The Phoenician Code

by Karim El Koussa

  The brush of a Great Artist painted the Horizon with orange-red color. Uncanny grayish-blue clouds hovered above the sea. Yet, the Sun had already seeped through, and drawn its own reflection in golden lines upon the surface of the water. Through the mist, those luminous lines appeared like treaded paths, at a time when life beat in the abyss of the ocean, to evolve in silence, in cold and darkness. Life took its first steps on those paths towards the land, where trees and vegetation welcomed the children of the water with open arms. They lived and multiplied, and later in time, some of them soared into the air.

  Born into blind matter, governed by the planet Saturn, Man appeared, embodying the pure Spirit that emanated straight from God. The curtain dropped, and the many different masks Human Beings wore on their faces concealed their true divine nature from their own sight. Even their inner eye was utterly concealed! It is very true; the meeting between spirit and matter impeded the awakening of Humans, from the realm of a deep unconscious sleep! We… have already entered the Circle of Necessity, the Wheel of Life, where the surrender to the twofold deities of this world took place.

  Night and Day, Darkness and Light, Blindness and Awareness, they became the two apparent manifestations of paradoxical aspects, which enfolded the existence of the creatures of the Earth. They breathed in Life and breathed out Death.”

  Then, the sound of sea gulls that glided through the air created a musical harmony in her mind and spirit, awakening her to the present.

  13.

  Decoding Thor’s Formula

  Wednesday, October 20, 11:47 PM

  Their vivid and young memory seemed to have rejuvenated their inner perception of God, the way Paul meant it to with his explanation of Alpha, the first letter. Maya and Youmna suddenly came to realize the meaning behind what was written on the first page of that book. A work, ancient as the beginning of time, believed to be the Book of Thor, the Geblite, had the knowledge of the Sacred Alphabet, each of the twenty-two letters had a physical denotation and a spiritual meaning, a belief that a secret code had been hidden in Gebel, and that its structure was Alchemical…

  “Although Alpha, the first letter in the Phoenician alphabet, meant Bull or Taurus in Astrology—a science fashioned by the Ancients—it was, nevertheless, the second sign of the Zodiac, directly related to the fixed earth element,” Paul elucidated, but before he could continue, Maya, who sounded deeply interested in the topic, interrupted him.

  “What is the first sign then?” she asked, unable to conceal her curiosity.

  “Aries,” came his immediate response. “Aries is the Ram and considered as having a pioneering spirit, a leader in the space chart, always eager to rise to a challenge, initiating original tactics to defend Taurus from the hunt of Orion, lingering on the left side. In order to do that, Aries, associated with the cardinal fire element, had to cross through Saturn—the planet of evil—then Jupiter—the planet of Knowledge—both located on its path, from right to left, hence, finally reaching the central point of Taurus, ‘T’, where it had to make fortifications against the Hunter,” he halted, and lit another cigarette.

  A moment of reflection ensued.

  “So!?” Youmna suddenly broke the silence. Her eyes focused on Paul. “I don’t frankly understand how this can help us in deciphering the inscription?”

  “According to Dr. Fraser, Thor’s formula should work, by following the system I’m about to explain. The inscription should be read in five lines. The first line is read from the central point ‘T’, down to the second point ‘A’, continuing to the third point ‘U’. The second line starts from ‘A’ to ‘R’. The third line reads from ‘R’ to ‘Û’. Then, the fourth line starts from ‘T’ to ‘S’, forming the right horn of Taurus. Finally, the fifth line is read from ‘T’ to ‘Ayin’, the open eye of Taurus, and then all the way up to ‘Š’, which is the top point of the left horn,” he said in conclusion, and looked at his friends, with great expectations of unraveling the riddle of the Stone.

  No one commented. They were probably thinking about it, and it showed on their faces. Zago moved away, and stood alone in silence, observing the ruins all around them. His mind was somewhere else. Without a word, he moved around the pit, sat on a small ancient stonewall on the opposite side, and looked at them, curiously moving down the pit. Perhaps this stonewall had originally been built as a separating wall between the rooms of the Great Phoenician Temple. With every step towards and around the mysterious Stone more ideas had been exchanged, and a bond had been built between them.

  “How could she possibly know that? I mean, Dr. Fraser?” Maya inquired.

  “Dr. Jane Fraser is a British Symbolist and Philologist. She informed me that she learned about the symbol of Thor from her grandfather, who, in turn, learned it from his grandfather, going back generation after generation to their ancestors, the Druids.”

  “The Druids who built the beautiful Stonehenge?” questioned Youmna.

  “Yes,” Paul answered, smiling. “When she knew I was from Lebanon, the land of Thor, she was pleased. When I told her about the thesis I was about to give on the myth of the Temple of Solomon, she rejoiced at hearing it.” He paused, remembering her happy face.

  “‘My gift to you, Mr. Khoury,’ Dr. Fraser said, ‘is a very special piece of knowledge to me and my ancestors. I’m positive you will be delighted with it, and maybe use it one day.’ And when I asked her what that would be, she replied with an incredible smile on her face, ‘It is Thor’s Formula.’”

  “When I asked her why she chose to give me that gift, she passionately replied, ‘I’m giving you back what your ancestors have given mine.’ So I asked her what she meant by that, and she simply referred me to a book called, The Phoenician Origin of Britons, Scots, and Anglo-Saxons, by L.A. Waddell. ‘Read it,’ she said to me, ‘You may find it interesting.’”

  Minutes later, engrossed in her task, kneeling on the ground, Youmna, at Paul’s insistent request and Maya’s encouragement, began to copy the Phoenician inscription found on the Stone, letter by letter and line by line, on a new page of her red notebook. At her side, Jim, with his artistic eye, eagerly observed the letters that delicately took shape under her enthusiastic endeavors.

  She tilted backwards, sat straight on a flat stone nearby, turned on her laptop, opened a text file, and started meticulously typing the letters in the order she had copied them, using a certain program for Phoenician characters. The team of four lingered at her side, carefully observing the operation, as she proceeded with the notes on Thor’s Alphabet formula that Paul had explained, initiating a deciphering process of the Phoenician Code.

  “Oh My God!” the Alchemist exclaimed with an astounded expression on her face, her green eyes glimmered, as she looked at them, one by one, before she continued, “I’ve done the translation three times, to thwart any risk of error, and always received the same result. Here’s what the inscription says:

  I am Thor the Geblite, Inventor of the Sacred Alphabet

  This is the Bet(h) of God, El-Elyon

  The Seven-Pillared Temple

  It was built with the arms of the Kabbirim to the Sun

  See its sketch here on the right….

  She suddenly stopped the reading at the ‘Ayin’ point, before she resumed in an intermittent tone, “and behold.... hidden....” she stopped again.

  “Behold what?” Maya inquired automatically.

  “I don’t know. There are missing words here.”

  “Hidden? Where…?” Paul asked excitedly.

  “It doesn’t say. The text ends right there,” she rejoined in excitement, and her mind began to seek a logical explanation for the missing words in the ancient text. “Perhaps the missing words and the lost letters of the inscription had been erased by time, or…” she searched through her mind for another probable reason, “caused by waves of natural erosion like sand friction, winter, rain, temperature, humidity… I just don’t know,” she anticipated.

  “What sketch?” Jim inqui
red in a probing cadence only a vigilant painter, like himself, would exhibit.

  Upon hearing what Jim had asked, and realizing the magnitude of his meaning, they instantly leaned down towards the strange Stone in search of a sketch: underneath, above, or near the words of Thor. Alas, the whereabouts of the sketch had not been determined in the inscription. Quickly though, Maya picked up her hand brush and began sweeping the area beneath the configuration. Nothing. Above the Constellation? Nothing emerged. On the two sides? Still nothing.

  “Well, perhaps the sketch has been eroded like the missing letters of the text, as Youmna suggested,” the artist hypothesized.

  Youmna nodded, “It could be.”

  “You will find nothing here,” Zago suddenly spoke, as he shot to his feet like an arrow. He ambled between the ruins, back and forth, before approaching them. “Look around you, there is nothing here. No mysteries. Everything is gone… erased by time.”

  “What do you mean by that, Zago?” Maya asked nosily, surprised by his unexpected input.

  “The only place where you can find Mysteries is in Egypt—the Pyramids. So stop wasting your time here,” he added ironically.

  “I don’t quite understand this weird behavior. This negative attitude is new to you, Zago. You’ve never acted like this before. What is it with you?” Maya addressed her assistant, who didn’t answer. He just looked away. “Although I always accepted the notion that Egypt would stand as the land of mysteries par excellence, I never did for a moment eliminate the theory or neglect the fact that Phoenician Temples also held great mysteries, akin to Egyptian Pyramids,” she paused for a second.

  “Besides, Zago, you know all too well that Phoenicians had a long and rich history of religious, social and cultural achievements. You’ve seen a lot of great things while assisting me. I will need some explanation from you later on,” she concluded in a firm tone, and turned towards the Stone.

  Zago’s negative attitude might have been derived from the fact that he had never heard of Thor’s secret formula, which led to deciphering the inscription, something he might have found hard to accept, since he always considered himself as the only person assisting the Archaeologist. The team of two had now become a team of five, including him, and yet, the fact that he had not been the person who had come up with this idea, or helped in the decoding might be responsible for provoking his ego into playing tricks on his mind.

  Undeniably, the many years of assistance he spent with Maya during her research, had led him to the conclusion that Phoenician History was ancient as time itself. He looked around him, and saw the eyes of Youmna, Paul, and Jim focused on him with resolution. He felt them, blaming him for his last statement, as if asking him to be more respectful and considerate towards the commitment of the team to the great history of Lebanon, and to be more willing to show appreciation of the discovery they had all made here.

  “You should at least give us the benefit of the doubt that what we have discovered here could well be something of great importance,” Paul suddenly interfered. “This is a matter of national interest. Your help is needed much more than your criticism at this point,” he added.

  Zago felt what Paul had just said hit a nerve in him, while the three others down the trench looked at him in a manner that showed he was plainly in disgrace. This would certainly alienate him from the convivial atmosphere that was building up between them. Something he could not tolerate for long.

  “How can I help?” he then said, approaching them with his head down. He might have felt ashamed.

  “Well… you can start by appreciating our endeavors,” Youmna addressed him in a clear-cut voice.

  “I do… I do… please don’t get me wrong. It’s not that I don’t respect the work you all have done here; it’s just that I am extremely angry at the fact that there is nothing left of our great Temples… only ruins of stones, and it hurts me a great deal.”

  “I understand your anger, Zago, I really do, but I will never comprehend your negativity,” Maya stated with a fixed look on him.

  Zago did not answer.

  “You know very well that all the pieces of information we have collected throughout the years, regarding our great Civilization, have come to us, either through the direct writings of others and those of our ancient writers, or…” she looked him squarely in the eyes. He looked at her. “Or, through Archaeological excavations done here and almost anywhere that Phoenicians existed. I think you have witnessed before what a stone can tell us… and this special Stone has already told us so much and will tell us still more,” she said.

  “Exactly so,” added Youmna in assent, “and for that reason, Maya and I are not backing off, and neither are Paul and Jim, I suppose. Now, I truly have some work to do on that Stone, and I don’t have time to waste on dull arguments.”

  They left him with nothing left to say. He just crossed his arms on his chest and gave them a reluctant smile.

  “Aha!” Paul exclaimed. “And what is the nature of the work you’re willing to do on the Stone, Youmna?” he asked fervently.

  “I will explain to you how I’m going to proceed in a while, but first, we have to move the Stone inside our base camp…” she replied, and pointed south.

  “This is great, let’s get to work then,” Maya declared enthusiastically.

  To their surprise, Zago entered the pit, pushed them all away, and with all the might of his powerfully built body he lifted the Stone all by himself and placed it on a special rolling plank. He then rolled it towards the base camp. He followed the girls like a guardian angel, followed by Paul and Jim. A few meters ahead, they reached the base camp: two medium-sized tents set up in the shape of a square. Jim and Paul saw that the base camp had a similar blue rope outlining it like the dig site had except that this one has been affixed to six wooden posts—four on the angles and two in the middle of the eastern side of the square. They then perceived the no-trespassing writing on the signposts, when he, Paul, scrutinized the area all around him. The perimeter is secured… he thought to himself, as he remembered the words of the Padre, warning him about how serious and dangerous the Babylonian Brotherhood could be. ‘I urge you to keep a low profile, while working on the site with the two ladies…’ the words echoed in his mind.

  .14.

  The Seven-Pillared Temple

  Wednesday, October 20, 2:49 PM

  Time ran quickly, yet it rushed backwards, with the echoes of the past resounding through the nearby monuments and Temples, or perhaps, what had been left of them. The shapes and colors of the stones added a sense of magic to their eyes and one of belonging to their hearts.

  The sense of serenity that showed on their faces gave the impression that they felt their spirits had rejoined the spirits of those who had dwelt around this place, way before them. And the ground on which they sauntered had marked in its memory: the footprints of merchants, priests, kings, engineers, tourists, and many others. Today, the land registered theirs, the way it would register the footprints of others coming after them.

  Indeed, time runs and everything changes.

  Moments later, the team walked in through the two main wooden posts on the eastern side—forming the entrance gate to the base camp—after Maya detached the thick blue rope from one of the posts, and fixed it back once they got in. Immediately, Youmna guided them inside one of the tents, and asked Zago to carefully place the Stone on the table in the midst of the tent. She looked very excited about it. So did all the others.

  “Thank you, Zago,” she said kindly. He smiled at her.

  “What now?” Jim asked, impatient.

  She looked at her watch, before she explained, “Well, Maya will start a proper clean up of the Stone with water, to wash off any lingering debris, while I will prepare a very purified chemical substance to be used on it, after she finishes. This substance, I hope…” she halted, thinking, and then continued, “… should reveal the missing words and the lost letters of the inscription, as well as the sketch, in case it’s t
here... or anywhere!” she smiled.

  “Oh, excuse me, Youmna, but what do you mean exactly, by saying ‘in case the sketch is there’?” Paul inquired. His eyes fully focused on hers. “If I may ask, are you in some way implying that I may have been wrong in the use of Thor’s formula for the decoding?” he sounded annoyed at the way she had proposed her idea.

  “No, Paul, not at all. I’m just…” Youmna began offering an explanation with patent sincerity in her soothing tone.

  “I could still email Dr. Jane Fraser the text, to confirm the readings,” he continued, cutting off her attempt to justify her own words, in case she had really meant anything by it.

  “Well, that would be our last option, in case we don’t find the old lost sketch, but we honestly trust in your vast knowledge,” Maya interceded politely. “I’m truly sorry for this misunderstanding, but I’m quite sure Youmna didn’t mean to doubt your competence,” she added with a grin.

  Youmna followed suit.

  Paul nodded and, without adding more to the situation, he smiled back.

  “May I ask what purified chemical substance you were referring to, Youmna?” Jim inquired eagerly after a moment. Of course, the artist in him, who enjoyed mixing colors together repeatedly, always searching for the best substance for painting, felt extremely curious to find out the Alchemist’s secret formula.

  “Aha… It’s called Mercurius Spiritus,” she revealed.

  “Mercurius Spiritus!” Paul exclaimed.

  “Yes, the Spirit of Mercury,” she clarified. “You may find this interesting, Paul. Mercury is a very ancient alchemical substance, known to the Egyptians, Phoenicians, Indians, Tibetans and Chinese. It was found in Egyptian tombs that date back to, perhaps, 1500 BC.” She halted for a passing thought, then resumed, “Rasavātam is the Indian name for Alchemy, and it means: the ‘Way of Mercury’. It is called Hydrargyrum, a Latinized word from the Greek name Hydrargyros, which means: the watery or runny silver, since it is the only metal that has a liquid form like water, and a shiny color like silver.” She paused for a breath, and added, “However, Alchemists don’t share their secret ‘Philosopher’s Stone’ formulas with anyone, Jim. Or, do they?” she ended with a strange brightness in her eyes, and the curt answer she gave betrayed his concealed bitterness.