The Moses Legacy - Adam Palmer [116]
Daniel was puzzled by this account. ‘So why didn’t Neferhotep bring the complaint himself? Before he was killed by this “enemy”, I mean?’
‘Well, first of all, like I said, there may be an element of exaggeration in the complaint itself. But secondly, Neferhotep did bring a complaint against Paneb to the vizier – not the corrupt vizier, but his honest predecessor. According to the papyrus, the vizier who heard the complaint upheld the claims and ordered that Paneb be flogged for his crimes. But Paneb then appealed the ruling and the appeal came before this Mossy or Mussi.’
‘And who was this Mossy or Mussi?’ asked Daniel.
‘We don’t know who he was. But one thing we can be sure of is that he must have been someone of high enough rank to veto the local vizier. One suggestion is that it was Amenmesse who ruled part of Egypt during his power struggle with Sethi the Second. Another is that it was someone called Messuwy, who had previously been the pharaoh’s viceroy in Nubia. Yet another theory is that they were one and the same – although there is some vigorous debate about this.’
‘Well, from what you’ve said, Gaby, this text suggests that it was Amenmesse.’
‘Yes, but the name Mossy sounds like Messuwy. So taken as a whole it could also be interpreted as meaning that they were one and the same. Anyway, go on!’
Daniel turned to the second tablet, which lay between them on top of the remaining two. He switched on the car light to illuminate it better and continued reading.
When my brother Sethi heard of this he was angry with me and wanted to kill me. So I fled to a place nearby where I came face to face with the one true God, whose face cannot be seen. He appeared to me in fire on this sacred ground and revealed his true name to me and it was Jehovah. And he commanded me to end the cruelty against Israel. So awed was I by this wondrous place that I engraved words in the writing style of Israel upon the stones nearby.
‘Wadi el-hol!’ said Gabrielle.
The name sounded familiar to Daniel. ‘The place where they found an early sample of the ancient script?’
‘Yes! Remember… it’s only twenty miles from the workers’ village. He must have run away when he realized that the pharaoh was after him.’
Suddenly Daniel found himself gripped by the excitement of a profound realization. ‘Then this phrase “appeared to me in fire” must be a reference to the burning bush… the burning bush which Moses saw after he ran away from…’
‘What?’ asked Gabrielle.
‘After he killed the Egyptian taskmaster who was beating an Israelite slave!’
‘Holy shit!’ said Gabrielle. ‘It really happened… maybe not quite the way the Bible described it, but it really happened.’
There were tears in Daniel’s eyes.
‘And Mossy must have been…’
‘Moses,’ Gabrielle muttered, barely able to raise her voice above a whisper.
Chapter 92
‘Excuse me, I know this is going to sound awfully silly, but I was looking for some friends of mine. I was supposed to meet them here, but I got a bit delayed.’
Sarit was talking to a woman behind the counter at the Petra visitor centre.
‘We get so many people passing through here.’
She had been about to tell the woman the names of her ‘friends’ – but the initial response made it clear that this would serve no useful purpose.
‘One of them is quite tall.’ She made a gesture with a raised arm and right-angled hand to indicate height.
‘Oh, wait a minute, yes, I remember them. They went with Sheikh Ibrahim.’
‘Sheikh Ibrahim?’
‘Yes. They wanted a special tour with someone who really knows the history.’
‘You mean like a private tour?’
‘Yes.’
‘Well, do you know where