Mike Evans and Robert Wise, The Jerusalem Scrolls (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1999).  Hardback, 342 pages.  Grade level 10-12.

 
The Jerusalem Scrolls advances a plot that is quite exciting for a novel: the discovery of a golden scroll that is the deed to Jerusalem which was given to Abraham by Melchizedek.  The scroll is written in several languages so scholars from various religious traditions (Jewish, Christian, Moslem) must work together to come up with the final translation.  The plot of the story not only contains the intrigue of which son of Abraham (Ishmael or Isaac) was deeded Jerusalem but also the drama of scholars from different faiths and worldviews coming to reconciliation.  What a great plot! 

The authors could have gone in two directions with the plot:  1) The Melville Moby Dick or the James A. Michener type of novel where chapters of history or descriptions of life are intertwined with the story narrative.  For instance, the authors could have given a strategically placed chapter on each faith describing the religious point of view, history, etc. These chapters would be interspersed among the chapters with the contemporary action.  2) The Tolkin Lord of the Rings type of novel where complete maps, language, etc. is intricately elaborated so that it provides a greatly enriched story.  The authors appears to have gone for option 2), but really failed to fully create a viable fictional world in which all the facts fit.  The characters are superficial and at times their reactions in situations are not convincing.  The ending of the book is the most disappointing part.  It just abruptly stops and leaves a teaser for a sequel novel.

 Similar to the Da Vinci Code the novel draws upon historical facts and in this particular case--historical languages.  Similar to the Da Vinci Code it also has several glaring failures.  The authors, however, comes down on the side of Biblical inspiration and is clearly supportive of a Christian worldview.  It is disappointing that the novel doesn’t have both accuracy and a Christian worldview.  The lack of accuracy taints the message.

 The novel states that the text is in “five languages representing highly diverse segments of the ancient world.”  The languages mentioned are ancient Greek, Hebrew, Egyptian, Sumerian, and Akkadian.  Unlike the Rosetta stone that has parallel translations of its text in different languages, this deed supposedly has the text alternating between the five languages as the text progresses.  At the front of the novel we are given a text that sets the stage for the novel.  Here is a sample (the red and blue lines are mine):

 It is with the given text and the translation of that text that some of the problems with the book emerge.  I have underlined in red the portions of the text that appear to be Hebrew.  I haven’t translated these (although at first appearance I don’t see how any of this relates to the text they eventually translate).  Let’s allow for the time, that Hebrew is included properly. 

 Here is what some Egyptian hieroglyphics look like:

OK, it looks like there is some Egyptian in it.  (A few bird-like symbols!) In fact the rest of the text looks to be pseudo Egyptian.  So it passes muster for two languages.

 No Greek letters at all—oops missing one language. 

The only thing that remotely looks like cuneiform is the blue enclosed portions, but this is over something that does not appear to be cuneiform at all.  Here is something in the Sumerian language:

If this were cuneiform then the enclosed portions it would be single letters, certainly not a full word.  It appears we are missing 2 of the 5 languages. 

 Also Akkadian uses cuneiform:

 
I don’t see that either.  Triple oops—missing three languages!

 OK, so maybe the editor just slapped this in the front and the authors didn’t know anything about it.  Well we can’t let the authors off so easily because there is a translation error that most lay Christians would recognize.  On page 328 a scholar translates Yehova Yireh as the “All-seeing One,” or God.  The song “Jehova Jireh, my provider…” gives a more accurate translation.  I am left bewildered that in the introduction the authors give thanks to several people for “providing scholarly insights into hieroglyphics and ancient languages.”

 
Unfortunately the authors had a great plot, but apparantly they did not research the lanugages.