Dead Sea Mystery

"After six months of analysis, experts released a 200-page report detailing how the Dead Sea Scrolls fragments were forged - likely made from old shoe leather."

News outlet after news outlet detailing how the famed Dead Sea Scrolls are fakes, forgeries, nothing more than cheap knock offs. Everyone theorizing that the scrolls would predict the end of the world were left disappointed by the news.

What the public didn’t know, though, was that the scientific team running the tests forged the results in an effort to conceal the truth. That the scrolls were the real deal.

2 months after the interest and attention surrounding the documents had died down, Emit Keller and his team began piecing together the fragments and deciphering the scrolls.

What they found was a cryptic message. Buried deep, acacia and gold within Al-Bahr Al-Mayyit. But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.

“I think there’s a piece missing.” A sigh fell from Emit’s lips as he hung his head, “Piece missing or not, I think this is a sort of map.” A voice appeared from the back of the room. Kelly, a young grad student, pushed her way to the table and began analyzing the fragments, “What do you mean, a map?” Emit peered up at Kelly, confusion plastered across his face. Kelly smirked, never taking her eyes off the leather, “I mean, Emit, that acacia and gold is a reference to the Ark of the Covenant as stated in the bible, and Al-Bahr Al-Mayyit is the Arabic name for the Dead Sea,” she paused, waiting for the penny to dropped. The blank staring faces were enough encouragement for her to to continue, “don’t you see?? It’s saying the Ark of the Covenant is buried in the Dead Sea!” Silence soon turned into contemplative murmurs.

The team spent the next 5 months restoring as much of the document that they could in the hopes of revealing more information. Unfortunately, it was too badly damaged due to time and exposure from it’s years of existence.

“So what do we now, doc?” Emit thought for a moment, considering his next steps and their repercussions. Finally he spoke, “Kelly, you really think this thing is leading us to the Ark of the Covenant?” “Yes, sir. I do. The evidence is all there.” She responded with a confidence no one else in the room had felt for months, “Alright. We’re going to drain the Dead Sea.” Emit declared.

There was a universal gasp, “Can you repeat that, sir?” Kelly asked, “I said, were going to drain the Dead Sea. We’re going to find that Ark.”

“But what about the attention that will bring? Who will we be able to do that without being found out?” A young man, another one of Emit’s grad students, piped up from somewhere in the crowd, “If we attract any attention, we’ll simply say we’re running an experiment on the sediment under the lake to determine if there is any fossil life.”

The back and forth if questions and Emit’s answers continued for around an hour. Then they all set to work designing their plan.

Over the course of the next 4 months Emit and his team set about the logistics of pulling off an operation this large. Acquiring all the equipment they needed, including multiple tanks capable of holding over 100,000 gallons of liquid each. They falsified documents and research papers to backup their story, claiming to be researching the sediment in the hopes of finding a new source of clean energy.

2 weeks before they were due to depart for Jerusalem, a reporter came knocking on their door asking questions. He had gotten word of their movements and was becoming curious. After feeding him the phony story, he only got more invested and now there was no getting rid of him and the publicity.

When they arrived in Jerusalem there was a swarm of media teams and journalists already waiting outside the airport.

When the draining began, the area was already so densely populated with reporters that anyone not from nearby would think it was a mini city that had just sprung up out of nowhere.

It only took 5 days to drain almost all of the liquid in the Lake. A few puddles remained here and there, and the salt residue left behind was thick, covering nearly the entire surface that was just a few days ago hidden beneath water.

A cursory survey over the area yielded nothing, so they began to dig. It didn’t take long before the night rolled in and it became too dark to do anything.

That night, a thunderous storm swept across the country, dousing everything in it’s path with a torrent of rain. By the time the morning came the storm had passed. Back at the Dead Sea excavation, the storm had churned up most of the sediment, unearthing rocks long hidden beneath the sand. Some were fully exposed now, while others only partly. The team began clearing away the rocks and piling them up at the bank of the lake. One rock was proving difficult to remove, the harder it was pulled, the more it seemed to resist the force. Everyone pitched in and either dug deeper or pulled at the giant stone, until one of the students noticed something odd about it’s appearance.

“Hey, is that, gold running through the rock?” He mumbled just loud enough to attract a few people’s attention.

“Oh my god!” Kelly shrieked, “That’s not a rock! We’ve found it! We’ve found the Ark!” She couldn’t contain her excitement. They pulled and pulled, and eventually it came loose, revealing a huge wooden box, flecked with gold running through, almost like marble. The wood was in perfect condition, considering it had spent thousands of years beneath the sand and water, and yet it looked as it if had only been put there five minutes ago. There was a big brass clasp, with a button in the center and Latin engraving round the outer edges, keeping the box sealed. Obsignatum aut dimittis exitio.

“Kelly, you seem to know everything about everything. What does it say?” Kelly shot her colleague a look of contempt before reading the inscription, “Obsignatum aut dimittis exitio. I think it means Keep sealed or release your doom.”

“Oh great! So this is an Indiana Jones prank. Figures.” An exasperated voice sneered. “Well it would explain why there’s no water damage on the box.” Another added.

“Come on guys! We didn’t work this hard to be put off by a metal buckle. What’s the worst that could happen?” Kelly countered. Before she was able to open the clasp, Emit grabbed her hand and pulled her away. “Hey!” She whined. “Lets get this box back to the lab where we can run some tests on it.” Emit stated calmly.

After running every conceivable test back at the lab, the results came back inconclusive. A heated debate ensued about whether or not to open the box. They agreed to leave it for the day and rerun the tests in the morning.

That evening, Emit decided on a quite night at home with his dog, watching TV and ordering takeout. With his food due to arrive in 30 minutes time, Emit jumped into the shower. Half way through he could hear his dog scratching at the bathroom door, “Axel, stop scratching!” But it continued, “AXEL!” Still the scratching continued, so Emit got out, wrapped a towel around his waist and ripped the door open. All he found were deep scratch marks on the bathroom door. He searched and found his dog asleep on the sofa downstairs. Confused he resumed his shower. No sooner had he soaped up his body when the lights began to flicker, making him pause before they turned out altogether.

The next morning at the lab, there was an uneasy hushed silence in the room. Kelly broke the silence, “Did anyone else have a really weird night last night?” Almost in unison everyone agreed. “It was so strange,” She began, “I got home and put did or for my cat, but he kept housing at me and demanded to be let outside. Then, about 5 minutes later, I hear scratching at the door, but when I opened it he wasn't there. I shut the door and walked away, but then the door bell rang, again there was no one there. As soon as it shut it, the door bell rang again. I was so scared and didn't want to open it but it rang a second time. When I opened it, it was my Deliveroo.” They all began swapping stories until someone broke the topic of conversation, “Hey guys. Where is Doctor Keller? I've tried calling him but he won't answer.” They all started to murmur amongst themselves while Kelly attempted to call him. No luck.

“He’s never away from his phone. I'm going over there.” She stated. “I'm coming with you.” A couple of others added.

When they arrived at Emit’s house, they found the door was unlocked. “Doctor Keller?!” They called out. Hiya dog cake running over to greet them, “Axel, where’s Emit?” Kelly asked, staring into the dogs eyes. Axel just stared back, tongue flopping out the side of his mouth. “What’s that on his collar?” Kelly adjusted the dogs collar and saw a faint powdery smudge, “I'm not sure. Dust? Maybe, Talc? Let's keep searching. Emit!”

They searched the whole downstairs and found no sign of him. As they made their way up the stairs, they began too hear running water. They rushed to the bathroom and tried the door. When they discovered it was locked the boys broke it down. They froze. A scream came from behind them as Kelly saw the scene in the bathroom.

Emit was dead in the shower. His wrists and throat were cut open and a bloody razor lay beside him. Through the shock no one had noticed the message left in dipping blood on the wall. In releasing me from my water prison you have ensured your deaths!

As soon as the police arrived they took everyone's statement and examined Emit’s body. There was nothing left for the students to do but go home and wait for news.

The next morning, two of the students from the team didn't show up. Concerned the team called the police. Sure enough, they had met the same fate as Doctor Emit Keller. The following day, when even more of the team was missing, the remainder decided to open the box in the hopes it would shed some light on what was happening. The inscription inside the lid read: Once opened, the power of Pazuzu is unleashed. There is no stopping him now.

The students, in a panic, brought the box back to the Dead Sea in an attempt to rebury the box where they found it and refill the lake. As they were placing the box, an old woman approached them and spoke, “Salt had many wonderful properties. A little known fact, is that salt can block and hold negative spirits in place.” “So we can retrap what was once held here??” They asked with a panicked gleam of hope, hope which died as the old woman laughed, “Once the spirit has been released, there is no stopping it. If it has sworn revenge, you are as good as dead.” The old woman laughed am evil laugh and walked away, but the students continued replacing the box and refilling the lake.

“Graduate student, Kelly Newman, the final surviving member of the Dead seas exploration team, headed by Doctor Emit Keller, had been found dead in her apartment.” The news report detailed, “Her wrists and throat cut using a razor, as were her colleagues and boss. It is not known yet who is responsible for this gruesome act. Police are investigating all leads involved. A note was found in miss Newman's apartment, detailing the nature of the experiment she and her team were involved in and blames the ancient spirit of Pazuzu for the death of her team after they supposedly set him free during their experiment. We’ll have more on this story at 11.”

To be continued…