Alexandria Link (51 page)

The hero’s quest is fictional, adapted from a mysterious manuscript called The Red Serpent. I came across it in Rennes-le-Château while researching The Templar Legacy.

The Order of the Golden Fleece was a French medieval society created as detailed in chapter 18. A social order bearing that name still thrives in Austria, but my fictional group is no relation. The robes and ornamentation described for the Order were inspired by the 15th century incarnation.

The Monastery of Santa Maria de Belém stands in Lisbon. I visited twice, and its history and magnificence—as described in chapters 46, 48, 51, 53, and 54—are accurate, though some of the building’s internal geography was changed. It’s a remarkable place, as is Lisbon.

The sacrarium that plays a pivotal role in the hero’s quest stands in the monastery at Belém. The way sunlight changes its silver exterior to gold is a phenomenon noted centuries ago. Today, to keep the effect constant, floodlights bathe the silver. Of course, those were eliminated from this story.

The National Air and Space Museum is one of my favorite places, and I was glad it finally found its way into one of my tales. Kronborg Slot (chapter 9), Helsingør (chapters 11 and 14), the Baumeisterhaus in Rothenburg (chapter 22), and the Rhine Valley and bridge spanning the Mosel River in central Germany (chapter 27) are all real.

The letters between St. Jerome and St. Augustine (chapters 63 and 65) are my invention. Both were learned men, active in formulating the early church. The letters show how Jerome’s translation of the Old Testament from Hebrew to Latin may have been manipulated to serve the emerging church’s purposes. The noted inconsistencies in Jerome’s translation are Salibi’s, not mine, but they do raise fascinating questions.

I’ve never parachuted from a C130H, but Colonel Barry King has and he told me all about it.

The abbey in the Sinai (chapter 72) is a composite of many that dot that desolate region. Locating the preserved Library of Alexandria there, underground (chapter 78), is not beyond possibility. Ancient Egyptians mined those mountains extensively and their tunnels would have still existed after the time of Christ.

The tale of the Sinai Bible (chapter 63) happened as presented. The Aleppo Codex (chapter 23), dated from 900 CE, is on display in Jerusalem and remains the oldest surviving Old Testament manuscript. A Bible from a time before Christ, though—like the one noted in chapter 79—would certainly change everything that is known about the Old Testament.

The Middle East conflict rages on. Amazing how all three of the world’s major religions—Judaism, Islam, and Christianity—chose to venerate the same spot in Jerusalem. For two thousand years these conflicting ideologies have battled for supremacy but, as stated in chapter 7, at its most fundamental level that fight is not over land, freedom, or politics. Instead, it centers on something far more basic.

The Word of God.

Each of the three religions possesses its own version. Each fervently believes the other two are wrong.

And that, more than anything else, explains why the conflict endures.

STEVE BERRY is the New York Times bestselling author of The Templar Legacy, The Third Secret, The Romanov Prophecy, and The Amber Room. His books have been translated into thirty-five languages and sold in thirty-four countries. A lawyer who has traveled extensively throughout Europe, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Russia, he lives on the Georgia coast. He is currently at work on his next novel. Visit his website at www.steveberry.org.