The Genesis Code

by Christopher Forrest

  “Yes, but I believe the Mayan reference is only part of it,” Bowman said. “And to be precise, two hundred sixty is not the number of days in one year of the Mayan calendar. The Mayan calendar actually used three distinct, parallel dating systems—the Long Count, the Tzolkin, and the Haab. The length of the Tzolkin year was two hundred sixty days and the length of the Haab year was three hundred sixty-five days.”

  “Three parallel calendars? That sounds pretty sophisticated for a pre-Columbian culture,” said Madison.

  Dr. Bowman leaned back in her chair.

  “The Maya were a truly remarkable civilization,” she said. “While Europe was still in the midst of the Dark Ages, the Maya built a remarkable civilization spanning much of southern Mexico and Central America. Let me give you some background.”

  Her speech took on the pedantic rhythm of one accustomed to the art of lecture.

  “The Maya mapped the heavens and were masters of mathematics. Without metal tools, they constructed vast cities with an amazing degree of architectural perfection.”

  “I had no idea they were so advanced,” said Madison.

  “Unfortunately, that seems to be a common misconception. There were several sophisticated cultures in Central and South America that predated the arrival of European influence—the Maya, the Aztec, the Inca, and the Olmec, for example.”

  “Olmec?” asked Grace.

  “Yes. The Mayan civilization followed the Olmec. Mayan priests freely admitted in their writings that much of their scientific and mathematical knowledge came from the Olmec.”

  “And where did the Olmec come from?” asked Madison.

  “That’s a real enigma,” said Dr. Bowman. “Archaeologists have never been able to find any signs indicating a developmental phase of the Olmec culture. It’s almost as if they appeared one day, fully developed as a society. Their knowledge and technological skills, which should have taken hundreds or thousands of years to develop and evolve, appeared almost overnight.”

  Bowman plucked the reading glasses from her nose and laid them on the table.

  “According to the admissions of their own sacred writings, the Maya built on the inherited inventions and ideas of the Olmec, developing advanced knowledge of astronomy, calendrical systems, and hieroglyphic writing. They built stone pyramids that rival the biggest Egyptian pyramids, and linked their cities with roads almost as extensive as those of the Roman Empire.”

  “Before their civilization collapsed,” countered Madison.

  “Yes, the disappearance of the great Mayan empire is one of history’s most intriguing puzzles,” said Bowman. “At the peak of its glory, Mayan civilization suddenly vanished. The Maya abandoned their sacred temples and pyramids. They fled from thriving cities. Modern-day archaeologists can offer no solutions to this ancient puzzle.”

  Dr. Bowman looked up from the printout.

  “But, as I’m quite sure you must be wondering, what does any of this have to do with solving the mystery of your Magic Square?”

  She paused.

  “I believe the key to the solution is this,” she said, pointing to the line of text beneath the grid of numbers.

  This is the beginning of the ancient word.

  Fifty-one

  Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library

  Yale University

  New Haven, Connecticut

  “Have you ever heard of Gematria?” asked Dr. Bowman, still contemplating the eight-by-eight grid of numbers on the printout of Dr. Ambergris’ e-mail.

  Madison shook his head.

  “No, I haven’t,” said Grace.

  “Gematria is a method originally used by Jewish mystics to discover hidden meanings in words. Numbers are assigned to the letters of the Hebrew alphabet and the letters are organized into tables according to mathematical arrangements,” said Bowman.

  She uncrossed her legs and leaned forward.

  “And Jewish scholars weren’t the only ones to use Gematria. Isopsephy is the ancient Greek system of Gematria based on the numerical values of the Greek letters. We also find references to Gematria in Roman texts.”

  “I’m not sure I understand,” said Madison. “Is Gematria some sort of code?”

  Bowman nodded. “The kabbalists of the thirteenth century believed that the Old Testament was written in a hidden code inspired by God. They used Gematria as one of the chief methods to decipher this code. In the medieval mystical text called Sefer Yetzirah, The Book of Creation, the letters of the Hebrew alphabet are described as the stones used to build a house. They are called the ‘twenty-two letters of foundation.’ Kabbalists believe that this reference is a metaphor for the divine code hidden in religious texts.”

  Madison sat forward in his chair. “Twenty-two?”

  “Yes,” said Dr. Bowman. “The Hebrew alphabet contains twenty-two letters. Is that number significant to you?”

  “It is.” Madison’s eyes moved to Grace, then back to Dr. Bowman. “The sixty-four codons in human DNA are always found in groups that code for twenty-two specific genetic letters.”

  Bowman folded her hands on the table. “That’s a remarkable coincidence,” she said, smiling.

  Grace thought she detected a note of amusement in Dr. Bowman’s voice, but it vanished as quickly as it had appeared. She glanced at Madison.

  “Gematria can also be used to encode messages. It’s a very old form of cipher. Numbers are substituted for words or letters in a grid,” said Bowman.

  “So these numbers may actually represent Hebrew letters?” asked Grace, pointing to the grid of numbers from Ambergris’ e-mail.

  “Or Greek letters?” said Madison.

  “Neither Hebrew nor Greek, I suspect. That’s where this line of text comes into play: This is the beginning of the ancient word.”

  “You recognize that sentence?” asked Grace.

  Bowman smiled. “Come with me. I’ll show you.”

  Fifty-two

  Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library

  Yale University

  New Haven, Connecticut

  Dr. Bowman escorted Grace and Madison to a glass-walled gallery on the mezzanine level of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Inside, climate-controlled glass enclosures housed the rarest and most valuable items of the library’s collections. As Bowman led them toward the center of the gallery, she pointed out a particular glass display, fixed in a thin white beam from a spotlight above.

  “One of our treasures,” she said. A hint of institutional pride crept into her voice. “The first book in Western civilization printed using movable type.”

  Grace and Madison dutifully admired the Gutenberg Bible.

  “And here we have Audubon’s Birds of America,” Bowman said. Next to the seven rare volumes, a beautiful watercolor rendering captured the image of two drake mallards taking flight above a broad meadow.

  “But this is what I want you to see,” said Dr. Bowman.

  In the center of the gallery, a large stone monument inscribed with columns of hieroglyphs and pictographs towered above a mahogany metal and glass display case.

  “The stone monument is a Mayan stela. Just a reproduction, actually,” said Bowman. “But the manuscript is an original.”

  Beneath a pane of thick glass, a long sheet of coarse paper, folded accordion-style, rested on the mirrored deck of the display case.

  “The Popul Vuh.”

  Bowman pointed to the double-sided bark pages of the Mayan text, rich with detailed glyphs painted over a smooth surface of hardened lime paste.

  “The Popul Vuh is a Mayan religious text that details their creation mythology,” said Bowman. “Until about ten years ago, the oldest manuscript of the Popul Vuh was from the sixteenth century, a copy made by an unknown author from an earlier text. Ten years ago, two archaeologists discovered this copy, dating back two thousand years.”

  “Is this the original?”

  “We’ll probably never know. But it’s surely much closer to the origina
l text of the Popul Vuh than any other copy found to date. Do you want to take a guess at who made this discovery?” asked Bowman.

  Madison thought for a second.

  “Maximillian Ambergris,” he said.

  Bowman smiled. “Exactly. And who else?”

  Grace raised an eyebrow. “You?”

  “Yes. I was quite the adventurer in my youth.”

  She pointed to the first line of hieroglyphs on the first page of the screenbook.

  “The Popul Vuh begins with this line: This is the beginning of the ancient word.”

  Fifty-three

  Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library

  Yale University

  New Haven, Connecticut

  “So the Mayan Popul Vuh is the source that was used to encode this grid of numbers using Gematria?” speculated Grace.

  “I believe so,” said Bowman. “I’ve made a copy of this grid. I’m going to translate the Gematria tonight.”

  Madison opened his mouth to protest, but Grace kicked him under the table.

  “Will you share the translation with us?” asked Grace, ignoring Madison’s glare.

  Bowman’s eyes narrowed for a moment. “I suppose I can’t really refuse, since you brought this to me. If you meet me here tomorrow morning, I’ll tell you what I’ve learned.”

  Grace frowned. “There’s something I still don’t get. All of the rows and columns in the Magic Square total two hundred and sixty. We know that two-sixty is an important number in the Mayan calendar system, but why was it so important to Dr. Ambergris to include two-sixty in this coded message to us?”

  “Perhaps it represents additional information he was trying to convey to you,” said Bowman.

  Madison watched Bowman closely. He was certain that she knew more than she was telling.

  “Mayan priests were some of the first astronomers,” said Bowman. “And charting time was an important concern of ancient Mesoamerican sky watchers. The Maya made detailed astronomical observations well over two thousand years ago. Much of their knowledge of astronomy is set forth in the Popul Vuh.”

  “And what does this have to do with anything?” asked Madison.

  Bowman frowned at him, then turned to Grace and continued.

  “The Mayan religious framework embraced a concept they called the ‘Ages of Man.’ Essentially, Mayan priests believed that time was divided into distinct epochs based on astronomical cycles such as the precession of the equinoxes. The Popul Vuh speaks of eras of 5,125.40 years, equaling thirteen ‘baktuns’ of 144,000 days each. Each cycle of thirteen baktuns was reckoned as an Age or Great Cycle, a specific historical epoch.”

  “Why was that important? Why did the Maya expend so much effort calculating these Ages of Man?” asked Madison.

  “The Maya believed that the end of each epoch marked drastic and sometimes cataclysmic changes in the history of the human race. Naturally, there was a great interest in when the current Age of Man would end.”

  “How does the Mayan calendar tie into all that?”

  “The Mayan Long Count system is related to certain astronomical cycles. Priests used the Mayan Long Count calendar for recording important events. An event was dated according to the number of days that had passed since the beginning date of the current Age of Man.”

  “Beginning date?”

  “Yes,” said Bowman. “August thirteenth, 3113 BC. Judging by archaeological evidence, 3113 BC was well before the emergence of the Mayan civilization. No one knows for sure why they chose this date, but I believe that to the Mayan priests, 3113 BC marked the beginning of the current Age of Man.”

  Madison digested the information.

  “When does the next Age of Man begin?”

  “That’s a very interesting question. Dr. Ambergris thought so as well. He was quite interested in this subject. It seems that we are living in the last Age of Man.”

  “The last age?” asked Grace.

  “The current Mayan Age of Man, the fifth, was said to be a synthesis of the last four Ages. It is symbolized by the heiroglyph Ollin, meaning movement or shift. The glyph for the last katun of this Age, which began in 1992 on our calendar, is Storm followed by Sun—a period of darkness followed by one of light.”

  “Meaning what? The apocalypse? The end of humanity?”

  “No one knows for sure what the Maya believed would happen at the end of the last Age of Man.”

  “When does the Mayan calendar end?”

  “On the Mayan calendar, it’s 13.0.0.0.0.”

  Bowman paused.

  “On our calendar, the date is December twenty-first, 2012.”

  Madison was stunned. “December twenty-first, 2012?”

  “How much do you know about astronomy?” asked Bowman.

  “A little,” he replied.

  “I mentioned the term ‘precession of the equinoxes’ before. Do you understand what that means?”

  “No, not really.”

  “The earth spins on an axis, with the northern end at the North Pole. The spinning action is like that of a top; and, like a top, the earth wobbles as it spins. But it wobbles very slowly, with one wobble taking approximately twenty-five thousand eight hundred years. This ‘precession of the equinoxes’ takes twenty-five thousand eight hundred years to complete one cycle. With me so far?”

  “I’m with you.”

  “Precession causes the location in space that the North Pole points at to gradually change. At present it points to Polaris, the North Star. In twelve thousand years’ time it will be pointing close to Vega. As the Pole Star changes, so does the position in the sky of all the other stars, relative to our wobbly spinning earth. If you read the Popul Vuh, it becomes very evident that the Maya understood precession.”

  “Okay, but why is 2012 significant?”

  “I’ll tell you why. The Milky Way has a galactic center around which all the stars in our galaxy revolve. It’s located in the starriest part of the Milky Way. Only four times during the twenty-five-thousand-eight-hundred-year precessional cycle does the galactic center align with the sunrise of a solstice or equinox.”

  “And?”

  “The next galactic alignment occurs in December of 2012.”

  Grace was shocked. “The same year that the Maya predicted would be the end of the current Age of Man.”

  Fifty-four

  Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library

  Yale University

  New Haven, Connecticut

  Madison’s head was spinning. He needed time to digest and process everything Dr. Bowman had told them. A massive paradigm shift loomed on the far edges of his thoughts.

  “I’m having a hard time getting my mind around all of this,” he said. “I need to let it marinate in my brain for a while.”

  Dr. Bowman nodded.

  “There’s someone else you should speak with about this when you’re ready. Dr. Alberto Vasquez, at the University of Chicago. Dr. Ambergris spent a lot of time talking with him in the past few months. These days he teaches a class or two at the university and spends a lot of time as a curator at the Field Museum of Natural History.”

  Grace rubbed her tired eyes and yawned.

  “For now, why don’t you take a room at the bed and breakfast across from the art gallery on Chapel Street?” Bowman suggested. “It’s just a couple of blocks from here. We can meet again in the morning when I’ve finished the translation.”

  Grace realized how exhausted she actually felt.

  “Sounds good,” she said.

  “What time shall we meet?” asked Madison.

  “I’m an early riser. How about eight o’clock in the reading room?”

  Madison nodded his assent. “We’ll see you then.”

  Fifty-five

  Pop’s Diner

  New Haven, Connecticut

  Pop’s Diner was down the street from the Colony Inn Bed and Breakfast. Acquiescing to the rather vocal demands of her growling stomach, Grace insisted that they eat dinner b
efore checking in to the bed and breakfast.

  Grace consulted the sticky menu.

  “I’ll have the three-egg omelet,” she said. The forty-something waitress wiped her sweaty palms on her apron, then adjusted the name tag on her bright yellow shirt. She searched in vain for a pen in the pocket of her apron before finally locating a yellow pencil poked through the hair bun on the top of her head. She licked the dull point of her pencil, then jotted down Grace’s order.

  “Toast or biscuit, hunny?”

  “Toast, please, Irma,” said Grace, reading the waitress’s name tag. “Rye. And bacon. Coffee to drink.”

  “How ’bout you, hun?” asked Irma, scribbling on her small notepad with the stubby pencil.

  Madison squinted at the specials.

  “Scungilli fra diavolo, please. And a glass of the house merlot.”

  “Huh?”

  “Just a joke.”

  “Right,” said Irma. Grace rolled her eyes.

  “BLT,” said Madison. “And a Coke.”

  Irma collected their menus, refilled Madison’s ice water, and wandered off toward the kitchen. Elvis crooned about blue suede shoes from the jukebox in the corner.

  “So according to the Maya, the world is coming to an end in 2012. Maybe I should start running up my credit cards,” said Madison grimly.

  Grace chewed her lip, lost in thought.

  “Grace?”

  She looked up. “Sorry. I was just thinking…”

  “About?”

  “Christian, have you ever heard of the Bible Code?”

  He hadn’t.

  “Ambergris actually turned me on to the concept a couple months ago,” she said. “He gave me a book on the Bible Code from his father’s library. I was reminded of it when Dr. Bowman started talking about Gematria. And then when she told us that 2012 was the end date of the Mayan calendar, the hair stood up on the back of my neck.”

  “Okay,” said Madison. “Lay it on me.”

  “The Bible Code started with Jewish scholars who were searching the Hebrew text of the Torah for hidden meanings. They came to believe that there are secret codes hidden within the Bible, mostly confined to the first five books.”