Biblical Mysteries

Marvin Meyer was eating breakfast when his cellphone buzzed. Meyer, a professor of religious studies at Chapman University, has a mostly gray beard and an athletic build left over from his basketball days. His friends call him "the Velvet Hammer" for his mild demeanor. He's a nice guy. The voice on the other end belonged to a representative of the National Geographic Society. They were working on a project and wanted his help."That's very interesting," he remembers saying. "What do you have in mind?" "We can't tell you," was the reply. That was not the answer he expected. "Let me see ifI understand this," Meyer said.

"You'd like me to agree to do a project with you, but you won't tell me what that project is. Is that right?" "Exactly."He would have to sign a nondisclosure agreement first — which, in the end, he agreed to do. Not long afterward, Meyer found himself locked in an office in Washington, with a desk, a pile of dictionaries and lexicons, and one of the most sought-after religious texts in recent history, the Gospel of Judas. For a week he worked almost nonstop on the 26-page text, translating the Coptic, an ancient Egyptian language written with Greek letters, into English. As he translated, a startling portrait of Judas Iscariot emerged. This was not the reviled traitor who betrayed Jesus with a kiss. This was the trusted disciple, the close confidant, the friend. This wasa revelation. When the Gospel of Judas was unveiled at a news conference in April 2006, it made headlines around the world — with nearly all of those articles touting the new and improved Judas. "In Ancient Document, Judas, Minus the Betrayal," read the headline in The New York Times. The British paper The Guardian called it "a radical makeover for one of the worst reputations in history." A documentary that aired a few days later on National Geographic's cable channel also pushed the Judas-as-hero theme. The premiere attracted four million viewers, making it the second-highest-rated program in the channel's history, behind only a documentary on September 11. But almost immediately, other scholars began to take issue with the interpretation of Meyer and the rest of the National Geographic team. They didn't see a good Judas atall. ......

BERLIN — It is only a breathless Hollywood script: treasure-hunter Indiana Jones races with German archaeologists to track down the fabled Ark of the Covenant the chest that held the stone tablets on which the Ten Commandments were etched. Now German researchers claim to have found the remains of the palace of the Queen of Sheba — and an altar that may have held the Ark. The discovery, announced by the University of Hamburg last week, has stirred skeptical rumblings from the archaeological community. The location of the Ark, indeed its existence, has been a source of controversy for centuries.Regarded as the most precious treasure of ancientJudaism, it is at the heart of a debate about whether archaeology should chronicle the rise and fall of civilizations or explore the boundaries between myth and ancient history.

Professor Helmut Ziegert, of the archaeological institute at the University of Hamburg, has been supervising a dig in Aksum, northern Ethiopia, since 1999. "From the dating, its position and the details that we have found, I am sure that this is the palace," he said. The palace, that is, of the Queen of Sheba, who is believed to have lived in the 10th century B.C. After she died, her son and successor, Menelek, replaced the palace with a temple dedicated to Sirius. The German researchers believe that the Ark was taken from Jerusalem by the queen — who had a liaisonwith King Solomon — and built into the altar to Sirius. "The results we have suggest that a Cult of Sothis developed in Ethiopia with the arrival of Judaism and the Ark of the Covenant, and continued until 600 A.D.," an announcement by the University of Hamburg on behalf of the research team said.Sothis is the ancient Greek name for the star Sirius. The Ark was made, according to the Bible, of gold-plated acacia wood and topped with two golden angels. It is said to be a source of great power. In about 586 B.C., when the Babylonians conquered the Israelites, the Ark vanished. For many centuries finding it has been one of the great quests — inspiration not only for the 1981 film "Raiders of the Lost Ark," but also for countriesseeking to. ...

It is only a breathless Hollywood script: treasure-hunter Indiana Jones races with German archaeologists to track down the fabled Ark of the Covenant, the chest that held the stone tablets on which the Ten Commandments were etched. Now German researchers claim to have found the remains of the palace of the Queen of Sheba — and an altar that may have held the Ark.The discovery, announced by the University of Hamburg, has stirred sceptical rumblings from the archaelogical community. The location of the Ark, indeed its existence, has been a source of controversy for centuries. Regarded as the most precious treasure ofancient Judaism, it is at the heart of a debate about whether archaeology should chronicle the rise and fall of civilisations or explore the boundaries between myth and ancient history.Professor Helmut Ziegert, of the archaeological institute at the university, has been supervising a dig in Aksum, northern Ethiopia, since 1999. “From the dating, its position and the details that we have found, I am sure that this is the palace,” he said.

The palace, that is, of the Queen of Sheba, who is believed to have lived in the 10th century BC. After she died her son and successor, Menelek, replaced the palace with a temple dedicated to Sirius. The German researchers believe that the Ark was taken from Jerusalem by the Queen — who had a liaison with King Solomon — and built into the altar to Sirius. “The results we have suggest that a Cult of Sothis developed in Ethiopia with the arrival of Judaism and the Ark of the Covenant, and continued until 600AD,” an announcement by the University of Hamburg on behalf of the research team said. Sothis is the ancient Greek name for the star Sirius. The Ark was made, according to the Bible, of gold-plated acacia wood and topped with two golden angels. It is said to be the source of great power. In about 586BC, when the Babylonians conquered the Israelites, the Ark vanished. For many centuries finding it has been one of the great quests — inspiration not only for the 1981 film Raiders of the Lost Ark, but also for countries seeking to position themselves in the mainstream of ancient civilisation. Many archaeologists believe that their profession should not be in thebusin......

A rarely displayed segment of the Dead Sea Scrolls will be part of an exhibition for President Bush and other dignitaries attending Israel's 60th anniversary celebrations nextmonth, a museum official said Wednesday.

The ancient manuscripts date back over 2,000 years and contain almost the full text of the Jewish Bible.The segment on display will be from Psalm 133. It reads: "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity."There are about 1,000 segments of the ancient scroll. Eight pieces are on permanent display at theIsrael Museum and the rest, including Psalm 133, are kept by the Israel Antiquities Authority and rarely shown, a spokesman said Wednesday. Many of the fragments were found in a cave next to the Dead Sea. Others were bought from collectors of ancient artifacts.

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