Or Jesus Bara-abba, the father of twelve.
Langley, Virginia, USA, 2012
Stephen Elliot was here at headquarters in the middle of the night reading the information that had been sent to him by his mole, CIA Trois, several weeks earlier.
Boutros Ahmad is the point man for South America. He was definitely involved in the Bolivia affair. Boutros is the Arabic form of the name Peter.
Kader al-Zarqawi is head of Iraqi operations. ‘Kader’ means ‘the strong one’ in Arabic. This is similar to the name Andrew, which also means ‘the strong man’.
Yahya Ali is the kingpin of Chechnya operations. His original name was Dzhokar Raduev. Yahya is the Arabic form of the name John.
Yaqub Islamuddin is the brains behind Jemaah Islamiyah and the Jakarta operation. Yaqub is the Arabic form of Jacob from which the name James is derived.
Shamoon Idris is the key operative of the Islamic Jehad Council in North America. Shamoon is the Arabic form of Simon.
Faris Kadeer is the chief of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement and coordinator of the Chinese sector. Faris means ‘horseman’ in Arabic. In Greek, the name Philip also means ‘horseman’.
Bin Fadan is one of the key operatives of the Jaish-e-Mohammed’s activities within India. Bin Fadan means ‘son of the plough’. It should be noted that this has the same meaning as the name Bartholomew, which in Aramaic means ‘son of the plough’.
Ataullah al-Liby is the kingpin of the French Intifada. Ataullah means ‘gift from God’ in Arabic. This is similar to the name Matthew which is derived from the Hebrew name Mattiyahu, meaning ‘gift from God’.
Tau’am Zin Hassan is the main operative of the Darul Islam in Malaysia. Tau’am means ‘twin’ in Arabic. This is similar to the name Thomas, which is the Greek form of the Aramaic name Te’oma, which also means ‘twin’.
Adil Afrose is chief commander of the Australian operation. Adil means ‘one who acts justly’ in Arabic, similar to James—‘the just’.
Yehuda Moinuddin is the most trusted aide of Ghalib and is involved in the overall operations of the group. Yehuda is the Arabic form of the Hebrew name Judah, or Judas.
Fouad al-Noor is head of the group’s activities in the UK. Fouad literally means ‘heart’ in Arabic. This is similar to the meaning of Thaddaeus, which is derived from the Aramaic word for ‘heart’.
Ghalib-bin-Isar is leader of the Lashkar-e-Talatashar, the Army of Thirteen. The name Ghalib in Arabic means ‘dominant’ or ‘conqueror’. In Arabic, the word ‘bin’ means ‘son of’. The name ‘Isar’ can be traced back to Isar-el, the eastern Kabbalists’ Sun God, from which the name ‘Israel’ was derived.151
So, Ghalib-bin-Isar would translate to ‘dominant among the lineage of Isar’.
The person providing this information to Elliot was one of these thirteen people. His code name, CIA Trois, was an anagram for another word. Iscariot.
Yehuda Moinuddin, junior assistant director of Archives, Archaeology, Research and Museums for Kashmir, and trusted aide and friend to Ghalib, was Elliot’s mole. Yehuda was the Arabic form of the Hebrew name Judah, the Greek form of which was Judas.
Judas Iscariot.
Jerusalem, A.D. 27
Then went one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, to the chief priests. And said to them: ‘What will you give me, and I will deliver him unto you?’ And they appointed him thirty pieces of silver.
Chapter Twenty-One
Mathura, North India, 3127 B.C.
The moon was in the constellation of Aldebaran and it was the eighth lunar day of the dark fortnight in 3127 B.C.152 The blessed virgin, Devaki, was about to deliver a baby boy; Krishna was to be his name. His birth had been heralded by the astral formation of a Rohini Nakshatra, a most auspicious astrological sequence.
Unfortunately, an old Brahmin had predicted to King Kansa, the ruler of Mathura, that a son born to Devaki would eventually destroy him. Kansa ordered the death of all male babies born on the day of Krishna’s birth to prevent the prophecy from coming true. Luckily for Krishna, his father had been warned and fled with the child to Gokul where he could be brought up safely.
Hinduism has long worshipped the holy trinity of Brahma—the creator, Vishnu—the preserver, and Shiva—the destroyer. Krishna, it was believed, was the second entity in this trinity because he was an avatar of Vishnu. Much like the second entity in the trinity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. The name Krishna is sometimes also spelt ‘Christna’.
The entire story of Krishna was written in a Hindu epic of 1,00,000 verses some time before 500 B.C.
Five hundred years before Christ. Sixty-six years after the Buddha.
Kapilavastu, Indo–Nepal border, 566 B.C.
Deep sleep produces strange dreams. Maya, the queen of Kapilavastu, had a dream that her soon-to-be-born son, Siddhartha Gautama, was entering his virgin mother’s womb on a white elephant on a full moon night in July.153
Soon after his birth, Siddhartha was examined by a group of Brahmins who predicted that the boy would be either a great king or a Buddha, an Enlightened One.
At the age of twenty-nine, he left his home and spent the next six years in meditation in the jungles. While meditating, he visualised thousands of his previous lives. He realised that all beings were subject to rebirth. Good actions led to good rebirths and bad actions led to bad rebirths. The place and nature of a rebirth was governed by one’s deeds, or karma.
On 8 December, at the age of thirty-five, he found enlightenment after forty-nine days of penance in the wilderness. This was in spite of the devil tempting and taunting him repeatedly.
The Buddha probably knew that the devil would try the same tricks around six centuries later with someone else who fasted for forty days and forty nights in the Judean desert.
Judean desert, A.D. 26
Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. After fasting for forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, ‘If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.’ He answered, ‘It is written that man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’
A thousand years earlier, the devil had offered much more than bread—he had offered the entire world.
Persia, 1000 B.C.
Satan offered him the entire world if he would forsake his worship of Ahura Mazda, the Lord of Wisdom.
He was born to a virgin. He received his calling at the age of thirty. The whole world rejoiced at his birth. He was baptised in a river. He astounded wise men with his wisdom.154 He wandered about with his followers. He went into the wilderness where he was tempted by the evil one. He cast out demons. He restored the sight of a blind man. He revealed the mysteries of heaven, hell, judgement and salvation. He and his followers celebrated a sacred meal together.
No. He wasn’t Jesus. His name was Zarathustra, the prophet of the Zoroastrian faith, whose deeds were written about almost 1,000 years before Jesus. Zarathustra was a thousand years too late.
Syria, 2000 B.C.
Tammuz would rise from his cave each morning, travel across the sky by day and return to his cave at night. He was a shepherd and healer. Tammuz soon died and descended into the lower world. However, his loving wife, Inanna, could not accept his death. She went in search of Tammuz. During Inanna’s absence from earth, nature froze. When God heard the pleas of humans, Inanna was allowed to leave the netherworld along with Tammuz. The sad death and happy resurrection of Tammuz occurred every year thereafter. It corresponded with the cycle of nature: life died in autumn and was reborn in spring.
On what date had the virgin Myrrha given birth to little Tammuz? On 25 December.155 Tammuz too was a thousand years too late.
Egypt, 3000 B.C.
Horus was born to the virgin, Isis, on 25 December in a manger.156 His birth was announced by a star in the east. At the age of twelve, Horus taught in the temple and was baptised in the Eridanus by Anup, who w
as later beheaded.
Horus performed many miracles, including walking on water. He had twelve disciples, and was crucified on a tree amongst thieves. After his death, he was buried in a tomb from where he was resurrected and he ascended into heaven. He raised a man from the dead. The man was called El-Azar-Os.
Later, the Bible would also speak of a man raised from the dead—his name would be Lazarus.
Bethany, Judea, A.D. 27
Now there was a certain sick man, named Lazarus of Bethania, of the town of Mary and of Martha, her sister. Jesus therefore came and found that he had been four days already in the grave. And he asked, ‘Where have you laid him?’ They said to him, ‘Lord, come and see.’
Jesus then went to the sepulchre. It was a cave; a stone was laid over it. Jesus said, ‘Take away the stone.’ And Jesus, lifting up his eyes, said, ‘Father, I give Thee thanks that Thou hast heard me.’
Was it a ritual? Similar to another one in which Jesus would rise from the dead on a day which would then be celebrated as Easter Sunday? Possibly. After all, Easter Sunday had been celebrated from 600 B.C. onwards, almost 600 years before the resurrection.
Persia, 600 B.C.
Mithras, the Sun God, was born on 25 December. He was a wandering teacher and had twelve disciples. He performed many miracles. He was also called ‘the good shepherd’. His sacred day was Sunday. He sacrificed the pleasures of life. Intense purity was demanded of his followers, who were baptised in blood. They usually had a communion supper of bread and wine.157
When he died, he was buried in a tomb. After a few days, he was resurrected. Mithras’s resurrection was then celebrated each year. The date on which his resurrection was celebrated was Easter Sunday, a date that would later be associated with Jesus of Nazareth.
Judea, A.D. 23
Was he really Jesus of Nazareth? Or was he Jesus the Nazarene? In fact, after his return to Judea many years later, Jesus would be fit for initiation into the fold of the Nazars because of his strong educational background. Admission into the fold of the Nazars would make him a Nazarene. The word nazar itself was actually a derivative of nazir, which means separate in the Aramaic language. Nazirites were Jews who had taken special vows of dedication under the rules of which they would abstain for a specific period from alcohol, cutting hair or approaching corpses. The Urdu word nazar also means to see and thus Jesus was one who could see.
As a young disciple, he would be called a Chrestos during his probation. Having completed his probationary period, he would be anointed with oil and given the title of Christos, meaning ‘the anointed one’.158
The end of the oath required immersion in water. Like the baptism of Jesus?
Jordan river, Judea, ad 26
In those days John the Baptist appeared, preaching in the desert of Judea. At that time, the people of Jerusalem, all Judea, and the entire region around Jordan were going to him and being baptised by him in the Jordan river as they acknowledged their sins.159 He said, ‘I am baptising you with water, for repentance, but the one who is coming after me is mightier than I. I am not worthy to carry his sandals.’
Thousands were baptised in the river. The same scene would be repeated in 2001.
Allahabad, north India, 2001
The thirty million people knew that this Kumbh Mela was special. This year the planets had come into a position that was very auspicious, occurring after 144 years.160 A dip in the Ganges during the month-long festival would cleanse the human soul of all sins and enable escape from the cycle of rebirth.
The Kumbh Mela had been taking place every three years for thousands of years. A similar event had been seen in Jordan in A.D. 26. The origins of ritual immersion in water were fundamentally Indian, like the sacred ritual of marriage—Hieros Gamos.
Bethany, Judea, A.D. 27
She was making Jesus go through an ancient fertility ritual called Hieros Gamos, or ‘the sacred marriage’.
In 1993, a book entitled The Woman With the Alabaster Jar by Margaret Starbird suggested that the anointing of Jesus by Mary Magdalene was carried out as part of a sacred marriage ritual. Starbird wrote:
Jesus had a secret dynastic marriage with Mary of Bethany. She was a daughter of the tribe of Benjamin, whose ancestral heritage was the land surrounding the Holy City of David, the city of Jerusalem. A dynastic marriage between Jesus and a royal daughter of the Benjamites would have been perceived as a source of healing to the people of Israel.
Perhaps the earliest verbal references attaching the epithet Magdala to Mary of Bethany’s name had nothing to do with an obscure town in Galilee. In Hebrew, the epithet ‘magdala’ literally means tower, or elevated, great, magnificent . . . This meaning has particular relevance if the Mary so named was in fact the wife of the Messiah. It would have been the Hebrew equivalent of calling her Mary the Great.
In older sacred marriage rituals, a woman who re-presented the goddess and the land was wedded to the king. Their union symbolised many things, depending on the time and place such a ritual was practised, including the blessing of ongoing fertility, the rejuvenation of the land and the community soul, and the connection between humans and the Divine. Some of these old ceremonies included a ritualistic slaying of the king, either symbolically or literally, after he was married to the priestess-goddess. In the symbolic slayings, he would then rise again in a mystical resurrection echoing the cycles of death and rebirth evident in nature.161
The million-dollar question: if the anointing of Jesus was part of the sacred fertility ritual, could the crucifixion and resurrection also have been part of this same ritual?
So, was Jesus the bridegroom?
Cana, Galilee, A.D. 23
‘They have no wine,’ said Mary to Jesus.
And on the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there. And both Jesus and his disciples were called to the marriage. And when they wanted wine, Mary, the mother of Jesus, said to him, ‘They have no wine.’
Mary immediately ordered the servants to do whatever Jesus instructed. And Jesus told them to fill the pots with water up to the brim. He then asked them to draw wine from them and to serve the governor of the feast.
The servants served the wine. When the ruler of the feast tasted the water that had been made into wine, the governor called the bridegroom and said to him that most people served the good wine first and the lower grade wine later. The bridegroom, on the other hand, had done the reverse. His mother, Mary, had clearly been in charge. She was the hostess, without doubt. And the bridegroom had been Jesus.162
Bethany, Israel, A.D. 27
Christ loved her more than all the disciples and used to kiss her often on the mouth. According to the Gnostic Gospel of Philip, Mary Magdalene was the companion of the Saviour. But Christ loved her more than all the disciples and used to kiss her often on the mouth. The rest of the disciples were offended by it and expressed disapproval. They asked, ‘Why do you love her more than all of us?’
The Saviour answered and said to them, ‘Why do I not love you like her? When a blind man and one who sees are both together in darkness, they are no different from one another. When the light comes, he who sees will see the light, and he who is blind will remain in darkness . . .’163 After all, he was Jesus the Nazarene, ‘the one who could see’.
Mary anointed Jesus twice with nard. She once anointed his head. Another time she anointed his feet, later wiping them with her long hair. Nard was a fragrant ointment more commonly called spikenard and was part of a sacred marriage ritual practised by Hebrew, Sumerian and Egyptian priestesses who were also trained in music, healing, magic, chants, dance and herbal medicine. In the Old Testament’s Song of Solomon, this act of anointing was carried out as an element of the marriage ceremony.
Lynn Picknett, a researcher of religious mysteries, would later write:
In their time was a sublimely pagan rite that involved a woman anointing a chosen man both on the head and feet—and also on the genitals—for a ver
y special destiny. This was the anointing of the sacred king, in which the priestess singled out the chosen man and anointed him, before bestowing his destiny upon him in a sexual rite known as the Hieros Gamos.
Mary Magdalene was effectively royalty from the tribe of Benjamin, and since Jesus was from the royal family of David, their marriage would have been a powerful dynastic alliance. It now became clear why Jesus was called the ‘King of the Jews’. His title had not been merely a spiritual one, but also one that was temporal and political.164
In 1982, Holy Blood, Holy Grail, a book by Henry Lincoln, Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh, had come up with the theory that Mary Magdalene’s womb had in fact been the Holy Grail which eventually carried the child of Jesus Christ.
In his book King Jesus, Robert Graves had suggested way back in 1946 that Jesus’s ancestry and marriage would have been kept hidden from virtually all except a few in order to protect the bloodline.
So this was a temporal and earthly king. A good man, a great man who did good deeds, but simply a man nonetheless. How could he be made divine? Fast forward to A.D. 337.
Constantinople, A.D. 337
Roman Emperor Constantine lay on his deathbed. He had decided to be baptised into the Christian faith before his death. After all, in A.D. 312, he had been able to defeat his rival for the imperial throne, Maxentius, only through Christian support.165 During his lifetime, he had been sympathetic to the Christian cause but had essentially remained a sun worshipper. In fact, Constantine had ordered the judiciary to observe its weekly holiday on Sunday, which was the ‘venerable day of the sun’. Christians, on the other hand, had continued to have their weekly rest on the Jewish Sabbath—Saturday. The Christians now fell in line with Constantine’s edict and began observing their weekly rest on Sunday. This brought Christianity closer to existing Roman practice.
The Rozabal Line Page 21
