Angels at the Gate (48 page)

It has been suggested that the divine council imagery of Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Canaan may have influenced the Jewish understanding of angels as a “heavenly host” over which God presides. It was not until 200-500 CE that theology and art gave angels the physical characteristics (wings and halos) we now associate with them.

The controversial book
Uriel's Machine
by Christopher Knight and Robert Lumos offered an intriguing possibility.
Uriel's Machine
makes a case for a connection between the Middle East and the European megalith builders, particularly in the structures of Stonehenge (England) and Newgrange (Ireland). Israel and Egypt are the only locations where standing stones and stone circles (gilgal) are found outside Europe. In the Book of Kings, there is a description of Elijah repairing an altar of the Lord with twelve stones and a ditch around it—the elements of a henge, such as Stonehenge. The typical Canaanite sanctuary included a standing stone (messebhoth), an asherah pole, and an altar.

The Book of Enoch (one of the books of the Dead Sea scrolls not included in the biblical canon) provides lengthy and particular descriptions of the prophet Enoch's ascent to heaven, where he is shown God on his throne and the portals around the throne through which the moon, sun, and stars are visible at different times of the year. Knight and Lumos match with precision Enoch's description of the throne and portals—which Enoch has memorized under the tutorage of the angel Uriel—to the ancient stone megalith of Newgrange in
Ireland, an amazing astronomical instrument. They theorize that the vanished builders sought out others (Enoch being one) to give instructions on how to build the structures so their knowledge would not be lost. Those scientist-priests, known as Watchers or Angels or by archeologists as Grooved Ware People, disappeared around 3150 BCE, the time of a large comet impact. Where did they go? Knight and Lumos believe they scattered into the Middle East and Asia, with some remaining in Canaan and “becoming the giants of biblical legend,” eventually passing their lore to the stone masons who built Solomon's temple (without the aid of metal tools). Thus, they may have been the founders of the traditions of modern-day Masons, whose rites specifically exclude metal.

C
YLINDER
S
EALS

Mesopotamian cylinder seals were used primarily to roll on soft clay to create a raised surface that would identify the user. They were used to mark documents and inventories and were made of different materials and decorations. I created the use of a cylinder brand to mark a freed slave for the purposes of my story.

C
AMELS
& H
ORSES
?

Another debate among archeologists is the domestication of camels and horses during this time period in Israel. Although archeologists believe camels were most likely not domesticated in Israel until around 900 BCE, there is evidence of the domestication of dromedary (one-hump) camels as early as 2600 BCE in Iran. Bedouins (nomads) ventured into the Arabian Desert around that time, bringing with them the prototypes for the Arabian horse breed. Evidence of horseback riding dates as far back as 3000 BCE in northern Kazakhstan, and horse bits from the Middle Bronze period have been found in Israel. Finding a bronze bit from my story's time period in an Israel museum was another exciting moment for me. Drawings of horse chariots date to 2000 BCE in Mesopotamia and 1500 BCE in Egypt. A horse stable from a later period has been found in the Negev desert, proving horses could negotiate the area.

D
OGS
?

Genetic research indicates that all dog breeds originated from the gray wolf of the Middle East. Nami was a saluki, one of the oldest known breeds of dog and considered the royal dog of Egypt. Unlike many other breed of dog, the saluki's DNA appears to have deviated very little from its origins. Salukis are sight hounds, bred to be desert hunters and companions, and are to this day prized by the Bedouins as part of the family. Nami became a strong character as I wrote this book, and I loved her, but I didn't know the right ending for her until I got there.

T
HE
F
ATE OF
S
ODOM
& G
OMORRAH
?

The Great Rift, a geological tear in the earth that starts in Africa, runs up the valley between Israel and Jordan, cupping the Dead Sea. (I decided not to call the Dead Sea the “Salt Sea” as the Bible does, to avoid confusion—obviously, the Mediterranean, the Atlantic, and the Persian Gulf are all salt seas.) It is the lowest place in the world not below water. Earthquakes are no strangers there. For all the searching, the “five cities of the plain” mentioned in Genesis have not been positively identified, although there are some ruins in contention.

The Genesis story calls for fire and brimstone (burning sulfur) from the sky. Volcanic activity is the first scenario fitting those criteria. But there is no indication of volcanic activity in the time period near the area where Sodom was supposedly located. Most theories place Sodom south of the Dead Sea, although some lean toward north of the Dead Sea. Some even put the “cities of the plain” in Mesopotamia.

Meteorites are another possibility, although most meteors that enter Earth's atmosphere burn completely. There is no evidence of significant impact craters in the area. A large meteor might, however, explode before impact in an “air blast,” as the 1908 and 2013 events in Russia illustrate (along with a theoretical explosion in 3123 BCE, as documented by a Sumerian astronomer). An air blast explosion could have destroyed the cities and fits the evidence of burning that can be found at the remains of several settlements in the area.

One such archeological dig is Tall El Hamman, a gated ancient city to the north of the Dead Sea. The time period there (Middle Bronze) is close to the estimated time of Abraham. One of the problems with
the Hamman site being Sodom is that there are many cities (more than five) clustered around it, while to the south of the Dead Sea there is some evidence that there were five cities that could match the Biblical reference to the “five cities of the plains.” Biblical references indicate Lot wandered “as far as Sodom.” Ezekiel 16:46 indicates that Sodom is to the
south
of Jerusalem. The Hamman site (in the northern plain or Kikkar) is to the
north
of Jerusalem. Also, the pits mentioned in Genesis are located in the southern region of the Dead Sea.

Some believe the ruins of Bab edh-Dhra, a city near the southeastern edge of the Dead Sea, might have been Sodom, and there is evidence of burning at the site and a large burial ground nearby. However, it is believed that Bab edh-Dhra burned around 2350–2067 BCE, which is two to four hundred years before the commonly believed time of Abraham (1800-1500 BCE). A possible sister city, Numeira (Gomorrah?)—which also shows evidence of burning—exists nearby, but the time period of that city is closer to 2600 BCE.

Of course, assuming the Biblical stories are actually based on real events, the legends of burning cities might have been superimposed onto a later time, but there is another puzzlement. The time periods
between
the various sites of “burned cities” are hundreds of years apart. Are we to believe that three or more meteor air blasts occurred hundreds of years apart in this relatively tiny section of the world? Or is there another explanation for the several burned cities over a varied timespan in the area?

Bitumen (tar) was called “pitch,” and we know it today as asphalt. It is a natural product of petroleum existing underground in the area. Bituminous limestone releases asphalt and gaseous matter. With shifts in the earth, the asphalt rises up in the Dead Sea, as do sulfur fumes. Both occurred more frequently in the ancient past. Historians, including Diodorus Siculus (60–21 BCE) and Flavius Josephus (37–100 CE), confirm the harvesting of asphalt by boat. In the Dead Sea region, there are underground areas of methane, asphalt, and sulfur. Earthquakes might bring these materials into contact with each other underground, a volatile mix that could spontaneously erupt and emit flames of burning sulfur (brimstone) and pitch. I used this concept for “Mot's Tongue.”

Assuming none of the ruins mentioned are the remains of Sodom and her sister cities, a great mystery surrounds the “cities of the plain” referred to in the Genesis story. What happened to them? Mud bricks made primarily of clay were a common building material during the Bronze Age. Clay hardens when exposed to heat. If the temperatures are high enough, it takes on a glassy structure. But limestone, the most abundant material in the area, is not flammable. If none of the cities mentioned above are Sodom (and none, except the northern El Hamman site fits the time period) what could account for the fact that there is no trace of the burnt city in the Abraham time period south of the Dead Sea?

One possibility is a geological process called liquefaction, where the shaking of saturated (waterlogged) ground causes an increase in water pressure and water can rush to the surface (i.e., the ground turns to water), as has happened in disasters in New Zealand, Japan, and the United States. On a slope, this can become a landslide. In earlier times, the climate in Israel was wetter, and a city built at the edge of the Dead Sea would rest on ground vulnerable to such saturation. Scientists put this theory to a test by building a model city and using a centrifuge at Cambridge where they replicated a 0.6 earthquake in conditions around the Dead Sea in the Early Bronze period. The effects were catastrophic. The ground turned to quicksand (blackened in
Angels at the Gate
by deposits of pitch), and the model city sank to the bottom of the Dead Sea.

Indeed some scholars believe that what is now the southern section (or part of the southern section of the Dead Sea) was once a fertile plain fed by the eastern river washes and that is why the Bible refers to the kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboyim, and Zoar joining battle in the “Valley of Siddim, which is the Salt Sea,” a statement that surely is not meant to mean that the kings fought a battle
in
the Salt Sea (Dead Sea) but in the Valley of Siddim, which is [now] the Salt Sea. Perhaps the burnt city of Sodom will one day be found at the bottom of the Dead Sea, or perhaps the mystery will endure.

*
A
BRAM
(A
BRAHAM
):
son of Tehrah

A
DIR
:
Adira's name as a boy

A
DIRA
:
daughter of Zakiti, and Lot's wife

A
NAT
:
Canaanite goddess of war, and sister to Baal

A
SHERAH
:
Canaanite/Hebrew mother goddess

B
AAL
(B
A'AL
):
Canaanite god, son, and consort of Asherah

B
ASHAA
:
Egyptian translator in Babylon

*
B
ERA
:
deceased king of Sodom

*
C
HEDORLAOMER
:
king of Elam (a kingdom southeast of Babylon)

C
HIRAM
:
caravan cook, Danel's father

D
ANEL
:
Chiram's son

D
UNE
:
Adira's gelding

*
E
LIEZER
:
Abram's steward

F
LAVA
:
Jemia's servant

A
NAN
(A
NAN-EL
):
companion of Mika and Raph

*
H
AGAR
:
Sarai's handmaiden and Abram's second wife

*
H
ARAN
:
son of Tehrah, Abram's brother, and Lot's father

H
URRIYA
:
Lot's first wife (Canaanite)

*
I
SHMAEL
:
Hagar's son

J
EMIA
:
Danel's grandmother

J
ERAH
:
young desert man with falcon

K
ATAR
:
rug merchant

K
ERIT
:
son of Yassib

K
URI
:
Babylonian guard

L
AMA
:
Ur goddess on Adira's seal

L
ILA
:
slave in Lot's house

M
ANA
:
wife of Yassib

M
IKA
(
*
M
IKA-EL
):
messenger of El

M
OT
:
Canaanite (Ugarit) god of death and the underworld

N
AMI
:
Adira's dog

P
ETRA
:
daughter of Mana and Yassib

*
P
HEINÉ
:
Lot's daughter (Book of Jabel)

P
HILOT
:
Adira's donkey

P
UZIR
:
Babylonian guard

R
APH
(R
APHA-EL
):
messenger of El

S
AMSU-ILUNA
:
king of Babylonia

*
S
ARAI
(S
ARAH
):
Abram's wife

S
CAR
:
Babylonian guard

S
IDILK
:
Hurrian raider

S
HEM
:
young desert boy