The Moses Legacy
Authors: Adam Palmer
The Moses Legacy
For my cousin Avi, fellow writer and most generous
source of encouragement, and to Ira who first put me
on to this theme by introducing me to Freud's
theory on Moses and Akhenaten.
But mostly for my father.
âJoshua, my time is coming and the mantle of leadershipâ¦
Khamsin â the hot slow dry wind that blows inâ¦
âI got the message at two in the morning,' saidâ¦
âIt's a pity you didn't find the rest,' said Akilâ¦
âThis is the bread of affliction that our ancestors ateâ¦
âHow many years has it been?' asked Harrison Carmichael asâ¦
Akil Mansoor had been true to his word about providingâ¦
Joel awoke in the men's communal tent, sweating heavily. Heâ¦
âIt's definitely Proto-Sinaitic,' said Daniel, struggling to contain his excitement.
âFirst of all, I have some good news. Carmichael isâ¦
âWe're here,' said Mansoor.
âLook, could you at least give me my phone backâ¦
âThis is where we keep all the artefacts that aren'tâ¦
âThey're anti-Semitic, anti-American, anti-British and anti-Western. They'd like to wipeâ¦
âYou've got to be kidding!'
Goliath was lying on the bed in his hotel room,â¦
âSo you admit that you were at the house thatâ¦
âHe was a friend of Lord Byron, you know,' saidâ¦
Goliath hardly noticed the streets of Cairo sweep by asâ¦
âWell, I'm pleased to tell you, Professor Klein, that youâ¦
Sarit arrived in Cairo from Cyprus, entering the country usingâ¦
âI still don't like it,' said Daniel, feeling self-conscious asâ¦
The curator was sweating, but it wasn't just from theâ¦
âIt couldn't have come from the Aswan High Dam excavations,'â¦
âWhat could it possibly be?' asked the consultant.
â“I will sing to Jehovah for he has⦔ and thenâ¦
Once again, Goliath was afflicted by a feeling of failure.
âThis is the famous Mernepteh stele,' said Mansoor. âMade ofâ¦
Sarit was back in her hotel room in Cairo, waitingâ¦
Daniel was hit by an unexpected blast of heat asâ¦
Goliath was looking at the entrance to the tomb thatâ¦
âThe theory that Yuya was Joseph of the Old Testamentâ¦
The office was busy when a six-page fax arrived atâ¦
âIt's known to the locals as the Valley of theâ¦
Goliath had decided not to take the taxi across theâ¦
Gabrielle had been the first one to hear something goingâ¦
Sarit had watched Daniel and the others drive across toâ¦
âHis neck's been broken,' said Mansoor. The sorrow in hisâ¦
Driving at night along the Nile Valley was a dangerousâ¦
Ignoring the blood and struggling desperately not to let theâ¦
Sarit's training had involved the advanced driving course, including nightâ¦
âMy name is Daniel Klein!' Daniel shouted. âI'm a Britishâ¦
The bitch! thought Goliath. The fucking evil bitch!
âIt's just a flesh wound,' said Gabrielle with a smile,â¦
Sarit arrived in Cairo sometime after four in the morning.
Daniel had let Gabrielle do the talking. After a sleeplessâ¦
âCan you hear me?'
On the felucca, the rest of the day drifted byâ¦
âThese are very serious charges, Miss Stewart,' the police captainâ¦
Breakfast on board Walid's boat was shakshouka â fried eggsâ¦
âWe thought we should warn you. If she was tryingâ¦
âI'm telling you â we didn't have anything to doâ¦
Sarit was in the Wekalat Al-Balah Bazaar, wearing a jilbabâ¦
Six days after they had set out, Daniel and Gabrielleâ¦
He came through for me, Goliath was thinking as heâ¦
âWe can't go by bus,' Gabrielle was saying. âThey'll catchâ¦
âPassport, please,' said the Egyptian soldier.
Mid-April was towards the end of the tourist season, atâ¦
âI didn't actually lose it,' Sarit was explaining. âI justâ¦
Daniel had initially assumed that Walid was a local Luxorâ¦
Sarit had been sitting in the waiting area on theâ¦
âAre you awake?' asked Gabrielle.
âI'm telling you she's dangerous.'
It had taken three days on camels instead of theâ¦
Goliath was beginning to regret leaving the hospital. The burnsâ¦
A trail of bullets from the Israeli patrol boat rakedâ¦
It took Goliath somewhat longer to get to the Sphinxâ¦
Captain Ben-Dor had told them very little. Little as inâ¦
Na'if was struggling frantically for breath. He felt the bandagedâ¦
Daniel wondered if he should ask for a lawyer, butâ¦
Back in his cheap hotel room, Goliath was thinking.
âSo what did he tell you?' Daniel asked Gabrielle.
âSo we still haven't got a fix on Goliath,' saidâ¦
Participating in the open-air Samaritan Passover celebrations on Mount Gerizimâ¦
âSo you're a veteran?' Goliath said to the brash fifty-somethingâ¦
âI, Joshua, son of Noon, of the tribe of Neferayim,â¦
âI'm looking for some friends of mine,' said Goliath, holdingâ¦
Daniel looked up from the papyrus at Gabrielle, expectantly. âItâ¦
âWhy did we let them get hold of the manuscript?'â¦
âShall I wait for them?' Daniel asked Gabrielle when sheâ¦
âYou have to send me in there,' Sarit told Dovi.
âLook, I know this is painful,' said Daniel. âIf youâ¦
âWhich bus do I need for the Hebrew University?' Goliathâ¦
âMaybe we should wait until they come back,' said Daniel.
Sarit never had been one for following orders. Besides, Dovâ¦
âI assume you know who I am?' Goliath said.
There was an eerie silence in the Conservation Department whenâ¦
âDo not give him any sign that you are underâ¦
âI'm telling you â I didn't do it!' Sarit explainedâ¦
âThere's something I don't understand,' said Goliath as they clamberedâ¦
âWhat the hell do you think you were playing at?'
âWe shouldn't be doing this,' said Daniel, still in aâ¦
âExcuse me, I know this is going to sound awfullyâ¦
Daniel had recovered his composure and was reading out loud.
Finding the Snake Monument and the path leading to itâ¦
âNow then,' said Professor Fikri, âwhat is this fascinating academicâ¦
Goliath had taken the bus from Petra back to Amman,â¦
âThe spores must have got reactivated at Petra and becomeâ¦
There was a look of solemnity on the faces ofâ¦
âWhat do you mean “an emergency”? Daniel asked, although heâ¦
Recognizing the encroaching danger in the professor's approach, Audrey stoodâ¦
âSo what is this organization that hates Israel and theâ¦
âIt says that the crossing is open till eight!' Goliathâ¦
âHow far are we?' asked Daniel.
Goliath had made it into Israel and the Sea ofâ¦
While Daniel and Gabrielle remained in the car, Sarit hadâ¦
Goliath pulled up and got out of the car. Heâ¦
A couple of weeks later, on the morning of 19â¦
