The Dead Sea Codex Read online

  These are the things told to me by (the) Magdelene, the Tower. All twelve of us, the women of the True Cross, the Holy Twelve.

  I, Deborah of Damanhur, relate these things so that (they will) not be forgotten."

  [ ] Square brackets indicate a gap or lacuna in the manuscript. If the text cannot be reconstructed, three dots are placed inside the brackets: [ ... ]

  ( ) Parentheses indicated words or phrases provided by the translator or editor.

  Author's note: The Deborah Codex is fictional but based on existing Gnostic manuscripts.

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  Acknowledgments

  THIS STORY GREW out of my experience of living in Israel and studying biblical archaeology at Tel Aviv University.

  Such a book could never have been written without the generous help of friends and colleagues who read drafts, suggested plot changes, and offered moral support. I am especially grateful to my editor, Diane Kirkle, my Guppies critique group (Ottilia Scherschel, Joann Temple Dennett, and Shirley Jensen), to the Red Herring Fiction group in Urbana, Illinois, writing buddy extraordinaire Molly McRae, writer Barbara D'Amato, John Helfers of Techno Books, and my husband, Charlie Wisseman.

  Chapter headings are quotes from various ancient documents, including the Nag Hammadi library of Gnostic manuscripts (Gospel of Mary, Gospel of Truth, Gospel of Philip, Testimony of Truth, Exegesis on The Soul, Thunder: Perfect Mind, Apocryphon of John, and the Book of Thomas. Also the Dead Sea Scrolls (the Wisdom Texts and the Thanksgiving Hymns). A few quotes are from the Old Testament Bible (King James Version).

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  Resources

  FOR READERS WHO are interested in the fascinating world of the Dead Sea Scrolls, early Christian and Gnostic writings, and biblical archaeology, I offer the following books:

  Philip Davies, George Brook, Phillip Callaway, The Complete World of the Dead Sea Scrolls (Thames and Hudson 2002)

  James M. Robinson, The Nag Hammadi Library (Harper San Francisco 1990)

  Elaine Pagels, The Gnostic Gospels (Vintage Books 1981)

  Elaine Pagels, Beyond Belief: The Secret Book of Thomas (Random House 2003)

  Karen Armstrong, A History of God (Ballantine Books 1993)

  Yigael Yadin, Masada (Random House 1966)

  Yigael Yadin, Bar-Kokhba (Weidenfeld and Nicolson Jerusalem 1971)

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  Sarah Wisseman

  Archaeologist and former museum curator, Sarah Wisseman spent over two years in Israel as an undergraduate student. Her first book, Bound for Eternity (iUniverse 2005), was a finalist in the 2004 St. Martin's Press Malice Domestic contest and a third place winner of the 2004 2nd Leditslip contest. Wisseman, a professional scholar who teaches archaeological science at the University of Illinois, has published four non-fiction books and numerous articles on archaeology and museum science. She lives in Champaign, Illinois, and is currently working on her third mystery novel featuring Lisa Donahue.

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  Visit www.hardshell.com for information on additional titles by this and other authors.