This, an adventure from our past and it takes place at a time and in a part of the world we are presently not allowed to travel freely.
My novel is based on a tale over three thousand years old with characters even more ancient and some contemporary. The scroll and the resulting novel complete the similar circle of events.
The Scribe’s Scroll has remained an interest of mine over the last twenty five years. By a combination of accidents and by research, I have found a bounty of corroborating material for making this extraordinary tale into a novel. There was even a Savonarola type priest, Nakht-Shosu, enthroned as high priest around the time of this tale and a plethora of information on the Egyptian use of return throwing sticks. They also knew of a Southland where all the animals had pockets on their stomachs. In fact, looking back, at every turn, the mass of material available to create a novel from this tale was so stunningly awesome and overwhelming, I probably should not have tried. Instead of historical fiction, think of this work as a creative treatment of possibilities.
If this novel lacks the cut and thrust of modern contemporary fiction, I make no apologies. I feel responsible for its original form and for attempting to achieve a degree of religious and spiritual atavism (slipping back to a more primitive way of functioning).
If apologies were ordered, might they only be for what may have possibly been irresponsible handling of my discovery? This will never be known.
As is traditional for a work of fiction all contemporary persons, places and events, including autobiographical references will be assumed to be contrived.
The spellings of ancient names for persons and for places were originally written down phonetically in my notes. Where possible I have corrected to accepted spellings of names and places. When there has been a conflict between secular history and religious history I have just used the information that best fit the tale, as it was revealed and later developed by me.
The original source materials for this ancient epic were lost in a tragic fire, over a decade ago, which also burnt down many beautiful homes in the Berkeley Hills of Northern California.
There should be copies of this ancient manuscript somewhere. If this scroll has been used to write a novel similar to mine and resembles this tale in any way, I have no knowledge of this and it is a coincidence.
I am not a historian. This novel can never be other than unhistorical. The Greek author of this tale had no knowledge of the Pi-Ramesse and only knew of Ramesses II through the remains of cults in Memphis. He would not have known the succeeding son, Merneptah, to be in his sixties when he took his father’s throne.
I suggest you light a stick of incense when you start reading this book. Enjoy the aroma as it romances your sense of smell. Look at the smoke burl and curl and fill the room. Even better, prepare yourself by burning frankincense resin on a bed of charcoal. This is a precise, sensual sharing with our ancient ancestors, but not a sharing of mind. Though our brains are the same, we carry over three thousand years of additional culture developed over a hundred generations. So I invite you to jump back and forth to that ancient time and mind.
I can say as a researcher, I too, like Dedi, et al, have been on a journey. I feel akin to the characters in this story and to have been guided by unseen forces, spirits and gods. Researching materials to turn this tale into a novel has been like riding a snowball rolling down a long mountain gathering substance and size.
Looking back up the hill from the bottom, the trail is now clear and the snowball has come to rest, glistening its girth in the sun and two things are clear – One: this novel is finished. I have completed my task. Two: absolutely no one is to be trusted until all the thousands of untranslated scrolls are translated and made public without prejudice.
Karl H. Haase II
Where is the real ‘holy grail’ of Western Civilisation? Did you know that Ancient Egyptians were a heavy maritime force over Two seas and One ocean? Did you know that Ancient Egyptians loved boomerangs and it is represented on the walls of many tombs and that Tutankhamen had his buried with him?
Di you know that the ancient Minoans started the Minoan civilisation which later became Greece. It makes one wonder, what else did they start? Is it really any wonder Minoan pottery factories are found as far as Papua New Guinea? And what was the Ancient Indus Valley civilisation like before it was wiped out by the barbarian Arian invaders from Persia? And where did the original Noah settle after the flood? Why is the world’s largest ancient burial ground kept secret? These questions and more craved answers…
