Introduction

An Unexpected Journey

In the autumn of 2007, David Elkington and I embarked on an over decade long crusade from the verdant shires of England to hidden caves in dangerous territory north of Jordan on a mission to get the discovery of an ancient cache of ring-bound lead books, mysteriously sealed on all four sides, authenticated and protected. 

These enigmatic artefacts, revealed to us by a Sunday Times journalist, changed the course of our lives.  

These sacred texts, known as the Jordan Codices, nascent Hebrew-Christian documents that predate the gospels, have since been mooted as one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of all time for their historical and spiritual significance to the three great Abrahamic religions:  their symbolism and archaic language date back to the First Temple of Solomon.

Acclaimed as ‘more historic than the Dead Sea scrolls’ by Jordanian scholars.

In 2011, with the backing of Dr Ziad Al Saad, the Director of the Department of Antiquities in Jordan, David and I announced the discovery of the lead codices on BBC World News 24. 

The announcement sent shockwaves throughout the world. 

The vast majority of the public found the news fascinating and wanted to know more.  However, there was a group of American academics, self-styled as Bibliobloggers, who were determined to destroy the credibility of the discovery by decrying the codices as forgeries – based on no evidence. 

They dismissed them simply because they couldn’t explain them. Unfortunately, their campaign was supremely effective.  As a result, a blanket of suppression prevented information on the discovery from being released in the media.  Consequently, all efforts to repatriate smuggled artefacts back to Jordan came to an abrupt halt. 

David and I have been working hard behind the scenes ever since to make sure the codices are not forgotten and eventually made accessible to reliable scholars who are able to study and translate them. 

After an unsavoury experience with American and British biblical scholars alike, we pursued the welcome composure of empirical science, which has allowed us to make the breakthrough in credibility that these historically significant relics have been unjustly deprived.  

For the foreseeable future, the articles that I intend to post will mainly be related to the Codices and aspects of their history within a contemporary socio-political context, I appreciate that is where the initial interest of my readership lies.  For more in-depth history, see David’s Substack The Forbidden Library.  

One of the topics that I would like to cover relates to the history of art (my background).  Once one begins to recognise the symbolism in paintings and sculpture referring to the secret teachings of the Codices, you will never look upon Medieval or Renaissance art in the same way again. 

I hope that this journey of discovery will be as exciting for you, the reader, as it will be for me.  I also look forward to hearing from you with any discoveries you might make, as this will be a lifelong project enhanced by collective insight.

I am often asked about my background that led me to become involved in this discovery as well as whether I am a practicing Christian, and if so, how I reconcile established Christianity with the new insights the codices bring to accepted belief.

Getting the basics out of the way first, although my family originates from Washington DC (Chevy Chase and Rock Creek Park), I was born in the southernmost point of the United States in Key West, Florida approximately ninety miles from Cuba, as my father was a naval officer at the time. 

We subsequently moved to Hawaii for a number of years where I learned to scuba dive and hula dance before relocating to Germany, which required me to wear proper shoes for the first time.  As a teenager growing up in Germany, I fell in love with the fairy tale architecture, Alpine landscape and the legends of the Nibelungen, which were the basis for Wagner’s Ring Cycle. I enjoyed volksmarches with my family and cruising along the Rhine and Moselle rivers where I would gaze dreamily at the romantic castles perched precariously upon the hillside.  This formed an everlasting love in me of European culture and history. 

Little could I have imagined at the time quite how important a role this would play in my future, especially involving the infiltration of hidden knowledge originating from the codices that made it, albeit coded, into European culture, where it is particularly apparent in medieval through to renaissance art. 

Following my prep school education, I chose to study European History (with a minor in History of Art) at the American University in Paris where I fell in love with the City of Lights.  I continued to live in Paris after obtaining my degree working in fine art.   

I was later offered an opportunity that I couldn’t refuse acting, as an agent to renowned opera singers and conductors.  Although initially inexperienced, I was soon booking artists in theatres and opera houses around the world – the best part of the job was being able to attend all the performances. 

In the late 90’s I relocated to London and established a PR consultancy, which I refined to chiefly literary publicity.  It was whilst working in the literary world that I chanced upon the newly released Bloodline of the Holy Grail by bestselling author Laurence Gardner (published in 1996).

This was the book that was to change the course of my life. 

It blew my mind to discover that there was an alternative history to the established Christian narrative.  Coming from a devout Protestant background, it came as a huge shock, but not one that I shied away from.  I wanted to learn everything I could find on the secrets within early Christianity, looking to both academic research as well as esoteric sources.  I subsequently contacted Gardner and ended up becoming his publicist along with other authors researching similar genres. 

What I came to learn is that a lot of this ‘secret’ knowledge is familiar to scholars, just not to the wider public.  The reason for this is largely due to the complexity of the material, which requires one to study academic texts, which are not easily accessible to the average reader.  

There is also the unwritten rule within universities that scholars are expected to toe the line and not overshadow their colleagues with research that will upend the status quo, or even more crucial, displease university’s funders.

Oxford and Cambridge are notably religiously affiliated.  Although they now cater to a diverse body of students with a multitude of backgrounds, they maintain their founding doctrine, albeit discreetly.

So, how have the codices changed my view on Christianity? 

For me personally, the existence of the codices validates and enhances views developed from over a decade of avidly reading publications based on biblical and other ancient historical sources. 

Because these original sources (including noncanonical gospels) are ancient, and thereby restricted in number, we can only speculate on their veracity.  Good scholars will come as close as possible to contextualising the ‘truth’, but no one scholar can claim ultimate knowledge, as the often cryptic writings are subject to socio-political and other interpretation. 

Moreover, biblical scholars are notorious for having conditioned biases, which influences how they interpret their research.  The legendary Dead Sea Scrolls scholar (and confirmed atheist), Prof Philip Davies, told us that evangelical scholars in Israel would dig with a shovel in one hand and a bible in the other.  Whatever didn’t suit the biblical narrative would either be discarded, secreted, or most likely sold off for a handsome sum to a private collector.  

The biggest motivation that David and I had for announcing the discovery of the codices was to ensure that they didn’t have a chance to disappear into a museum archive or private collection never to be seen again. 

We strongly believe that it is our collective inherent right, whatever creed, to know the truth about our heritage however, that may shape our perception.  Afterall, what is the point of faith if it cannot be challenged? 

One codex in particular, offers the first material proof for Jesus Christ’s actual existence. Whatever the historical truth about Jesus, the man, whether he was married, sired children, was a knife wielding zealot (an assertion I have come across), a Catholic vision of Aryan beauty or a four-foot hunchback with a unibrow¹, his message of love and hope remains unchangeable and timeless in its inspiration. 

Shouldn’t that really be what matters?   

Who do I believe Jesus was?  From my understanding, Jesus was a descendent of the Royal House of David, making him a legitimate candidate to become the next messiah. 

He was highly educated and was ordained as a High Priest in the Second Temple of Jerusalem.  He ultimately abdicated his status and privilege to live amongst the poor in a community of Essenes in the Valley of the Skull, located in northern Jordan where the codices were found, to live a life of asceticism as a mystic. 

He must have made quite an impression during his ministry that he is still loved, revered and fought over thousands of years following his death. 

His message is that we too can attain a life of meaning and righteousness through direct communion with God.  The divine is found within us all as God’s creations, co-creators, and inhabitants of his² universe. 

The fact that Jesus was a humble man makes a fulfilling spiritual life all the more accessible. 

The discovery of these fascinating sacred texts has profoundly deepened my own connection to God, although I am now less sure who or what that might actually be – that’s where the faith bit comes in!  

I look forward to learning, along with the rest of the world, a deeper understanding of the mysteries that will unfold when the codices are finally officially recognised and more research becomes available.

1.  Taken from a public notice as described in Lentulus, (Roman politician Publius Cornelius Lentulus Sura) from In the Name of the Gods, D. Elkington 2001

2. I use the masculine gender with reference to God simply for the sake of fluid prose without offense meant to women - me being one of them!