Two young Israeli boys discover an ancient red clay jar in a hidden cave tucked away in the Judean Desert near Qumran. Inside the jar are several scrolls written by the Essenes two thousand years earlier, before the Great Jewish Revolt, including one legendary scroll engraved on silver that speaks of what may be the great Lost Treasures of Solomon buried around Jerusalem—consistent with the predictions of the fabled Copper Scroll discovered in 1947 near the Dead Sea. But one of the overlooked parchments turns out to be far more pivotal to Christianity than anything ever before discovered—a startling manuscript written by St. Paul himself that could rewrite religious history.
Father Michael Dominic and his friends are called to Jerusalem to inspect the silver scroll, but others are trying to get to the precious manuscripts first—members of a little known sect called the Mithraists, the chief rival to Christianity up to the fourth century…a wealthy Texas televangelist…an Egyptian antiquities broker…Israeli Mossad agents…and a cast of rogues each out for themselves.
Two young Israeli boys discover an ancient red clay jar in a hidden cave tucked away in the Judean Desert near Qumran. Inside the jar are several scrolls written by the Essenes two thousand years earlier, before the Great Jewish Revolt, including one legendary scroll engraved on silver that speaks of what may be the great Lost Treasures of Solomon buried around Jerusalem—consistent with the predictions of the fabled Copper Scroll discovered in 1947 near the Dead Sea. But one of the overlooked parchments turns out to be far more pivotal to Christianity than anything ever before discovered—a startling manuscript written by St. Paul himself that could rewrite religious history.
Father Michael Dominic and his friends are called to Jerusalem to inspect the silver scroll, but others are trying to get to the precious manuscripts first—members of a little known sect called the Mithraists, the chief rival to Christianity up to the fourth century…a wealthy Texas televangelist…an Egyptian antiquities broker…Israeli Mossad agents…and a cast of rogues each out for themselves.
The Roman Empire - 1st Century
Gathered somewhere in Rome in their vast underground mithraeum, or temple, the forty syndexioi—devout initiates "united by the handshake”—chanted in unison as they bound themselves to their pagan deity. One end of the arched-stone chamber featured the vivid hues of a tauroctony—a painted scene of their god Mithras slaughtering a sacred bull.
From the first through the fourth centuries, Christianity and Mithraism embodied two rival factions reacting to a similar series of cultural influences. Mithraism flourished for three hundred years before being extinguished by harsh persecution from the more politically powerful Christian population. Comprised largely of Roman soldiers, Mithraists had found a covert camaraderie, a brotherhood of like-minded followers who shared a secret knowledge of the universe, specifically its constellations and cosmic movements.
Little remains of this once-vibrant cult apart from archeological evidence of thousands of their subterranean mithraea, or temples, throughout the Roman Empire, many hundreds of them in the city of Rome alone.
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Judea - 1st Century
Before Titus Flavius Vespasianus, better known to history as Vespasian, became Emperor of Rome in 69 CE, he was a famed and revered Roman legate—the equivalent of a high-ranking general—who, just a year earlier, had led an army 60,000 strong through the hot barren deserts of Judea in a years-long war against the Jewish population of the Holy Land.
On orders from Emperor Nero, Vespasian was commanded to suppress the major rebellions of Jews against the Roman Empire in what became known as the Great Jewish Revolt, a five-year war fought mainly in Roman-controlled Judea. The Jews were greatly outnumbered and suffered devastating destruction of their towns, expropriation of their lands for Roman military use, and widespread displacement of Jewish people from their ancestral homes.
At the base of the terraced cliffs on the northwestern shores of the Dead Sea—located in what was then called Palestine—a secluded ascetic community of some twelve hundred mystic Jews known as the Essenes could foresee what was in store for them. The Romans were coming to destroy their community and their way of life. It was only a matter of time.
Desperate to preserve and protect their life’s work—an extraordinary library of nearly a thousand sacred biblical scrolls, the product of their tribe’s past two centuries of scribal efforts—they carefully wrapped the parchments and papyri in linen, placed them into tall clay jars, and concealed them in a series of caves not far from their homes on a dry marl plateau called Qumran. They then fled to save themselves, hoping to return at some later time to resume their lives and continue their work.
But the Essenes never returned to their home, having been vanquished after the Roman Siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE. Their precious scrolls sealed in the nurturing protection of earthen jars lay undisturbed in the arid climate of the Qumran caves for nearly two thousand years.
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Judea, Israel - 20th Century
It was in the spring of 1947 when a fifteen-year-old Bedouin shepherd named Muhammed edh-Dhib from the Ta’amira tribe was tending his herd of sheep and goats among the hilly escarpments of the Qumran desert when one of the goats went missing in search of better pastures. Muhammed scrambled up the rocky, sloping hillsides in search of his caprine runaway when he chanced upon one of the many hidden caves in the area.
Hoping to flush out the goat, but wary of entering a dark hole in the desert alone, the young boy erred on the side of caution and tossed in several stones, for Muslim lore decreed that when in the suspected presence of dark spirits, stones must be thrown at them. Muhammed did not want to encounter dark spirits in an underground cave. He just wanted his goat.
But to his puzzlement, each time he threw a stone into the cave opening, he heard the sound of an object cracking and breaking. In a newspaper interview he gave later, Muhammed was quoted as saying, “I started throwing rocks inside the cave and every time I was throwing a rock I was hearing a sound of breaking pottery. At that time I was confused by the sound, and I loved to know what is inside the cave.” Already apprehensive, though, the shepherd returned later with a friend to explore the source of the shattering sounds.
What the two young Bedouins found that day has forever transformed biblical scholarship and, indeed, even Christianity itself as it was previously understood. The cave was filled with cylindrical jars of red clay pottery—the same jars abandoned by the Essenes nearly two thousand years earlier. Seven of the jars contained a number of remarkably preserved parchment manuscripts, written mostly in Hebrew, which came to be known as the Dead Sea Scrolls—biblical writings from between 150 BCE and 70 CE that largely predated even the Gospels, and which comprised the oldest surviving manuscripts of entire books later included in the biblical canon: Genesis, Exodus, Isaiah, Kings and Deuteronomy.
An antiquities dealer ultimately bought many of the scrolls, which soon found their way into the hands of biblical scholars. Publicity about the sensational discovery spread like gossip in a hookah lounge, and it wasn’t long before ambitious archeologists and treasure hunters made their way to Qumran, unearthing some fifteen thousand scroll fragments from ten more caves in the area, ultimately accounting for nearly a thousand Essene manuscripts.
In efforts to prevent the plundering of further scrolls and other rare artifacts bound for the illegal but lucrative black market, archeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority have for years conducted their own excavations of caves burrowed among the steep escarpments and canyons of the Judean Desert.
But the IAA’s efforts are often outnumbered by bands of highly motivated antiquity looters, and the fight to preserve the Holy Land’s cultural legacy continues unabated.
First and foremost, a large thank you to Reedsy Discovery and Gary McAvoy for providing me with a copy of this publication, which allows me to provide you with an unbiased review.
After a number of successful thrillers centred around religious history and antiquities, Gary McAvoy is back with his latest novel. Having been handed an ARC, I was pleased to get an early look at what McAvoy has been planning, as he helps his protagonist, Father Michael Dominic, in yet another adventure that hints at revealing more about the roots of Christianity, with a modern twist. McAvoy is stellar in his delivery and peppers fact and fiction throughout, forcing the reader to pay close attention as they attempt to splice truth from fanciful dream. Surely one of his best novels to date, which will keep series fans rushing back for more!
When two young boys discover a red clay jar in a hidden cave near the city of Qumran, they could not dream of what might be inside. Several scrolls are soon identified as being written by the Essenes two millennia before, depicting events before the Great Jewish Revolt, which includes talk of the Lost Treasures of Solomon, scattered across Jerusalem. All of these discoveries parallel some of the information from the Copper Scroll, found in the Dead Sea region back in 1947. Amongst this new collection is a scroll with writings from St. Paul himself, which could rewrite much of the core beliefs of early Christianity..
After Father Michael Dominic and some of his friends are called to Jerusalem to investigate these scrolls, it becomes clear just how serious things could be. While not on a mission for the Vatican, there is a sense of decorum and Dominic brings all the passion from his past adventures into this one. While Dominic and a long-time friend from his seminary days want to examine the scrolls and learn how the findings could influence Christianity and the Church, there are others in play who have a mission all their own.
A small sect known as the Mithraists—the chief rival to Christianity in the region until the fourth century—wants nothing to do with the scrolls or their findings and takes it upon itself to ensure it is lost forever. A televangelist with personal ambitions arrives in the region to ensure that he alone will bring the news of a new angle to Christianity and house the scrolls in his personal museum. Even the Isaraeli and Egyptian governments weigh in, wanting their piece of the pie. All this while Father Dominic tries to stay one step ahead of those with nefarious intentions.
With action and adventure, peppered with moments of dire trouble and dangerous clashes with those who will stop at nothing for their own outcome, Father Michael Dominic must discover what St. Paul had to say and how it could redefine Jesus and the heart of Christianity into the 21st century. Gary McAvoy does a sensational job in yet another thriller that is sure to leave the reader excited to see where things are going and exhausted from the journey found herein.
When I first discovered the work of Gary McAvoy, I was eager to see how an author would depict something with clear Christian undertones without making it preachy. Not only has McAvoy nailed the thriller genre, but his use of religious and regional history is highly educational without getting ‘soap box sermon-like’. McAvoy wants to educate and show the reader how much we don’t know, which he does through the guise of using Father Michael Dominic’s curiosities for all things historically Christian. There is nothing like a McAvoy story to leave the reader with many questions, as they flip to the back to see just how much is fact and where McAvoy uses creative freedoms.
The narrative flow of this book is not only strong because it points the way, but also because of its rich depiction of all things historical. There is so much to learn about the three Abrahamic religions, as well as the region where it all began. McAvoy imbues his stories with this and helps the reader grasp the intensity of the scrolls’ discovery, as well as the overall impact on many things. Strong characters, each of which flavour the piece in their own way, offer some great contrasts between the differing cultures and mindsets, be it about antiquities in general or regional politics and the possession of sacred knowledge. Plot twists occur throughout and find themselves wrapped in historical events, as well as moments when the thrills are at their highest. McAvoy has a wonderful handle on it all, yet is able to compact things into a quick read that many readers will devour in short order. For those who have yet to discover Gary McAvoy, this is your chance to do so. Start from the beginning to get the proper context and let your imagination soar as you discover just how little Christianity in 2023 relates to things at the time of its inception.
Kudos, Mr. McAvoy, for another stellar ride through history and proof that there is so much we have yet to truly know about those early days in the Holy Lands.