Why Yemen is the next war front.
By Gary Vey for viewzone (posted January 5, 2010) http://mondovista.com/
As an editor here at viewzone I get to write and publish lots of interesting stories. Some authors write stories to promote a book or CD. Others want to be credited with a discovery of something, usually in the field of science or history. Occasionally though, a story must be told because it is ripe -- its time has come -- and that is why I have decided to write this true story about Yemen.
In the past couple of days, Yemen has been in the news. Following a botched terror attack by a Nigerian who once visited Yemen, Senator Lieberman and President Obama have told the American public that this country is the next war front. In no time at all there will be military advisors, equipment and soldiers on the ground, just like in Iraq. And like Iraq, the real agenda for being there will be hidden from you. That is, until you read this.
Soon you will hear many things about Yemen. The media will paint a picture of this country and its people as the new home of Al Qeada, and you will believe what they say. Why wouldn't you?
Yemen is the poorest country in the Arabian peninsula. It's located on the map below Saudi Arabia. Despite it proximity to the rich oil nation, Yemen is too far south to benefit from the rich oil deposits. It's hot and dry and water is scarce. The Yemeni people are mostly tribal, as they have been for centuries. There's really no reason anyone would vacation in Yemen. Unless you have family there, you would likely never go to Yemen.
But I have.
In 2001 I was the guest of the Yemeni government because I had accidentally made a discovery that I had no right to make. I discovered strong evidence that the Ark of the Covenant is buried in an archaeological site in a desert outpost called Marib.
Accidental discovery
No, I'm not an archaeologist or even an historian. At the time I was a computer programmer, working in a cubicle for the electrical grid that controls the power for the Northeast of America. In my spare time I was, and still am, the editor for viewzone. I was asked to do a story on some petroglyphs -- carved stones -- in a small Colorado town called LaJunta. The man who asked me was named Bill McGlone and he suspected that these carved shapes were an ancient language from the "old world."
I went to the site and photographed the petroglyphs. They were very old and covered with thick black patina, a kind of mineral that builds up on the stone over many centuries. I had to illuminate them from the side to reveal the hollowed shapes and sometimes there were younger Native American petroglyphs scraped on top of them. Aluminum powder, which is mixed with water, was painted on some of the very old and darkened petroglyphs. This falls off the rock harmlessly when it has dried. It's better than chalk, which can scrape and damage the patina and interfere with any attempts to date the writing.
The older petroglyphs seemed to have recurring symbols, like an alphabet, and I spent about a week photographing them. When I returned home I published them on viewzone and, at Bill's request, asked if anyone could shed light on what these shapes might mean.
About a year passed. I received news that Bill McGlone had passed away. There seemed little interest in the petroglyphs of Colorado until I got an e-mail from a retired professor from BYU. He didn't say much but attached some jpg files showing more petroglyphs with these same shapes [right]. I immediately wrote back to him and asked where in Colorado these photographs were taken. He promptly replied with even more photographs that were from the Negev desert in Israel. Dr. James Harris made many trips to the mid-east. He was particularly interested in a collapsed turquoise mine containing inscriptions in the same alphabet that were carbon-dated to 1500 BC. It was the same alphabet that was found in Colorado. He successfully translated the writing by using an ancient proto-Hebrew dialect. He offered to translate some of the Colorado inscriptions and shared his algorithm with me.
As a computer programmer I was able to use this algorithm to create a translation program [400Kb] in JavaScript. Once downloaded on a laptop, this program could translate most of the inscriptions by running it through a web browser. I returned to Colorado a few months later and successfully translated most of the petroglyphs there. This was very exciting. The Colorado writing made references to KNN, or Cannan, and of the deity YH, Yahweh, but I could not understand how this ancient language was carved on the Colorado stones thousands of years ago.
The photos were from press releases announcing the discovery. They stated that an "unknown" language had been found on a large wall surrounding the unexcavated courtyard of the Queen's palace. Often workers posed in front of the wall, hiding some of the letters. This was frustrating to me but I managed to translate enough to suggest a story that was written there. I stayed up for days and finally translated what texts I could see from enlarging the photographs.
I'm not a historian. I didn't understand what I had translated. It read as follows:
(portions of the text were obscured by some workers standing in front of the wall)The next photograph was of a bronze cast cylinder that looks as if it had once enclosed a round column. The individual letters of the alphabet had been mass produced, perhaps in wax, before the bronze was cast. "Movable type," I thought. How ingenious! I spent another long night translating this text and it seemed somehow relevant to the carved stone I had finished the previous nights.
"...because the Son was aware of the essence that was in him... "And when the happiness of the Son was poisoned
by the news that his father passing on
the anger lifted when the son was told
the location of the Father's great box of EL.
"And when the happiness of Son was poisoned
by the action of the beautiful Lord's movement
the Son was made happy to swear to protect the box of EL,
and to be associated with the Lord's spirit.
"And his gloom lifted.
The Son constructed a chamber for the beautiful Lord's spirit and covered it up. He accompanied the chamber of the Lord underneath to pray and to gain understanding and to protect..." (interrupted again by workers in the photograph)
(parts missing)... the Mother listened through the aperture of the Son in his chamber to see if he renounced the agreement with the Lord ...(more parts missing) ... because the sorrowful mother assembled around the chamber a wall without mortar so that she might rescue the son ...The photos were being sent to me by John McGovern, who lived in Australia. He was following the discovery of the petroglyphs in Colorado and saw the similarity of alphabets in the press release by the University of Calgary. He continued to research the artifacts in Yemen and sent me one more carved stone that was on display in a Yemeni museum -- upside down!
... she watched the son through the aperture and saw it illuminated and heard thunder and feared for the son ...
... the son increased his knowledge of the future and the son shook and trembled from the knowledge of the unknown ...
... to save her son because of the silence and because the worm had moved out from the aperture and great was her sorrow ...
... moved from silence to judge if the son foresaw the loving mother wail and doubt his agreement with the Lord ...
... the spirit [no translation] was happy to be made blind on account of the box and the son's step-brother suffered increased painful study ...
... the round city to protect her poor son and the mother then slowly encircled the foundation of the chamber ...
...to judge the poor mother so the dwelling place of the box was obscured and the mother was also fearful that the sea would rise ...
... so the proud mother's love for her only son made her to fortify the chamber of the box in case the earth might tremble ...
I rotated the image using Photoshop and began translating again.
"(stone broken off at both ends)... the son also did not foresee the optimal time for drinking one's fill because of the unknown powers in the world of his future offspring and so the world of his progeny would remained sealed ... ... we pray that the crop (people) will be purified but do not encourage the harvest (of the people) prematurely as the Lord will burn the evil nations from the sky but let the son have dominion over the grain (creatures) and do not rise up until friendly nations are here ...Because I am not an academic, getting anyone to review my work was almost impossible. No one would even speak to me and, if they did, they would mention Graham Hancock or even worse -- the movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark.
... enter also to destroy and let the son predict the leader of these ripe seeds and the son will rejoice for the age of the 'box of EL' ...
... the proud mother's son loves the fresh nation but respect the dwelling place of the body and tabulate the danger from salt water ...
... and the son but do not bind the Lord to have plenty but unite the people in prayer on the mound and woe let the friends of the son rejoice and love because love can at last be lofty ...
... real hiding place but wanted to agree to cause the Lord to escape but why shed tears for the imprisoned? The mother made the construction to be worthy of the delicate Lord and to praise the Creator ...
... the son foresaw the leader ... (part of block missing here) ... and the nation revered this son indeed!"
But eventually, someone did listen to me. I sent a copy of my translations to the office of President Saleh, in Yemen, and received an invitation to come to the archaeological site.
Why Yemen is the next war front.
Yemen is about the size of California. The people are Islamic and Arab, but it wasn't always that way. Prior to 1948 there was a very large Jewish population that lived and thrived in Yemen. There were Temples and Jewish neighborhoods next to Mosques. Children and adults of both faiths and traditions enjoyed eachothers companionship and commerce.
In 1948 the State of Israel was formed in the land occupied for millennia by the Palestinians. The welcome mat was out for any Jewish people who wanted to come to their new homeland and most of the Jews in Yemen left. It was a sad time for most Yemenis and the economy struggled to adjust with the sudden loss of such fine craftsmen. Even today, Yemen is famous for its filagree silver jewelry yet it is no longer manufactured because of the loss of the Jewish artisans.
Yemen is the most heavily armed country in the world. There are between 3 and 4 AK47s for each man, woman and child. Children as young as 8 can shoot these weapons like a sniper and often have their own weapons (loaded) decorated with colored twine and smurf stickers.
I was told there were only two types of crime in Yemen -- auto theft and revenge. The accidental killing of a family member -- perhaps by one of America's drones -- requires that the family take a life. It's an honor thing, as old as time itself. One can easily see how the indiscriminate bombing that took place in Iraq, and continues in Afghanistan, would have a domino effect, quickly turning the entire peaceful Yemeni population into a heavily armed death squad.
But that's not the reason America should think twice about making Yemen the next war front. There are more prophecies written in the old language that seem to have foreseen the events of today.
More prophecies with the Ark
Let me summarize what I learned from the translations. I've had time to learn who was "the son" or "the lord" and especially what was "the box of El." Here is the story:
Menelek, the only son of Queen Saba (i.e. Queen Sheba) and Solomon, was depressed when he learned that his father's kingdom had been overcome and the Temple in Jerusalem was sacked. His grief was deep ("...the happiness of the Son was poisoned...") and this worried his mother. Shortly after this invasion of Jerusalem, Menelik received word that the Ark of the Covenant (the "box/cell of the Lord" AT-EL), formerly housed in Solomon's Temple, was relocated for its protection.
The text refers to an "oath" that was taken by Menelik to protect the Ark, apparently consumated by a ring that was given to Menelik when he visited Solomon as a young man. Menelik also received a warning from Nathan, his half-brother, that the Ark could be harmful to his health and that it had caused vision problems and "trembling" when Nathan had attempted to interact with it. Menelik retrieves the Ark but has none of these adversities and eagerly interacts with this "box of El", eventually constructing a special underground chamber where he stores the Ark and converses through it with the Lord. As the danger of invading enemies becomes real for the kingdom of Saba, Menelik announces that the Lord has instructed him to enter the underground chamber with the Ark, and to have the entire construction covered with sand to conceal it from hostile forces. Menelik informs his mother, Queen Saba, that he will remain buried with the Ark for a long period of time, until a "friendly" nation is overhead.
Following her only son's instructions, Menelik is buried with the Ark. However, his mother has a smaller chamber constructed adjacent to the Ark chamber with a secret peephole ("...aperture...") so that she can monitor his condition. She secretly plans to open the chamber and rescue her son should he be in danger and has had one of the chamber walls constructed without mortar.
On many occasions, Queen Saba viewed her son inside the chamber. She mentions that he received a future revelation from the Ark, which sounded to her like thunder. As she watched Menelik interact with the Ark, she noted that he trembled and shook from the visions that were being shown to him.
As time passed, the thundering noise and movement of her son ceased. Upon opening the secret peephole, the Queen saw a worm crawl out. This suggested that maybe Menelik had died. The Queen was determined to open the chamber and rescue her son but she recalled his faith and remembered his words, that he would be buried for "a long time." She wept ("...cried an ocean of tears...") that his vision of the future also included the revelation that she had doubted his word and she prayed that he would forgive her for her doubts.
Determined to honor her son's wishes, Queen Saba has the chamber reinforced with more stone and mortar. She consults with the builders and masons to design an enclosure that would protect the buried chamber from future earthquakes, floods, salt (?) and other natural disasters. The chamber was thus made more sturdy and a large dam was constructed around the buried chamber to protect it from water and floods. This oval dam bares the story, inscribed in the old language. The Queen then "dimmed" her kingdom [see right Translation: The Mother (M) dimmed (AMYM) her nation (LM) because of (YN) the goodthe Lord's (ligature-EL) goodness/sign (TV).] in Yemen and moved her entourage to Ethiopia, confounded her language to Himyaritic, a copy of the Ark was made and she allowed the buried palace and its courtyard to be consumed by the desert sands. There it remained for almost 3000 years until it was discovered by Wendell Philips, ironically the character on whom Indiana Jones was based in the movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark.
(Inscription [right] describes the mother "M" dimming her nation for the Lord.)
DO NOT OPEN -- a warning
In the Yemen museum there is another stone which dictates the conditions that should exist prior to any attempt at opening the chamber. These include the occupation of the land by a "friendly" nation and the warning that the Ark must not be moved and should not be used for any national or personal benefit. The Ark is to be used for the benefit of all mankind and petitions (asking for special favors) to the Lord are to be made by collective prayer in the area of the buried Chamber and through the "priests" of the Ark (Menelik?).
Following the burial of the chamber and the surrounding temple, Queen Saba "dimmed her kingdom" and moved to Ethiopia with the prohibition that the area where the Ark and Menelik were buried should be forgotten, lest future hostile nations and "blind prophets" should seek it out.
Recently, some Italian tourists attempted to visit the site and were killed by an improvised explosive. This sent a strong message to all outsiders that the site was off limits. The area is also subject to Yemen's separatist movement with the local tribes wishing to return to a divided Yemen and Aden, where their tribal influence will remain supreme.
Who needs the Ark?
The Jewish temple was built around a special chamber -- the Holy of Holies -- which contained the Ark of the Covenant. This was the raison d'etre of the temple. The Ark represents a direct link to God. Without the Ark the temple is just a building. The Ark is needed for the construction of the future Third Temple -- a building which is connected with the belief that the Messiah will return to Earth to rule all men -- which is to be built on the site of the past temples. This location is currently occupied on the Temple Mount by a very important Islamic Mosque.
The Third Temple is a necessity for both Jews and Messianic Christians and is especially relevant in what many perceive as the "end times."
Is this why America, acting as proxy for Israel, is anxious to invade Yemen? I honestly think so. How else would the Ark be retrieved from such a heavily armed population. Why else would war be declared on these friendly and extremely independent people? What will happen if the Ark is moved -- against all the written warnings?
We shall see.
Comments:
Gary,
As a former member of the Epigraphic Society and a working acquaintance with Bill McGlone, I find your story most fascinating and provocative. But what about the Al Qaeda? The only mention of the group is in the title. Surely not all the men of northern Yemen, each with four automatic rifles, are terrorists. Is Al Qaeda operating and training on or near the Marib site? Is there a race between Al Qaeda and Allied forces to secure the alleged Ark of the Covenant for obvious military reasons? I'd like to read your take on Al Qaeda in Yemen.
Best regards,
DonC.
As the BBC recently reminded everyone, the organization "Al Qaeda" (literally meaning "the database") is a concept invented by the American government to describe many different individuals who adhere to a militant and extremist form of Islam. It is similar to the term "VC" or "gorilla" or "insurgent" which attempts to make anyone with a specific ideology appear to be part of an organized group. In Yemen, as in Iraq, ordinary people have become angry at the policies of America with regards to Arabs and Islam -- specifically with their one-sided support for Israel against the Palestinians. With rampant poverty, unemployment and the exposure to Al Jazera News (which daily televise the mistreatment of Palestinians) you have a perfect recipe for spontaneous rebellion.
The area surrounding Marib was heavily armed and controlled by tribes who are devout Moslems. They were like this for hundreds of years and are not members of anything like Al Qaeda. Often their anger has been directed towards their own national government. It is mere semantics to now claim they are members of an organized anti-American group.
The separatist movement in Yemen has recently resulted in the bombing of tribes in the North by the US backed Saudi Arabian air force, with the consent of the US backed Yemeni national government. Again, indiscriminate killing requires revenge and the cycle continues and escalates.
Gary Vey
Thanks, Gary. I hadn't heard about the BBC definition of 'Al Qaeda'.
donC
Yes, they documented the first time the phrase was used. It was back in mid-90s when they were attempting to prosecute the people who did the first WTC bombing. They needed to charge the alleged leaders, not only the men who were responsible for renting the van etc. They had to use an old law that was written to prosecute the bootleggers and organized crime, and they needed to have an "organization" to make the charges stick. So they took a CIA database that contained a list of potential terrorists, from many different nations, and the Arabic name for "the database" is "al qeada."
At the time, the BBC article reminds us, Osama bin Laden was actually working for and with the American government. His family was the "guest" of the government. You will recall that after 911, the same day, the only half dozen planes allowed to fly were those taking the binLaden family back to Saudi Arabia at special orders from Bush.
The binLaden family, including Osama, were partners with Bush senior in his company that sells arms -- the Carlyle Group.
Osama made a statement right after the 911 attack that he didn't know who Al Qaeda was and had never heard of them. Yet he was supposedly the head of the group! We were not, at the time, allowed to hear this message because it was alleged to contain secret words to "cells" in America. Later it was released but the media never made it an important story. By then the myth of Al Qaeda was already part of our culture.
Gary
Hello Gary Vey. I am Michael, you have done very good work. I am writing to you because I have known people whom have been looking for the Ark all their lives. I was shown petrogyghs and how to read them many years ago. In the southern part of Utah and the northern part of Arizona these petroglyghs tell of old testament stories. There is also Celtic writings. Just a few years ago I noticed writings in other parts of the world that matched these writings in Utah and Arizona. The top scholars on this subject were in Utah and Arizona for seven years straight because of a meeting I helped set up by direction. I want you to know that you can put your life in great danger if your not careful. These people are obsessed with finding not only the Ark but also a place called the treasure of treasures. You are clear over your head of what you have stumbled onto. Please be careful of everything you do and not be naive. You have been told,
michael.
