The Testimonium (21 page)

“The entire Bureau of Antiquities will be arriving around eight thirty AM,” she began. “They will want to tour the site and view the artifacts, and then Dr. Castolfo wants to hold a formal meeting of the board at Giuseppe’s home. Speaking of which, Dr. Rossini, a couple of the board members are not the most ambulatory—Dr. Stefani is eighty-three, and gets around with difficulty, and Cardinal Raphael is the same age, although he is more spry. Do you think that Chief Rosario could have a couple of golf carts brought up to the head of the trail?”

“I will call him right now,” said Giuseppe, stepping out of the trailer.

“Because of the spectacular nature of this find, we should be prepared to face sharp questions, both from the board and later, when we begin to release the news of the discovery to the public. Fortunately, we have recorded every part of the excavation on digital video, and have been meticulous in our documentation. It will be very hard for anyone to claim fraud, no matter what the scrolls actually contain. But I want our presentation to be clear, concise, and professional. Dr. MacDonald, I want you to lay out all the artifacts that can withstand open-air inspection, and have all the items that are still in rehydration tanks in clear view and ready for inspection through the glass. Be honest, professional, and humble—there will be about five hundred years of archeological and historical experience represented by these board members! Now, let us spend the last hour before their arrival getting the lab cleaned up and presentable,” she finished.

In short order, the trash cans were emptied and several chairs were set up. The less fragile artifacts were laid out on trays with small labels describing them, and the items in the rehydration tanks were also labeled. The two scrolls from the locked cabinet were already changing slightly in color as the humidity was restored to them. Even the ancient seals were a richer hue of red than they had been, as the desiccated wax cells began to rehydrate.

They had barely finished cleaning up when the now-familiar sounds of a helicopter began to draw near. The entire team traipsed up the stairs to the large flagstone floor that had become a landing pad for the site. As the chopper settled to earth, ten people emerged one after the other. First on the site was Dr. Sinisi, looking tanned and fit, his legendary smile flashing in the morning sun. Next came the Head of the Antiquities Bureau, Dr. Benito Castolfo. A heavyset and serious individual, he was well connected in the Byzantine world of Italian politics, and was respected by academics both for his credentials as a classical historian and his bulldog-like determination to preserve funding for the preservation of Italy’s rich past, no matter how dire the budget forecasts.

Next came Dr. Guioccini, who smiled at the team and gave Isabella a quick thumbs-up. He then turned to assist the elderly Dr. Marc Stefani, a renowned Biblical archeologist and the oldest member of the Bureau’s governing board. After the old man had gotten his feet under him and taken his place beside the others, Dr. Antonio Neapolitano emerged. He was a prehistoric archeologist who had excavated numerous Stone Age sites in Italy. After him, Cardinal Caesar Raphael emerged. He was the Vatican’s most respected archeologist and acted as a liaison between the worlds of science and faith, and was also Father MacDonald’s supervisor and mentor. He made a deliberate show of helping the next member off the chopper with a courtly old-world flourish. Dr. Maria Tintoretto returned his gesture with a scowl. A respected historian of the first century, she was also a militant atheist and devoted much of her scholarship to questioning almost every aspect of the Church’s early history—a stance that made her a frequent butt of jokes among Italy’s overwhelmingly Catholic population. The fact that the Cardinal inevitably treated her with great courtesy and respect only increased her hostility, since she took it as a deliberate slight. After her came Dr. Luigi Castellani, a military historian and expert in Roman weapons and tactics. He was followed by Ricardo Gandolfo, who was not an academic but a special assistant to Italy’s president in matters related to history and antiquities.

After they were all assembled on the ancient flagstones, Dr. Sforza introduced them to the team.

“Most of you know Dr. Rossini, the discoverer of the chamber,” she said, “and you may be familiar with the work of Simone Apriceno, our paleobotanist. Father MacDonald is a renowned expert in ancient documents, and our American friend Josh Parker is an up and coming expert in first century classical archeology. His work at Ephesus was most impressive, and he comes to us with the strongest of recommendations.”

The board members greeted the team cordially, although Dr. Tintoretto scowled at Father MacDonald. “I don’t see why it is necessary to have a representative of a religious cult as a consultant on a scientific and historical excavation project,” she snorted.

MacDonald gave her his best smile. “My clerical collar notwithstanding, dear lady, I will stack my professional credentials and qualifications up against any university archeologist you can find! Not to mention that, when the things we find have a strong bearing on the beliefs of one billion people, it only makes sense to have someone who understands those beliefs as witness to the discovery.”

Cardinal Raphael nodded appreciatively, but Tintoretto simply glared and moved on. Isabella led them down to the level where the mobile lab was, and walked them over to the chamber first. “Every scrap of evidence we have found so far indicates that this chamber has been sealed up tight since 37 AD,” she said. “The lack of moisture and heavy accumulation of stone dust covered and preserved all the artifacts inside remarkably well. Here next to the entrance we found a Roman era curule chair and a small writing table. On top of the table, covered by stone dust, we found an inkwell, a signet ring bearing the name and seal of Tiberius Caesar, an ancient quill pen, and most remarkably, a letter written by Tiberius himself to his steward, directing that the chamber and its contents be sealed up after he departed for Rome. In the niche above the door, we found an ancient bronze oil lamp, with a fair sample of congealed oil still preserved in its reservoir. The writing table also had a small drawer concealed beneath it. Inside we found some blank papyrus sheets and a leather coin purse which held an ivory horse head effigy key, a metal arrowhead, and some coins, all dating to the Tiberian era or earlier.”

The board members were crowding into the ancient chamber, studying its walls and pointing at the ancient graffiti that still adorned them. Isabella let them continue for a moment, and then went on. “At the rear of the room was a reliquary about one point four meters tall and wide, and about point three meters deep. The exterior doors were unlocked. Leaning against the reliquary, still in its scabbard, was a perfectly preserved Roman
gladius
that, judging from the inscription on the scabbard, once belonged to Julius Caesar. Opening the reliquary, we were disappointed to find that rats had gotten into the cabinet in ancient times and destroyed most of the documents inside. However, having removed all the fragments, we believe it should be possible to reassemble most of the documents in time. We also found a beautiful cameo portrait—white marble on black obsidian—that apparently depicts Tiberius’ first wife, Vipsania, as well as fragmentary remains of several garments.”

“Interesting summary, Dr. Sforza,” said Dr. Castolfo, “but now get to the reason we are all gathered here!”

She nodded. “There was a locked compartment inside the reliquary which we were able to open with the ancient key we found. Inside the compartment were two perfectly preserved scrolls. Each was still sealed with the signet of the Emperor Tiberius, but a short title had been inscribed on the outside of each scroll. One was labeled as the last will and testament of Caesar Augustus.” There were some murmurs at that—apparently not all the board members were aware of what had been found inside the chamber. She paused until the board was focused on her again, and continued. “The last item was simply labeled as ‘The Testimony of Pontius Pilate, Governor of Judea.’”

“Remarkable!” said Cardinal Raphael.

“An amazing discovery!” said Sinisi, beaming.

“Has either of the scrolls been opened?” asked Tintoretto.

“No,” said Isabella. “They are both in rehydration tanks currently. Father MacDonald will supervise their unrolling when they are stable enough to be opened without damage.”

“Are you sure you can trust his objectivity?” she asked.

“Doctor, this is outrageous!” snapped Cardinal Raphael. “Duncan MacDonald’s professionalism is without reproach!”

“But will it remain so if something in that scroll contradicts the Christ myth that you people have used to hold back human progress for two thousand years?” she inquired venomously.

The president of the Antiquities Bureau cut in sharply. “Doctor, your hostility to the Church is well known, but your comments are unprofessional and frankly offensive. We are all scientists here!”

She looked at him and sighed. “I’m not accustomed to seeing true scientists wearing the trappings of an ancient fertility cult,” she said. “But perhaps I overstepped. Doctor MacDonald, I apologize.”

“Apology accepted,
Doctor
,” said MacDonald, but the look in his eyes showed that he was still deeply offended.

“There is nothing more to see inside the chamber,” said Isabella. “Let’s go to the lab and you can view the artifacts for yourselves.”

The group filed across the ancient courtyard, several of them admiring the ancient Roman architecture as they went. Dr. Stefani spoke to Rossini as they moved toward the lab. “Giuseppe, do you remember when I supervised your work at this site back in 1984?” he asked.

“Like it was yesterday,” said Rossini.

“How many times did you and the other youngsters race up and down these steps at the end of the day?” the old man asked.

“Almost every day,” said Rossini. “After sitting in a hole all day, scraping dirt back one layer at a time and bagging every masonry chip and corroded ancient coin we uncovered, it was a great way to stretch our legs and blow off some steam.”

“And none of us thought that, the whole time, the greatest archeological discovery of the modern age was right beneath our feet!” said Stefani.

“Tiberius’ steward did a good job of concealing the place,” said Rossini. “Had it not been for the earthquake, who knows how long we would have waited for the chamber to be revealed.”

“All things happen for a reason,” said Cardinal Raphael. “God chose this moment to reveal whatever was concealed in that chamber.”

“Or this was the first earthquake with enough magnitude to strike the area after time and erosion had weakened the wall sufficiently enough for it to collapse,” snapped Tintoretto.

Josh had already decided that he did not like this woman, but kept his mouth shut for the time being. He was well aware that he was not only the junior member of this team, but also a foreigner. He cast a glance over at Isabella, who looked at him apologetically.

Moments later they were inside the trailer. The two benches from the small table inside had been scooted together to face the main workstation, and several folding chairs had been added. There was just room enough for the board members—with the exception of Isabella—to all be seated, while the team stood facing them. Isabella had prepared a montage of video clips and still shots of the chamber, beginning with the first ones of her and Rossini entering the chamber Monday morning. Rossini described his discovery of the chamber briefly, and then she showed the clip of them cleaning off the top of the ancient writing table, taking the time to show the artifacts they had uncovered. All but the ancient quill were on top of the large metal table arranged on covered trays in the order of their discovery. Sforza allowed the board members to pass the ancient signet ring around, since it was the most durable of the artifacts they had uncovered.

Then Father MacDonald and Josh described the process of cleaning and translating the initial letter from the Emperor Tiberius, and Simone Apriceno described the laborious process of cleaning the thick layer of stone dust that had enveloped every artifact and surface in the chamber. The photographs and video clearly showed the undisturbed nature of the sediments, and even the skeptical Tintoretto nodded in appreciation of the paleobotanist’s impeccable field technique. When Apriceno arrived at the discovery of the
gladius
and its scabbard, everyone leaned forward.

Josh spoke for the first time, describing how he and MacDonald had carefully removed the ancient blade from the chamber and found the inscriptions on the pommel and scabbard. At this point Dr. Castellani spoke up. “Dr. Parker, I know that we need to move this proceeding along as quickly as possible, but may I please examine the blade for just a moment?”

Josh looked at Dr. Castolfo, who nodded, and handed the ancient weapon, hilt first, to the military historian. Castellani hefted the blade in his hand for a moment, then held it straight out and looked down the blade, seeing the original metal finish still gleaming in places despite the rust of twenty-one centuries. He closed his eyes and murmured softly: “Britannia, Spain, Alesium, Pharsalus, the Nile, Munda—this blade was used in the battles that shaped our world, by the greatest general who ever lived! Forgive me, ladies and gentlemen; I know you are more concerned with the scroll from Pontius Pilate, but for a military historian like me, holding this blade is a truly religious experience!” He sighed deeply and handed the blade back to Josh, who placed it on the table.

Isabella continued, describing the reliquary and showing its rich carvings and compartmentalized interior to the board, then showing them some of the scraps that they had recovered from the shredded hoard of ancient documents. Finally, she showed them the compartment up top, and the ancient key that had opened it. Then she sat down and allowed Josh and Father MacDonald to describe the final stages of the excavation, as they had removed the cabinet from the chamber and opened the small cubby that had held the two precious scrolls. Josh discussed how the scrolls had been removed and the inscriptions read the day before, and then led the board members to look at the two rehydration tanks where the ancient papyrus was slowly soaking up enough sterile moisture to allow it to be unrolled for the first time since 37 AD.