Solving the Mystery
A Secret Mission
As he works to decipher the Copper Scroll treasure map, Sam recognizes that its clues resemble those described in his great-grandmother Danielle Dawson’s journal, which he has inherited as a family heirloom. Realizing that Danielle had discovered a secret code in writings found in a prophet’s tomb near Babylon, Sam learns that those writings—recorded on the hidden, backside of marble tiles in the tomb—had been rescued in a secret mission by an Israeli independence leader in 1947. Can this secret code help Sam to understand the Copper Scroll’s treasure clues?
Behind the Walls
Surprised to learn that his great-grandmother Danielle had deciphered an ancient code in the writings on hidden marble tiles in the interfaith tomb of the prophet Ezekiel, Sam understands that this code holds the key to deciphering the Copper Scroll treasure map. Did a group of exiles use biblical metaphors to disguise the true locations of their greatest treasures hidden more than 2,500 years ago? Or is the whole story just folklore used to tell a story of longing for freedom and a return to their lost homeland?
The Words of a Prophet
As he studies Danielle’s journal more closely, Sam learns that the hidden backside of the marble tiles found in the Tomb of Ezekiel not only contain that prophet’s biblical writings but a story of the hiding of his people’s greatest treasures more than 2,500 years ago. Were these marble tiles removed from the tomb near Babylon because they were viewed as important folklore? Or did the Israeli independence leader who rescued them see them as the key to finding something more valuable?
A Biblical Code
Finally understanding the secret code deciphered by his great-grandmother Danielle more than 80 years earlier, Sam begins using the code to unravel the mystery of the Copper Scroll treasure map. But did ancient people really use biblical metaphors to deceive foreign adversaries searching for their lost treasures?
By the Rivers of Babylon
Using Danielle’s journal, Sam learns that the writings attributed to the prophet Ezekiel listed a half dozen metaphorical sites, along with one apparently genuine site, to prevent a hostile foreign empire from learning the locations of their hidden treasures. After all, the “rivers of Babylon” is a poetic phrase used in a biblical verse to express an exiled people’s dreams of returning home, rather than a recognizable location where treasure was hidden.
Under the Willows
Likewise, Sam understands that a treasure site listed as “under the willows” in Babylon is a metaphorical concept used to deceive this exiled people’s Babylonian captors. This makes sense, when he realizes that the secret writings attributed to the prophet Ezekiel say that this location holds thousands of tons of gold—far more gold than had discovered and mined in the ancient world.
Beneath the Tower of Babel
What about the 10 golden, jewel-coated lampstands and the hundreds of golden and silver platters and vessels hidden beneath the Tower of Babel? By now familiar with the secret code described in Danielle’s journal, Sam recognizes that this is a metaphorical site intended to lead the enemy on a wild goose chase. After all, Babel was an ancient name for the city of Babylon, where, according to legend, the arrogant inhabitants’ attempt to build the world’s tallest structure had led to chaos.
At the Spring of the Teacher
As the last treasure site recorded in Danielle’s journal, the Spring of the Teacher is the only one that is not a biblical metaphor. Does that mean this is a genuine treasure site?
As Sam ponders the mystery, he reviews the list of treasures supposedly hidden at this site. According to the stories, the Ark of the Covenant and the other treasures of King Solomon’s Temple had disappeared more than 2,500 years ago. Lost to time, these relics are part legend and part Hollywood myth. But could the story possibly be real?
And what about the last clue? The full instructions needed to find the treasures hidden at the Spring of the Teacher were recorded on a bronze tablet? What does this mean?
As he considers his next move, Sam wonders whether this legendary bronze tablet had anything to do with the Copper Scroll made in another time of war 2,000 years ago.