Chapter Ten – Amek Hamakdash – The Valley of Sanctuary

  1971 AAC

  Na’amah

  It is time to go back to the old world, to my earliest memories, when I lived as a child in the Valley of the line of Seth. I came there as a child, like you Emzara when you came to us, barely seven years old, with my mother, without my fathers knowledge, to escape the attention of the remaining Watchers and nephiliym. My memories before that, when I lived with my father, are patchy at best, but first I will tell you about the valley. I arrived there in the year nine hundred and eighty one after the creation of A’dam.

  The Valley was in fact a large region of considerable size, a series of seven valleys, that each fanned out of the previous one. Some held large plains, forests of giant trees, lush orchards, verdant springs, and the four rivers that flowed through and around them: The Euphrates, the Tigris, the Pishon and the Ulai. It culminated in a giant hedge of trees, amongst which it was rumoured the Tree of Knowledge was hidden. This hedge guarded and encircled Gan Eden, flanked on one side by The Holy Mountain where the Cave of Machpeleh could be found, the only gate into the Ancient garden of Yahuah, and the cave was itself guarded by mighty cherubim only visible to the most righteous. From a distance even at the third valley you could see a pillar of celestial fire and smoke that extended high into the heavens, to the firmament itself, and beyond into the third heaven. I saw it myself once, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

  The outermost valley was on the border of a region called in those days Havilah, a land rich in gold, bdellium and onyx. Travellers and adventurers came from all over the plane of the earth, some seeking a guide and access to the outer Valley, the border of Gan Eden, but I never heard of any that succeeded, so they usually ended up drifting to the cities in the west, the citadels of Qeyin, the mines, or east to the Land of Nod, a fecund maze of lush forest and tributaries from the great four rivers where the Originals still lived.

  The Originals were A’damites, human, they were sometimes called the Black-Headed Ones, or Hayom Shisha Anshim, we called them The Shishim as they were created before the fall of The Morning Star and the first battle in the Heavens, on day six of the Creation. Yahuah created A’dam and Chuah separately to the Shishim, formed from the earth, but coded with the seed of the Mashiach. He brought them into the garden to teach them how to cultivate the earth, animal husbandry and agriculture, but also how to be a light for all the peoples of the earth.

  The Shishim lived simple lives gathering the fruits of the forest, they had a close affinity with Yah’s creation, an innocence, a sweet purity, and they were in awe of the creation; they knew Yah in essence, through the elements. It was to these people that Qeyin went after killing his brother Abel, took a wife, and as we now know, over time, corrupted them to accept the fallen priesthood of his line. Many of the Shishim intermarried with the Qeyin line, so that when the Watchers came they were easily swayed to embrace the false religion of the Satans. Later when the nephiliym spirits roamed the earth they pretended to be elemental spirits to deceive the Shishim that still lived as traditional forest nomads. The Sethites were forbidden from marrying the Shishim, though of course later, during the days of Noach and Methuselach, many did.

  People also came from all over the known world, even before the Watchers descended, in the time of Cainan of the line of Seth, to learn the Way of the Creator. During the times of Jared, Enoch and Methuselach, people came to seek safe haven from the Nephiliym wars, and right up until the years just before the flood they came to hear Enoch speak. The first of the valleys formed a natural bowl with terraced slopes and an enclosed natural platform, a grassy area that was intermittently grazed by both domestic and wild beasts, but at certain times of the year held an audience of travellers, traders, seekers of wisdom and adventurers. The landscape meant that thousands of people could gather, seated on the slopes and with the wind in the right direction, every word of the orator could be heard. In the years just before the flood when Noach and Methuselach preached repentance, they travelled to the cities, because the people were so fallen in their ways they no longer came to the Valley to hear the wisdom of The Way. It was also here that the ark was built, and by then people only came to mock and scoff.

  Only those of the line of Seth could enter into the second valley, or those who became God fearers and entered into covenant with the Sethians. Sometimes it was clear that spies from the line of Qeyin came to garner what knowledge or power they presumed the Sethians were privy to. The foolhardy young men who thought they could manipulate the Sethites to lead them to the outer valley where they might challenge the cherubim, along with followers of the Brotherhood of the Snake and priestesses from the Mothers of Darkness pretending to be widows seeking refuge; they were all discovered, none of them ever penetrated deep into Amek Hamakdash.

  In those days before the flood the earth was one large landmass with a huge inland sea which held the Islands of Mu and Atlantis, and an outer ocean which few had sailed to find the ends of the known earth and returned alive to tell the tale, bar some of the nephilyim and their minions, humans and sea creatures, sirens and mer-people, who described massive walls of ice, frozen lands that stretched away into distant horizons where the sky shimmered like precious jewels in a multitude of colours, and cherubim with a hundred eyes had remained sentinel for over a thousand years. Their accounts are not to be trusted, like their parents the Fallen Ones, lying and embellishment came as naturally to them as breathing.

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  All these things as a seven year old I was barely aware of. I knew that we left our home in Lemech’s compound suddenly, secretly, under the cover of night. I heard my mother instructing my nurse that should we be stopped or questioned that we were to say that I was sick with a high fever and a hideous, contagious rash, that we were going to see one of the Sethite healers. I remember very well being bundled into a cosy, cushioned pillion with my mother on a large seated camel. Another camel held my nurse and a third our luggage. The camel drivers secured ropes and they softly gave instructions to the great beasts that suddenly rose to stand. We lurched forward and back a few times, but my mother patted me and told me to sleep. At first I stared up at the night sky brilliant with stars, rocked by the swaying motion of the camel and overcome by the pungent, musky smell of the beasts. The night was still and balmy under the light of a new moon and I barely needed the muslin blanket that covered me. At first the smell of the animals urinating on themselves to cool down, their constant spitting which created an even worse fetid, odour, and their grunts and gurgles kept me from sleep but eventually I succumbed to the rocking motion. Before my eyes closed I recall my mothers face. She looked happy. She looked like she was drinking in everything around her. She looked free.

  When I woke the sun was rising and we had come to a stop at a rocky oasis where a spring of clear, cool water bubbled high out of the rocky face falling into a deep pool. The oasis was surrounded by a grove of date and palm trees. In the shade the drivers hobbled the camels so they could graze on the grass that was still dewy with the morning mist. We climbed down shaky on our feet as though we had got off a boat. Mother filled our flasks with the delicious sweet water and we shared a meal of honey bread, soft cheese and dates. Then mother instructed the camel drivers to move away whilst we took a wash in the pool and changed into fresh clothes. Mother liked to make an impression when she arrived anywhere. She dabbed perfume on the both of us, and draped a linen head covering over both nurse Ayla and herself. I noticed that she was a lot more modestly dressed than she normally would be, linen had replaced her form-clinging silks, and she removed some of her jewellery and placed them in a bag she concealed under her tunic.

  Isn’t this fun? She said smiling.

  Of course anytime spent with my mother was precious, at home she was often distracted and I spent more time with my Ayla and my aunt Adah. I know now that my mother was the force behind my father, addicted to wielding power but masterful at disguising her manipulation and control. But then I was a seven year old whose mothers face was everything. I can almost smell her perfume: frankincense, jasmine, amber and tangerine.

  We were barely an hour away from the Valley. We could see Amek Hamakdash shimmering in the distance; green tree-covered mountains rising up like the walls of a citadel. Back on the camels we rode at a steady pace towards the green arena where we could see a tall figure, a man with white hair and a white beard, dressed all in white linen and holding an ebony staff taller than he was. He seemed to stand perfectly still the whole time we lurched towards him, he emanated a warm light and the closer we got he beamed with a welcoming smile as though he was expecting us. Even the camels seemed to pick up pace and we galloped towards him at an exhilarating pace. My mother was laughing with joy; she loved excitement and drama.

  That was my first meeting with the great patriarch Enoch, and even then I could tell he was not like other men. He was simultaneously otherworldly, and also had an attentive, kindly air so that when he spoke it was as if you were the only person that mattered and he was completely focused on you. His skin was weathered with wrinkles but also shone with a golden sheen, like well-oiled leather. I fell in love with him before we even dismounted.

  Ah here she is, he beamed.

  My mother assumed he was talking to her and started to introduce herself, launching into some story that she had concocted,

  I am Tsillah, wife of Lemech of the line of Qeyin with my daughter…

  He cut her off.

  I know who you are, and why you are here. I am Enoch son of Jared. Come rest awhile and drink some fresh tea with me daughter.

  He led the camel drivers to a shady glade to tend to the camels. An elderly woman came out of a nearby tent, a lavish tent of goatskins draped over polished ebony poles. She carried a tray of hot, steaming tea in clay mugs that she gave to the men. Enoch led us into the tent, which inside was covered in fine wool rugs, tapestry cushions and a low carved table that had more tea, this time in more delicate ceramic cups laid on beaten metal trays, plates of figs and dates, pomegranates, slices of orange and peeled pistachios were laid out on a curved slab of polished wood. It was a warm and colourful display.

  My mother again tried to launch into her prepared speech, though she was a little bit intimidated by his quiet authority (I say these things with the wisdom of hindsight and information I received from my mother when I was older). This time Enoch appeared to indulge her, listening to her tale of the loss of my brother, how her husband, my father Lemech had not recovered from the incident, how concerned she was for his state of mind.

  I confess I cannot remember the exact details of her speech nor Enoch’s eventual response. I cannot even remember her explaining what was going to happen to me, or even saying goodbye to me. I do remember thinking that she was angry and trying to hide it. I do remember Ayla sobbing, tears streaming down her face as she turned around as they left on the camels, blowing me kisses; but my mother did not turn, did not wave farewell. I watched them ride away the way we had come, and though I was not afraid I suddenly felt bereft and close to tears. I had never been apart from Ayla since I was a baby, and now I was being left in a strange place. At the time I did not have the words to express my anxiety, yet when they disappeared into a haze of heat waves, I turned and there was the kindly, loving face of my kin Enoch. He took my hand, picked up my rucksack of belongings and we walked towards the rock face to a secret entrance, a narrow alley between cliff faces that opened out onto a field of red poppy anemones , a field of kalanit, the bride, their faces turned towards me as though welcoming me.

  You’re going to love it here, smiled Enoch.

  You’re going to be very happy.

  And so I was. Soon I was to meet Chuah. And Feledi.

  Feledi.

  Ahava sheli, neshema sheli.

  My love, my soul.