 million for the documents before the first agreement. He doubted that John XXIII had offered so much. Certainly, after the contract was signed, he was never troubled again. So many mistakes made over the course of his life. This had nothing to do with religion. He thought about Magda, tears blinding his eyes, and then Myriam filled his thoughts.
With a final glance at the parchments, Ben Isaac sighed. He looked at his watch. It was time. He left the vault and turned back to the stairs. He was too old for the battle, but he couldn’t turn his back on it. Life was a battle, nothing more.
Time was up. The agreement had expired.
4
The elderly archaeologist coughed and struggled. He didn’t have to wait for the blow, hard and clean, remorseless.
‘The next one will knock you out,’ a voice at his ear whispered, cold, terrifying.
The archaeologist knew he was telling the truth.
He had caught him in the most absurd way imaginable. A telephone call in the middle of the night, unusual, but not crazy. He awoke groggy and bad tempered, but the message woke him up at once. A parchment needed to be translated. It dated from the
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