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A novel that shows us how words can still move mountains…

It was April 2003 in the capital of Iraq; two days after the invasion; the Baghdad National Museum is a street market, its doors wide open, offering its treasures to everyone wanting to steal them. When Ahmed Sadoun, an Iraqi, stole an old clay bowl on behalf of some British customers, he had no idea of the course of events he had just set in motion. His act would trigger a series of happenings plotted by men working in the shadows to plunder Man’s most valued, yet most forgotten asset: Sound.

After the first chapter, the action takes place in a variety of settings: Baghdad, Cambridge, St Catherine’s Monastery in Egypt, and ultimately in Jerusalem and its environs.

Three Mandaic bowls and a gold amulet are the key elements that take us on an adventure packed with characters moving behind the scenes, plotting to seize the power locked in an ancient Mandaic alphabet.

Never before has anybody attempted to steal words from the voices that move the world, filling us with agonising pain or flooding us with tears of joy. But this is precisely what Professor Samuel Sinclair intends to do. To achieve this, he will have to manipulate the Mandaeans, the traditional trustees of a Gnostic faith, unique in the world, which has survived centuries of persecution. This faith, which predates Christianity, is fated to disappear in the 21st century because of religious intransigence.

The Mandaeans have their roots in antiquity, dating back to Egyptian times. They lived in Jerusalem during the first century AD, when John the Baptist was preaching in the River Jordan. They believe he was the fourth and last prophet, and say he was sent to the world to heal the sick and resuscitate the dead. Almost all the characteristics attributed to Jesus by Christianity were attributed by the Mandaeans to their prophet, John.

They believe their alphabet to be magical and sacred, which is why they communicate in Mandaean, a language that even now, only they are able to understand. They use the letters to write spells and incantations in small bowls that they use to banish demons from their homes. One of these demon-trapping bowls is a thread that runs throughout the plot of the novel.

The Mandaean alphabet or Abagada, the most ancient syntax that can still be heard, will once again unleash its full power. Very few men have the knowledge required to achieve this, and Zakaria Asgari, a Mandaean priest, is one of them.

However, he is not the only person trying to grasp this power. Inside the walls of his old office in Cambridge, Professor Samuel Sinclair is struggling to fit together the pieces of the puzzle that will take him to the top of the academic pyramid. He is assisted by his protégée, young oriental studies student Andrea Jacobs, and Martin Crown, the sinister director of the Saint John's Christians' Association.

In this race against time, researcher Victor Lavine will do all he can to foil his aspirations by being the first to unravel the clues hidden in the sacred alphabet. He will discover that Jerusalem is full of hidden nooks and crannies with a connection to the Mandaeans, and, thereby, their last prophet, John the Baptist.

A barely legible inscription in a tomb near the cemetery on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem impels him to visit Ein Kerem, a town dedicated to John the Baptist. After discovering the cave where John's followers were baptised, he will have to excavate the foundations of an ancient gate in the city walls of Jerusalem that belonged to the Essenes. Only then will he understand that today’s Mandaeans were related to the Essenes, the mystical sect responsible for writing the Dead Sea Scrolls.

However, not all these manuscripts were written on sheets of parchment or papyrus. One, very special manuscript, was created using a material too costly for these impoverished mystics: The Copper Roll discovered in Qumrán more than half a century earlier. This roll gives an exceptional twist to the novel, with the discovery of a revealing hypothesis regarding the exact location of the fabulous hidden treasure that archaeologists have been seeking for fifty years.

However, the 100 gold ingots they will find in a strange tomb in Qumrán, which can nowadays be visited, are not the end of the novel. Behind this spectacular discovery lies an even greater mystery connecting the Mandaeans with Egypt, the land of the pharaohs.

The characters in the novel will need to visit Amarna, ancient capital of the famous heretic pharaoh Akenaton, to search for the real power imprisoned in the Mandaean alphabet among its ruins. Following the instructions given to him by the Mandaean priests, Victor Lavine will be able to uncover what led Professor Sinclair to risk his own life and take possession of the words. And there, in a dark underground crypt, a colossal statue carved in gold will reveal to him the secret of how to move mountains.

The Sacred Alphabet is a fast-paced action novel that you just can’t put down. Each scene interweaves with the next, keeping readers’ attention, becoming more gripping with every page turned. Adventure and entertainment go hand-in-hand in this book, which shows us how words can still move mountains.

The Sacred Alphabet by Gemma Nieto

Gemma Nieto is a novel author immersed in a cultural thriller that manages to convey the force of words in a fast-paced action novel.

A novel that shows us that words can still move mountains.

What if reading an alphabet had the power to move mountains? What if someone would read it today?

Long before Christ, our ancestors knew the power of the sounds, the power of words read aloud. But we have forgotten them for centuries and their magic resonate in our minds just empty of meaning.

We know that words can hurt, they are able to harm or emotion us, but little else. But somewhere in our evolutionary brain still keep the memory of what we might do with them if we knew how. Between us there is someone who has not forgotten them, still knows how to read the actual words. And he will do.

Mandaeans three bowls and a gold charm are the key elements that lead us to an adventure full of characters who move behind the scenes trying to seize power that holds an ancient Mandaean alphabet.

Two days after the invasion of Iraq, the National Museum in Baghdad is a market street with the doors open wide their wares to anyone who wants to steal them.

When the Iraqi Sadoun Ahmed steals an old clay bowl commissioned by some British customers, is not aware of the events that just trigger. His act will launch a chain of events fueled by men who work behind the scenes to plunder mankind from their greatest asset, but also the most forgotten sounds.

No one had ever in-tempted to appropriate the words, voices that move the world and which make us shudder with pain or cry with joy. But the professor Samuel Sinclair is willing to do. In his career to follow them he must to manipulate the Mandaeans, the traditional custodians of a Gnostic faith, unique in the world and that has survived centuries of persecution. A faith older than Christianity, certain to disappear in the XXI century due to religious intolerance.

Little sinopsis of the novel

What can enclose the Mandaean alphabet? Written on the inside of an old clay bowl, its simple and irregular strokes contain a powerful magic spell.

When the mercenary Ahmed Sadoun steals an old bowl of the Archaeological Museum of Baghdad, is not aware of events just to launch.

The Abagada, the oldest alphabet still be heard, will release its full force. Only a few men have the knowledge necessary to achieve and the Mandaean priest Zakaria Asgari is one of them.

However, it is not the only one that pursues power. Between the walls of his old office in Cambridge, Professor Samuel Sinclair tries to fit the pieces of a puzzle that will elevate him to the top of the academic pyramid. Account with the help of his protegee, the young orientalist Andrea Jacobs, and Martin Crown, the sinister director of the Christian Association of San Juan.

In a race against time, the researcher Victor Lavine oppose their wishes trying to unravel the clues that encloses the sacred alphabet before him .

They will embark on a journey so hectic and dangerous to reach a revelation jealously guarded by the Mandaeans, a Gnostic community whose origins are lost in time.

Will walk past the stage of the sect, from the tomb of Absalom to the cave of John the Baptist or the ruins of Amarna in an adventure game that will be much more than their own lives.

The Sacred Alphabet is a fast-paced action novel that the reader can not stop reading. A scene is intertwined with the next to keep their attention and interest grows as it passes the pages.

The adventure and entertainment go hand in hand in this book that aims only to tell us that words can still move mountains ...

The Sacred alphabet's resume

The Sacred Alphabet is a 2009 mystery fiction novel written by Gemma Nieto an was published by the editorial Temas de Hoy Novela.

It is a work which falls within the genre of historical thriller follows the adventures of Victor Lavine investigator to help a religious group to regenerate the power of his alphabet.

Thanks the novel, the reader gains knowledge while it entertains. The author reveals the strange and fascinating history of the Mandaeans, a religious group that barely survives in Irak.

It is a fast-paced action novel of the old-style adventure stories of the last century, but at the same time is different because its mysteries take us to the present, because as a religious philosophy mandeism survives today near the Tigris and Euphrates, in Irak and Irán.

The extensive documentation that Nieto Gemma offers on the Mandaean gnostic sect or on recent archaeological discoveries in Jerusalem is built on solid research.

Contents

-Plot Summary

-Characters

   Good people

   The priests

   Bad Peoples

-Stages

-Keys

-Why read the novel?

Plot Summary

What can enclose the Mandaean language?

Written on the inside of an old vessel, its simple and irregular strokes contain a powerful magic spell. When the mercenary Ahmed Sadoun steals an old bowl of the National Museum of Iraq is not aware of events just to launch. The Abagada, the oldest alphabet still be heard, will release its full force. Only a few men have the knowledge necessary to achieve and the Mandaean priest Zakaria Asgari is one of them.

However, it is the only one that pursues power. Between the walls of his old office in Cambridge, Professor Samuel Sinclair tries to fit the pieces of a puzzle that will elevate him to the top of the academic pyramid. Account with the help of his protegee, the young orientalist Andrea Jacobs, and Martin Crown, the sinister director of the Christian Association of San Juan.

In a race against time, the researcher Victor Lavine opposes their wishes before him trying to unravel the clues that enclose the sacred alphabet.

They will embark on a journey so hectic and dangerous to reach a revelation jealously guarded by the Mandaeans, a Gnostic community whose origins are lost in time. They will walk past the stage of the sect, from the tomb of Absalom to the cave of John the Baptist or the ruins of Amarna, in an adventure that much more at stake than their own lives.

Characters
Good people

Victor Lavine: is the main character of the book. A young man, intelligent and humorous, who works for an Italian company dedicated to the pursuit of art pieces on request. His company has received a strange role which will provide unexpected adventures.

Said Alami, a Palestinian from Jerusalem, will help his friend Victor in all risky undertakings in which is involved, against the wishes of his wife who thought she had married a man more at ease.

Andrea Jacobs. Very well drawn character in the novel with a psychological change that is not available to any writer. The exquisite intelligence of Andrea constitutes a counterpoint to Victor, until the end to form the same team.

Isaac ben Shimon is an octogenarian professor specializing in Mandaeism to help the protagonist in his investigations. One of the best profiles drawn from the novel and the reader feels a great sympathy for him.

The priests

Much of the weight of the work rests on three Mandaean priests, who constitute the liaison between the players and their quest. They are the Ganzebra Zakaria Asgari, and their assistants Basaam Jabar and Naseer Kaleel. Three endearing characters, especially the youngest of them, Naseer.

Bad People
Samuel Sinclair is a professor at Cambridge, of great renown, which aims to gain the perks you'll get if he finds what he considers "the greatest treasure of mankind." He dreams that the Queen of England will become Sir for his historical findings.

Martin Crown manages the Christian Association of S. John with a firm hand, a company dedicated to the study of John the Baptist, but his true purpose is to help Samuel Sinclair in their archeological findings. Martin has the help of two dangerous assassins: Abdul Khaled and Jamal Adi.

Stages

The action begins in the National Museum of Iraq, two days after U.S. forces bombed their capital. The country plunged into the chaos of war, cannot defend all fronts and the thief Ahmed Sadoun takes to steal a small clay pot containing a spell inside and will be the central thread of the story. Later, the main characters in the novel match in the Eternal City, in Jerusalem, and will face in a cave known as the cave of John the Baptist. Finally, the investigation of the investigator Victor Lavine, will shift the action to Amarna, the ancient Egyptian capital of the heretic Pharaoh Akhenaten.

Keys

There are three things that trigger the search which stars Victor Lavine, followed very closely, sometimes too, by Professor Samuel Sinclair. These elements are:

Bowls

These are three small bowls of clay, the size of soup bowls with Mandaean inscriptions written inside. Containing spells are powerful and owe their strength to the magic of an alphabet, the Abagada.

The amulet

The Mandaeans have an ancient legend associated with the use of gold or silver charms that hang from the neck; one of them, alone has been found in gold, to help priests find their "treasure."

The inscripcions

One of the tracks that causes all the action in the novel are some inscriptions found on the facade of the tomb of Absalom, a monument erected nearly two thousand years ago on the Mount of Olives. Victor Lavine, the protagonist, uses them to advance their dangerous quest.

Why read the novel?

The Sacred Alphabet is a fast-paced action novel, where one engages with the next scene so that the reader cannot stop reading it. She spreads with such mastery of intrigue that always manages to leave a question mark in the air to maintain the narrative tension. About his language, simple and correct, increases the final value of the work and making it affordable to very varied readers. The novel is recommended for all those looking for a lively book, entertaining, readable, with a plot and characters beautifully constructed that also aims to teach the Mandaeans exist and they need us. This is a good adventure story with a social background.

Novel's presentation in Spain

On September 8th was presented to the press the novel of fiction The Sacred Alphabet written by Gemma Nieto. The reunion took place at the Aladdin restaurant in Madrid, and consisted of a meal where the assistants could enjoy the culinary delights of Mazin, so well known to develop the falafel, the cous cous ...

Attended by representatives from the major media in the country, the author was able to fully discuss the Mandaeans and begin to make them known in Spain as she wished. The assembled journalists were very interested by this Gnostic group that still lives and the difficulties being experienced at present.

It was a nice meeting in which the author, Gemma Nieto, told us some of his interesting legends, like the alphabet, through which the novel was titled The Sacred Alphabet.

For the Mandaeans, their alphabet is magical and sacred, hence, although they communicate among themselves with Mandaean, but priests use a language much earlier, the Mandaean known as classic, which only they can understand. It is the alphabet in which their holy books are written, the entity that is the Ginza, which means treasure.

They also use the letters of their alphabet to write spells and incantations in small bowls that are like bowls of soup do in order to ward off the demons of the houses to stop peaceful families living inside. One of these bowls is the demon-traps used in the novel as a theme throughout the plot.

The Mandaeans are rooted in antiquity dating back to Egyptian times and lived in Jerusalem during the first century AD, when John the Baptist preaching in the Jordan River. They claim they knew him and that part of their liturgy is imbued with his spirit. In fact, he became his fourth and final prophet, and say to him who came to earth to heal the sick and raise the dead. Almost all of the Christian tradition attributes to Jesus, except the divinity, the Mandaeans are those granted to the prophet John.

The Sacred Alphabet uses its rites and customs to take the reader by the hand in a work of thrilling action can not stop reading. However, quite unlike other works of this type, Nieto Gemma's novel is well grounded in a solid documentation that led him to gather more than two years. All the scenarios mentioned in the book are true and it is very difficult to separate fiction from reality because sometimes the novel becomes more credible that the same reality.

This is a work that absorbs the reader from the outset and not allowed to leave the reading to the end, a novel in which the action is perfectly dosed and the plots are intertwined with such mastery that the only thing that the reader can make is ... read.

"I sincerely hope that you enjoy, as we have done all those who have read it."