User:Emma Nye

The Sacred Alphabet is a 2009 mystery fiction novel written by Gemma Nieto an was published by the editorial Temas de Hoy Novela.

It is a work which falls within the genre of historical thriller follows the adventures of Victor Lavine investigator to help a religious group to regenerate the power of his alphabet. Thanks the novel, the reader gains knowledge while it entertains. The author reveals the strange and fascinating history of the Mandaeans, a religious group that barely survives in Irak.

It is a fast-paced action novel of the old-style adventure stories of the last century, but at the same time is different because its mysteries take us to the present, because as a religious philosophy mandeism survives today near the Tigris and Euphrates, in Irak and Irán.

The extensive documentation that Nieto Gemma offers on the Mandaean gnostic sect or on recent archaeological discoveries in Jerusalem is built on solid research.

Plot Summary
What can enclose the Mandaean language?

Written on the inside of an old vessel, its simple and irregular strokes contain a powerful magic spell. When the mercenary Ahmed Sadoun steals an old bowl of the National Museum of Iraq is not aware of events just to launch. The Abagada, the oldest alphabet still be heard, will release its full force. Only a few men have the knowledge necessary to achieve and the Mandaean priest Zakaria Asgari is one of them.

However, it is the only one that pursues power. Between the walls of his old office in Cambridge, Professor Samuel Sinclair tries to fit the pieces of a puzzle that will elevate him to the top of the academic pyramid. Account with the help of his protegee, the young orientalist Andrea Jacobs, and Martin Crown, the sinister director of the Christian Association of San Juan.

In a race against time, the researcher Victor Lavine opposes their wishes before him trying to unravel the clues that enclose the sacred alphabet.

They will embark on a journey so hectic and dangerous to reach a revelation jealously guarded by the Mandaeans, a Gnostic community whose origins are lost in time. They will walk past the stage of the sect, from the tomb of Absalom to the cave of John the Baptist or the ruins of Amarna, in an adventure that much more at stake than their own lives.

Good people

 * Victor Lavine: is the protagonist of the play. A young man, intelligent and humorous, who works for an Italian company dedicated to the pursuit of art pieces on request. His company has received a strange role which will provide unexpected adventures.


 * Said Alami, a Palestinian from Jerusalem, will help his friend Victor in all risky undertakings in which is involved, against the wishes of his wife who thought she had married a man more at ease.


 * Andrea Jacobs. Very well drawn character in the novel with a psychological change that is not available to any writer. The exquisite intelligence of Andrea constitutes a counterpoint to Victor, until the end to form the same team.


 * Isaac ben Shimon is an octogenarian professor specializing in Mandaeism to help the protagonist in his investigations. One of the best profiles drawn from the novel and the reader feels a great sympathy for him.

The priests
Much of the weight of the work rests on three Mandaean priests, who constitute the liaison between the players and their quest. They are the Ganzebra Zakaria Asgari, and their assistants Basaam Jabar and Naseer Kaleel. Three endearing characters, especially the youngest of them, Naseer.

Bad People

 * Samuel Sinclair is a professor at Cambridge, of great renown, which aims to gain the perks you'll get if he finds what he considers "the greatest treasure of mankind." He dreams that the Queen of England will become Sir for his historical findings.


 * Martin Crown manages the Christian Association of S. John with a firm hand, a company dedicated to the study of John the Baptist, but his true purpose is to help Samuel Sinclair in their archeological findings. Martin has the help of two dangerous assassins: Abdul Khaled and Jamal Adi.

Stages
The action begins in the National Museum of Iraq, two days after U.S. forces bombed their capital. The country plunged into the chaos of war, cannot defend all fronts and the thief Ahmed Sadoun takes to steal a small clay pot containing a spell inside and will be the central thread of the story. Later, the main characters in the novel match in the Eternal City, in Jerusalem, and will face in a cave known as the cave of John the Baptist. Finally, the investigation of the investigator Victor Lavine, will shift the action to Amarna, the ancient Egyptian capital of the heretic Pharaoh Akhenaten.

Keys
There are three things that trigger the search which stars Victor Lavine, followed very closely, sometimes too, by Professor Samuel Sinclair. These elements are:

These are three small bowls of clay, the size of soup bowls with Mandaean inscriptions written inside. Containing spells are powerful and owe their strength to the magic of an alphabet, the Abagada.
 * Bowls

The Mandaeans have an ancient legend associated with the use of gold or silver charms that hang from the neck; one of them, alone has been found in gold, to help priests find their "treasure."
 * The amulet

One of the tracks that causes all the action in the novel are some inscriptions found on the facade of the tomb of Absalom, a monument erected nearly two thousand years ago on the Mount of Olives. Victor Lavine, the protagonist, uses them to advance their dangerous quest.
 * The inscripcions

Why read the novel?
The Sacred Alphabet is a fast-paced action novel, where one engages with the next scene so that the reader cannot stop reading it. She spreads with such mastery of intrigue that always manages to leave a question mark in the air to maintain the narrative tension. About his language, simple and correct, increases the final value of the work and making it affordable to very varied readers. The novel is recommended for all those looking for a lively book, entertaining, readable, with a plot and characters beautifully constructed that also aims to teach the Mandaeans exist and they need us. This is a good adventure story with a social background.

Books

 * The Mandaeans of Iraq and Iran. Their Cults, Customs, Magic Legends, and Folklore,

E. S. Drower, 2002 (reprinted from the Oxford edition, 1937), Gorgias Press, 540 pages.

It contains a study of all aspects of the life of the Mandaeans of Iran and Iraq. Lady Drower was the first European interest in a scientific manner by the Mandaeans and makes them known to the Western world.


 * Baptists of Iran, Abbas Tahvildar, out of print, 2000, Tehran-Iran, 174 pages.

It is a special high quality photographic work with texts in English and French. Although the images of Abbas Tahvildar's Mandaeans belong to people of the mandi in Ahwaz (Iran), its rites are virtually identical to those of Iraq.


 * Catalogue of the Aramaic and Mandaic Incantation Bowls in the British Museum, J.B. Segal y Erica C.D. Hunter, 2000, British Museum Press, 400 pages.

The collection of Mesopotamian incantation bowls in the British Museum is the second largest in the world (after the Baghdad Museum in Iraq). This catalog provides a transliteration and a translation with commentary of the texts of each of the 142 bowls.


 * The cave of John, the Baptist, Shimon Gibson, 2005, Bantam Dell Pub. Group, 2004, 382 pages.

It is a paper documentation on recent archaeological discoveries in the Cave of John the Baptist written by one of its major scholars.


 * El enigma de los esenios, Hugh Schonfield, 2001, Edaf, 276 páginas.

This book is a reference work of the late Professor Schonfield who was one of the leading specialists on the Essenes and the Dead Sea scrolls.


 * The Templar Revelation, Lynn Picknett y Clive Prince, 2005, Martínez Roca, 450 páginas. Español.

Disclosed work with certain theses that deviate from the orthodoxy of the Mandaeans and John the Baptist. See Chapters 11 to 14.

Videos on the Web
Best to get an idea of who are the Mandaeans is watch some images, because a picture is worth a thousand words ... but those listed below do not have much quality can help to better understand everything that explains the books.


 * Mandaeans.

Beautiful photographic history with old photographs made over a century ago by pioneering studies Mandaeism, Lady E. S. Drower.


 * Ancient religion under threat - Sabian Mandaeans.

While a Mandaean priest reading a sacred text, the announcer tells the BBC in English some of the highlights of this forgotten faith and speaks of the persecution they are subjected in Iraq. It also introduces us to some supporters who tell of their experiences.


 * Laila’s story (en inglés).

It is the difficult history of Laila, a Mandaean woman who has suffered attacks by radical Muslims refuse to change their faith for Allah.


 * Remenber Iraq’s heritage, our heritage.

Very good pictures of the conditions in which the robbers left the museum and the destruction of archaeological sites and ancient towns whose names appear in the Bible.


 * St. Catherine Monastery & Mt. Sinai, Egypt – HD 720p.

Part I, Part II, Part III, Part VI, Part V and Part VI.
 * Jerusalem old city – Free tour.

Series of 6 chapters that brings us closer to the major attractions in the Old City of Jerusalem.

Part I, Part II and Part III.
 * Ein Kerem, John the Baptist’s home.

Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V and Part VI.
 * John the Baptist’s cave (in hebrew).

This series of six videos in Hebrew brings us to one of the most important recent discoveries in the Holy Land, the cave where John the Baptist may have baptized his followers.

Parte I, Parte II, Parte III y Parte IV.
 * Los papiros del Mar Muerto (en español).

Parte I, Parte II, Parte III y Parte IV.
 * Jerusalén y los esenios de Qumrán (en español).

Una serie de América Ibérica con el inolvidable Jiménez del Oso.

Parte I, Parte II, Parte III, Parte IV y Parte V.
 * Los manuscritos del Mar Muerto (en español).

Serie del Canal de Historia.

Parte I, Parte II, Parte III, Parte IV y Parte V.
 * Akhenaton y la primera religión monoteísta (en español).

Parte I, Parte II, Parte III, Parte IV, Parte V y Parte VI.
 * Faraones del sol (en español).