The Last Secret Of The Temple (54 page)

The Egyptian smiled and sipped his tea. It was very sweet and very strong, the liquid clear and reddish brown, almost ruby-coloured – just how he liked it.

'It's going to cause trouble,' said Ben-Roi after another brief silence, sipping his own drink. 'If people know it's been found. The way things are at the moment. There are other Har-Zions out there. Other al-Mulathams, too.'

Khalifa took a puff on his cigarette. The head of the sun was just peeping up above the hills, a thin sickle of brilliant red.

'It's just too . . . powerful,' continued Ben-Roi. 'Too . . . special. If it was to go back . . . I just don't think we're ready for it. Things are complicated enough as they are.'

He laid his glass aside and folded his arms. A pair of bee-eaters fluttered down from the branches above, pecking at the ground with their long, quilllike beaks, hopping back and forth. The two men looked at each other, then nodded, knowing they were both thinking the same thing.

'Agreed?' asked Ben-Roi.

'Agreed,' said Khalifa, finishing his cigarette and grinding the butt out beneath his shoe.

'I'll call Milan. Tell him it's safe. He won't want to know any more.'

'He can be trusted?'

'Yehuda?' Ben-Roi smiled. 'Yes, he can be trusted. That's why I called him about the Menorah in the first place. He's a good person. Like his daughter.'

'His daughter?'

'I thought I told you,' said Ben-Roi. 'I'm sure I did.'

'Told me what?'

The Israeli ran a hand through his hair.

'Yehuda Milan was Galia's father.'

They were concerned their decision would upset the old man. When they found him and told him, however, he merely nodded and smiled that enigmatic smile of his.

'Our task was to guard the Lamp, and when the time was right reveal its whereabouts,' he said quietly. 'This we have done. No more was expected, either from us or by us.'

There was a patter of feet and the little boy came running into the synagogue, taking up position at his grandfather's side. The man put an arm around his shoulders.

'What will you do now?' asked Khalifa.

'Now?' The man shrugged. 'We are the caretakers here, this is our home. That will not change. Nothing will change.'

'The Lamp?'

'The Lamp will remain where it is. Until it is God's will it should be moved. While its cups burn there will always be light in the world, however dark things may seem.'

The little boy tugged his robe and, coming up on tiptoes, whispered in his ear. The man chuckled and kissed the boy on the forehead.

'He says to tell you that when I am dead and gone and it is he who is caretaker, you will both be welcome to come and see the Lamp whenever you wish.'

The detectives smiled.

'May God be with you, my friends. The light of the Menorah is in you now. Do not let it fade.'

He held them in his eyes for a moment, both men experiencing a sudden strange feeling of weightlessness, as if they were floating on the air. Then, with a nod, he took the little boy's hand in his own, turned and walked into the shadows beneath the synagogue's wooden gallery, the two of them disappearing from sight as if they had never existed.

As they left the synagogue, Ben-Roi suddenly raised a hand to the side of his head.

'My ear's healed up,' he said.

'Last call for Egyptair Flight 431 to Aswan via Luxor.'

It was six p.m. and, finally, Khalifa was on his way home. He would have got an earlier flight, but when he'd spoken to Zenab she had insisted that since he was in Cairo he might as well take the time to make some social calls. So he'd had breakfast with their old friends Tawfik and Narwal at Groppi's on Midan Talaat Harb, then spent the day in the Antiquities Museum with his mentor, dear old Professor al-Habibi – recently returned from his lecture tour in Europe – before finishing up back at Groppi's with his childhood mate Fat Abdul Wassami, who, true to his name, had managed to work his way through six eclairs, three pieces of
basbousa
and a massive slice of honey-soaked
katif
('I'll call it a day there,' he had announced virtuously. 'We're out for dinner tonight and I don't want to spoil my appetite.').

Now, however, Khalifa was ready for home.

'Last call for Egyptair Flight 431.'

On the other side of the security barriers he could see the last few passengers filing through the glass doors and into the bus that would carry them out to their plane. He turned, scanning the departures hall, looking for Ben-Roi, who was booked on to an eight p.m. flight out of the International Terminal and had agreed to meet here to say a final goodbye. The place was crowded with tourists, including a large group of English women all of whom were for some reason wearing matching sombreros. No sign of the Israeli, however. He gave it another minute, then, with his flight again being called, started towards the security point.

'Khalifa!'

The Israeli was pushing his way through the herd of English women, two enormous carrier bags clasped in his hands. The Egyptian went forward to meet him.

'I thought you weren't going to make it.'

'Couldn't find the fucking terminal.'

Ben-Roi dropped his bags, wiped a hand across his sweat-stained forehead and, pulling out his silver hip-flask, unscrewed the lid and took a long gulp. As he lowered it again he noticed the faintly disapproving look in Khalifa's eyes.

'Keep your bloody hair on,' he grunted. 'It's just that hibiscus stuff. What do you call it?'

'Karkaday?

'That's the one. Very refreshing. Thought it was time to, you know . . . flush the old system out a bit.'

Although he was unfamiliar with the phrase, Khalifa got the gist of what the Israeli meant and smiled. They looked at each other, then away again. Now that it came to it neither of them was entirely certain what to say. Khalifa glanced down at the plastic bags, noting their contents.

'Colouring books?' he asked, surprised.

'What? Oh, yes. I was having a wander round town, saw them in a sale. There's this teacher I met, works in a school where they teach Palestinian and Israeli kids together, and they can't afford . . .' The Israeli broke off, embarrassed suddenly. 'Anyway, I thought she could use them,' he mumbled.

Khalifa nodded. 'She's beautiful, I think, this teacher.'

'She is actually. She's got this long hair that . . .' Again Ben-Roi broke off, scowling, as if he'd somehow been tricked into saying something he didn't want to say. 'Fuck you, Khalifa.'

There was no maliciousness in his tone, and behind the scowl there was a flicker of amusement. The tannoy rang out again.

'Last call for Egyptair Flight 431. Would all remaining passengers please report to the departure gate immediately.'

'That's me,' said Khalifa.

There was a pause, both of them still struggling for the right words, shuffling nervously from foot to foot, then Ben-Roi extended a hand.

'Ma-salaam, saheb.
Goodbye, friend.'

Khalifa laughed. 'I thought you told me you didn't speak any Arabic.'

'Asked someone at the embassy,' said Ben-Roi with a shrug. 'Thought it would, you know, be polite or whatever.'

Khalifa nodded and, reaching out his own hand, grasped the Israeli's.

'Shalom, chaver.
Goodbye, friend.'

This time it was Ben-Roi who chuckled.

'I thought you told me
you
didn't speak any Hebrew.'

'Looked it up in a phrase book,' said Khalifa. 'Thought it would be . . . polite, or whatever.'

They held each other's hands for a moment, eyes locked, then, releasing their grip and repeating their farewells, turned and started moving away. Khalifa had just passed through the security barrier, the last passenger to do so, when he heard a shout behind him.

'Hang on! Hang on!'

He stepped back through the barrier.

'I'll forget my own bloody head one of these days,' muttered Ben-Roi, fiddling in one of the bags and producing a small package, which he handed to Khalifa.

'For your wife and kids.
Halva.
Our national sweet. I picked it up at the embassy.'

The Egyptian protested, but Ben-Roi waved a hand and, delving into his pocket, produced another packet, smaller, only the size of a matchbox, done up in brown paper.

'And this is for you. Just a small thing.'

Again Khalifa protested, again the Israeli dismissed it, reaching out and slipping the packet into the Egyptian's pocket. They stood looking at each other, a sort of enforced hesitancy to their stance as if they were both holding themselves back from doing something they wanted to do but weren't at all sure was appropriate. Then, as one, they threw caution to the wind, stepped forward and embraced, Ben-Roi's arms completely enveloping the smaller man.

'I'll be seeing you, you cheeky Muslim cunt.'

Khalifa smiled, face pressed into the Israeli's massive barrel chest.

'You too, you arrogant Jew bastard.'

They remained like that for a moment, connected, then broke and went their separate ways. Neither of them looked back.

Later, once his plane was in the air and carrying him south back towards his home and his family, the only place he had ever wanted to be, Khalifa reached into his pocket and pulled out the packet Ben-Roi had given him. He gazed down at it, thinking he knew what it might contain, then, carefully, tore away the wrapping to reveal a small plastic box. Inside, on a bed of tissue, was the silver menorah Ben-Roi used to wear around his neck. He tipped it into his palm, smiling, and, closing his hand around it, leant his head against the window and stared down at the tiny thread of the Nile below, a miniature blue vein that against all the odds brought life and hope to the otherwise barren desert.

It was a big crowd, several thousand strong, packed fifteen deep along the edge of Sultan Suleiman Street, crammed shoulder to shoulder on the semicircle of stone steps leading down to the Damascus Gate – men and women, old and young, Israeli and Palestinian, some holding aloft flaming tapers, others banners and placards, others framed photographs of loved ones who had died in the violence between their two peoples. All of them were looking down at the makeshift stage in front of the gate, where two figures – one wearing a white
yarmulke,
the other a checked
keffiyeh
– were standing side by side in front of a single microphone. Every now and then there was a ripple of applause, but in general the crowd was quiet, taking in what was being said.

It was through the centre of this multitude that Yunis Abu Jish now slowly eased his way, the explosives-packed vest tight around his midriff, his face grey and drenched with sweat. As instructed he had gone to the payphone on the corner of Abu Taleb and Ibn Khaldoun, where al-Mulatham's people had given him his final orders: collect the vest from the abandoned building site, make his way down to the Damascus Gate, get as close to the stage as possible then pull the detonator cord.

' Allah-u-akhbar,'
he mumbled, inching his way forwards, carefully, so as not to jolt the explosives. '
Allah-u-akhbar, Allah-u-akhbar, Allah-u-akhbar.''

In front of him the men were taking it in turns to speak, leaning into the microphone and then away again.

'. . . end to violence . . . sacrifices in the name of peace . . . hatred or hope . . . our last chance . . .'

He was only dimly aware of their voices, lost as he was in the maelstrom of his own mind. He came to the bottom of the steps, edged across the esplanade in front of the gate, reached the stage and took up position right in the middle of it, directly below the speakers.

'. . . unequivocal withdrawal from the West Bank and Gaza Strip . . . acknowledgement of Israel's right to exist . . . abandonment of the Right to Return . . . compensation for refugees . . . Jerusalem as our shared capital . . . respect and understanding.'

'Allah-u-akhbar, Allah-u-akhbar, Allah-u-akhbar.'

Sick, nauseous, terrified, he forced his hand up into his jacket, yanked the first of the cords to arm the explosives, dragged it down and clasped the second cord.

'. . . a new world . . . together as friends . . . hope out of despair . . . light instead of darkness . . .'

'Allah-u-akhbar, Allah-u-akhbar, Allah-u-akhbar.''

He pulled a little. Stopped. Pulled again. Froze. And there he remained, gripping the detonator, while above him the two men embraced and all around the crowd started to sing . . .

THE END

Abba
Father (Hebrew).

Abbas, Mahmoud
Successor to Yasser Arafat as President of the Palestinian Authority. Born 1935. Also known as Abu Mazen.

Abraham
Jewish patriarch, considered the father of the Jewish people.

Abu Simbel
Archaeological site in southern Egypt. Location of one of Egypt's greatest monuments, the Sun Temple of Ramesses
II.

Abu Za'abal
Egyptian prison near Cairo.

Abydos
Cult centre of the god Osiris and burial ground of some of Egypt's earliest pharaohs. Located 90km north of Luxor.

Ahl el-Kitab
Literally, 'People of the Book'. Muslim term for Jews and Christians, whose scriptures were incorporated into Islam.

Aish baladi
Pitta-type bread made from wholemeal flour.

Akhenaten
Eighteenth Dynasty pharaoh. Ruled
c.
1353–1335 BC. Father of Tutankhamun.

Al-Ahram
Literally, 'The Pyramids'. Best-selling Egyptian newspaper.

Al-Akhbar
Egyptian newspaper.

Al-Quds
Arabic name for Jerusalem.

Alim al-Simsim
Egyptian version of US children's show
Sesame Street.

Aliyah
Literally, 'Going up'. Emigration to the land of Israel.

Al-Wadi al-Gadid
Egyptian prison in Kharga oasis.

Amarna
Modern name for Akhetaten, a city built by the pharaoh Akhenaten on the east bank of the Nile midway between Cairo and Luxor.

Amenhotep I
Eighteenth Dynasty pharaoh. Ruled
c.
1525–1504 BC. His tomb has never been conclusively identified.

Amenhotep II
Eighteenth Dynasty pharaoh. Ruled
c.
1427–1401 BC.

Amenhotep III
Eighteenth Dynasty pharaoh. Ruled
c.
l391–1353 BC. Father of Akhenaten, grandfather of Tutankhamun.

Amir, Yigal
Jewish extremist. Assassinated Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1995.

Ankh
Cruciform symbol. The ancient Egyptian sign of life.

Antonia Fortress
Fortress adjacent to the Temple complex in ancient Jerusalem. Built by Herod the Great.

Arafat, Yasser
Figurehead and de facto leader of the Palestinian people from the late 1960s until his death in November 2004. President of the Palestinian Authority from 1996. Born 1929. Also known as Abu Ammar.

Arminius
Ancient German warrior hero. Lived
c.
18 BC–AD 21. Famed for defeating the Roman army at the Battle of the Teutoberger Wald (AD 9).

Ashkelon
An Israeli prison.

Aya
A verse of the Koran.

Ayalon, Ami
Former head of Shin Bet (1996–2000).

Babaghanoush
Egyptian dish made from tahina and mashed aubergine.

Babi Yar
A ravine near Kiev, site of an infamous World War Two massacre in which a hundred thousand people, mainly Jews, were shot dead by Nazi firing squads.

Banana Island
A Luxor beauty spot. Renowned as a haunt for homosexuals.

Bar mitzvah
Jewish ceremony marking a boy's coming of age.

Barak, Ehud
Former Israeli Prime Minister (1999–2001).

Barghouti, Marwan
Popular Palestinian activist and politician. Born 1958. Imprisoned by the Israelis in 2002.

Basbousa
Egyptian sweet pastry made with semolina, nuts and honey.

Batya Gur
Popular Israeli author.

Beir Zeit University
Palestinian university, in Ramallah.

Beni Hassan
Important Middle Kingdom necropolis on the east bank of the Nile, midway between al-Minya and Mallawi.

Bezalel
Revered Jewish craftsman from the time of the Exodus. Created the Ark of the Covenant and the first Menorah.

Borscht
Beetroot soup.

Buchenwald
Nazi concentration camp, in Germany.

Butneya
An area of Cairo renowned for its thieves and drug dealers.

Cabbala
Mystical teaching of Judaism.

Caleche
A horse-drawn carriage.

Camp David
The US President's country retreat in Maryland. Scene of abortive peace talks in July 2000 between the then Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Yasser Arafat.

Cardo
Covered street in the Jewish quarter of Old Jerusalem. Formerly the main thoroughfare of Roman Jerusalem.

Carter, Howard
English archaeologist, discoverer in 1922 of the tomb of Tutankhamun. Lived 1874–1939.

Champollion, Jean François
French scholar who deciphered hieroglyphs. Lived 1790–1832.

Chicago House
The home of the University of Chicago Archaeological Mission in Luxor.

Chicken
kneidlach
Chicken soup with dumplings. Popular Jewish dish.

Constantine
I Known as 'The Great'. First Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. Lived
c.
AD 274–337.

Dahlan, Mohammed
Palestinian politician and activist. Born 1961.

David
Jewish hero and king. Lived
c.
eleventh to tenth centuries BC. Father of Solomon.

Debir
(Holy of Holies)
The most sacred part of the ancient Temple.

Deir el-Bahri
Site of the mortuary temple of Queen Hatshepsut (ruled
c.
1473–1458 BC). On the west bank of the Nile at Luxor.

Deir el-Bersha
Middle Kingdom necropolis on the east bank of the Nile, opposite the modern town of Mallawi.

Deir Yassin
Former Palestinian village on the outskirts of Jerusalem. Scene of an infamous massacre by Jewish paramilitaries in 1948.

Deutsche Orient-Gesellschaft
The German Oriental Society. An institution devoted to studying the history and archaeology of the Near East.

Djellaba
Traditional robe worn by Egyptian men and women.

Djellaba suda
Black robe worn by Egyptian peasant women.

Djoser
Third Dynasty pharaoh. Ruled
c.
2630–2611 BC. His step pyramid at Saqqara was the world's first monumental stone building.

Dunum
Measurement of land, equivalent to a quarter of an acre.

Ecole Biblique
Institute founded in 1890 for the study of the Bible and the archaeology of the Holy Land.

Eid el-Adha
The Feast of Sacrifice, one of the most important festivals in the Muslim calendar.

Eighteenth Dynasty
Ancient Egyptian history is divided into Kingdoms (Old, Middle and New) which are in turn subdivided into dynasties. The Eighteenth Dynasty comprised fourteen rulers and covered the period
c.
1550–1307 BC. It was the first of the three dynasties of the New Kingdom (
c
. 1550–1070 BC).

Elijah
Hebrew prophet.

El-Kab
Archaeological site on the east bank of the Nile, 70km south of Luxor. Has a spectacular town enclosure dating from the Early Dynastic Period (2920–2975 BC).

Erekat, Saeb
Palestinian politician and academic. Born 1955.

Eretz Israel Ha-Shlema
Literally, 'the Whole of Greater Israel' – i.e. the entire land that in the Bible God granted to Abraham.

Erez Checkpoint
Main crossing point from Israel into the Gaza Strip.

Even Shetiyah
Literally, 'Foundation Stone'. The exposed rock of Mount Moria on which the ancient Temple was built.

Ezra
Ancient Jewish lawgiver.

Faience
A material made of fired quartz, with a glazed outer layer. Used extensively in ancient Egypt for jewellery, small vessels etc.

Farid
A make of Middle Eastern cigarette.

Fatah
Palestinian faction founded by Yasser Arafat in the late 1950s. The word is both the Arabic for 'victory' and an acronym for 'The Movement for the National Liberation of Palestine'.

Fellaha
(pl.
fellaheen
)
Peasant.

Frumm
Yiddish word meaning 'strict in religious observance'.

Gaddis, Attaia
Famous Egyptian photographer. Lived 1887–1972.

Gaiseric
King of the Vandals AD 428–477. Sacked Rome in AD 455.

Garden Tomb
Site considered by some to be the burial place of Christ.

Gebel Dosha
Archaeological site in northern Sudan.

Gefilte fish
Traditional Jewish dish of boiled fish balls.

Goldstar
A make of Israeli beer.

Goldstein, Baruch
Jewish extremist. Shot dead twenty-nine Muslim worshippers in Hebron in 1994 before he himself was beaten to death. Regarded as a hero by right-wing Jewish settlers.

Goy
(pl.
goyim
)
Derogatory Yiddish term for a non-Jew.

Groppi's
Famous chain of Cairo coffee houses.

Gross-Rosen
Nazi concentration camp in Poland.

Gush Shalom
Literally, 'The Peace Bloc'. Israeli peace group.

Ha'aretz
Israeli daily newspaper.

Halakhah
The entire body of Jewish law, both written and oral.

Hallah
A plaited loaf eaten by Jews on the Sabbath.

Hamas
Militant Palestinian nationalist Islamic movement, founded in 1987. Hamas is both the Arabic for 'zeal' and a reverse acronym for 'The Islamic Resistance Movement'. Its figurehead, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, was assassinated by the Israelis in 2004.

Hanukkah
Jewish festival commemorating the victory of Judah Maccabee over the Seleucid Greeks and the cleansing of the Temple.

Haram al-Sharif
Literally, 'the Noble Sanctuary'. The enclosure in Old Jerusalem containing the al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, the third holiest site in the Islamic world. Overlies the remains of the ancient Jewish Temple.

Haredi
Ultra-orthodox Jew.

Hasidic
A branch of ultra-orthodox Judaism.

Hawagaya
Egyptian term for a foreigner.

Hazzan
A cantor. One who leads the singing in synagogue.

Hizbollah
Literally, 'Party of God'. Militant Shi'ite Islamic group based in Lebanon.

Horemheb
Last pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty. Ruled
c.
1319–1307 BC.

Horns of Hattin
Battle in 1187 in which Saladin defeated the crusaders.

Horus
Ancient Egyptian god, son of Isis and Osiris. Portrayed with a human body and the head of a hawk.

Houris
(pl.)
Virgins who minister to the needs of Muslims in the afterlife.

Humvee
Acronym for High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle.

Hypostyle hall
A hall with a roof supported by columns.

IDF
Israel Defence Force. The Israeli army.

Imam
Leader of congregational prayer in the mosque.

Imma
(pl.
immam
)
Headscarf or turban. Worn by men throughout Egypt.

Insha-allah
Literally, 'if Allah is willing'. Common Egyptian term.

Intifada
Literally, 'shaking off. A popular uprising by the Palestinians of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The First Intifada lasted 1987–1993. The Second, or al-Aqsa Intifada, erupted in 2000 and is ongoing.

Isaac
Jewish patriarch. Son of Abraham and half-brother of Ishmael. It is from Isaac that the Jewish people are said to be descended.

Ishmael
Eldest son of Abraham, by the concubine Hagar. It is from Ishmael that the Arab people are said to be descended.

Isis
Ancient Egyptian goddess. Wife of Osiris and mother of Horus. Protector of the dead.

Islamic Jihad
Militant Palestinian Islamic group, founded in late 1970s.

Jacob
Jewish patriarch. Son of Isaac and grandson of Abraham.

Jeremiah
Jewish prophet of the sixth century BC. Foretold the destruction of the Temple of Solomon by the Babylonians. Said to have died in Egypt.

John of Gischala
One of the leaders of the Jewish revolt against Rome of AD 66–70. Sentenced to life imprisonment after the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70.

Jonah
A Hebrew prophet.

Joshua
Brother of Moses. Leader of the Israelites after Moses' death.

Judah Maccabee
Jewish military leader of the second century BC. Reconquered Jerusalem from the Seleucid Greeks.

Ka'ba
Cube-shaped building within the precincts of the Great Mosque at Mecca. Holiest shrine in Islam.

Kahane, Meir
Brooklyn-born Jewish extremist. Advocated forcible removal of all Arabs from the Biblical land of Israel. Born 1932. Assassinated 1990.

Karkaday
An infusion of hibiscus petals, popular throughout Egypt.

Katif
Shredded wheat soaked in honey. Popular Egyptian dessert.

Keffiyeh
A headdress worn by Arab men.

Ken
Yes (Hebrew).

Kerovah
A Jewish prayer that can either be chanted or sung.

Ketziot
Notoriously harsh Israeli prison in the Negev Desert.

Khaghoghi derev
Traditional Armenian dish of stuffed vine leaves.

Kiddush
Jewish prayer recited on the Sabbath and at festivals.

Klog iz mir
Yiddish for 'Woe is me!'

Kneidl
Dumpling.

Knesset
Literally, 'Assembly'. The Israeli Parliament.

Kohenim
(pl.)
Hereditary priests of the Temple.

Kor
Archaeological site in northern Sudan.

Kufr
Name given to those who do not follow Islam. Unbelievers.

Mangonel
A war engine used for hurling giant stones.

Maniak
Hebrew for arsehole.

Mashrabiya
Traditional Egyptian woodwork.