Saturday, March 22, 2008

Archaeologist Discovers Tomb of Jesus's Daughter

My name is Peter Clenott, the author of the soon-to-be-released novel HUNTING THE KING. The main character in the novel is Molly O'Dwyer. I have known Molly for over ten years. She teaches archaeology at a local college and has traveled the world in pursuit of knowledge. She is a fascinating woman who has found Viking artifacts in Greenland, burial sites in Israel, and, most recently in Egypt, the exquisite scrolls of a woman who claims to be the daughter of Jesus Christ.

Professor O'Dwyer has not been one to avoid controversy. She has often stirred it, some would say recklessly. I leave that to you, my guests, to decide for yourselves. Professor O'Dwyer has agreed to take time out from her busy schedule to be a regular contributor to this blog. I hope you will join in with her as she opens up the doors to the greatest mystery of all time.

Professor O'Dwyer, the floor is yours.

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Thanks, Peter. But I hope you guys out there won't stick with calling me Professor O'Dwyer. Too stodgy. My name is Molly. That's what the pizza delivery boy calls me. That's what my students call me. Unless they want a bad grade. Peter's just being polite, which is unusual for him.

Yes, it's true. I have traveled quite extensively. Since I was in high school actually. I went on my first dig the summer of my junior year, as a student volunteer on a dig out of Harvard University. I made my first real discovery that July: a doll buried with a child. I never looked back. I was hooked. And just as I felt for that little child lost so many years ago, I have felt the same for all of the ghosts I have uncovered ever since. I think it's part of my personality. I make a connection with these people. I sense them. I feel them. I know instinctively where to look for them. Some people think it's spooky. I think it's a gift. My cat would disagree. He's afraid to take his eyes off me for fear I'll be gone the moment he looks away to scratch or lick. And, truth to tell, I just might be. Poor Tabby.

I love being out in the field. I don't care about the weather. Too many academic tours of duty give me the wanderlust. I love sifting out history one grain of sand at a time, getting filthy and hanging out with other archaeologists. The real textbook is the desert, or the mountain top, or the great plain. That's where you learn. That's where the truth is hidden.

Yes, it's also correct what Peter said about my throwing fat on the academic fire. While my career has been more eclectic than most, I have focused on biblical archaeology particularly since my discovery in Egypt of the scrolls of Hannaniah, who calls herself the daughter of Christ. I am not a headline grabber. But sometimes you have to get at the truth no matter what. Whether it sets you free or not, and, trust me, it may not, we have no business hiding from the truth. Don't ask why. Look at history.

The truth means everything to me. So, when I discovered the scrolls of Hannaniah, I didn't bury them. I didn't hide them from the world or allow them to be boxed and locked in some museum archive by those in authority who see the truth as dangerous. I published. You will understand why when you read my translation of Hannaniah's gospels. They were transcendent.

The first moment I laid hands on her writing, I bonded with her. I can't explain it other than to say, I felt her in a way I have never felt with any other ancient author whose works I have translated and enjoyed. Hannaniah is different. It is as if she still lives and will always live.

Some say that I was overzealous, that I manufactured her words for some academic award or because I had some spiritual ax to grind. Believe me, nothing can be further from the truth. I am a loyal observant Catholic. What you will read in future blogs is what she wrote, excerpts from her gospels. She will transport you just as she did me. Now, whether or not she is telling the truth, if she truly is the illegitimate child of Jesus of Nazareth or if that is just her misguided belief, that you will have to judge. I, for one, believe her.

Thank you, Peter, for giving me this space to reach out to your readers. HUNTING THE KING will be as controversial as anything I have written. But I am honored, and somewhat amused, that Peter chose to write about me. The Kunati fellows were smart to take us on. Next time, I will tell you how I came to be an archaeologist. You must get to know me just as you would get to know Hannaniah. Because we are sisters of the blood in ways you would not believe.

Until then, Shalom my friends.

Molly