After we informed Dr. Guioccini and the President of the Antiquities Bureau, Dr. Castolfo, about our discovery of the Pontius Pilate scroll, we were told that the entire governing board of the Bureau of Antiquities would fly to the island this morning for an emergency meeting to decide how to proceed from here, and that we needed to make sure that the site was guarded not only by our security team, but also to make sure that two of us stayed onsite overnight, to avoid any allegations of tampering. We spent the rest of the day trying to piece together some of the shredded documents from the reliquary, as the two scrolls sat in rehydration tanks so that they could be opened as soon as they regained enough pliability.
We all went down to Capri Village at the end of the day so that we could eat a quick supper and clean up, then Isabella and I returned to the Villa Jovis. As we walked up the mountain, we had a fascinating conversation about Pilate's report and what we thought it might contain. This morphed into a broader conversation about the New Testament claims of Jesus' resurrection - I explained why I believe them to be true, while Isabella played devil's advocate and tried to come up with alternate explanations. I think I won - at least, she told me that I gave her a lot to think about. She also asked why I have never married - I was so tempted to say, "Because I was waiting to meet you!" That's probably rushing things, but I have never met a woman I am so attracted to!
This morning the other three team members joined us and we got everything ready for the board's arrival. All the artifacts that could be handled were displayed on a table or in Plexiglas cases, and the rehydration tanks were available for visual inspection. Around 9 AM a chopper brought the nine members of the governing board of the Antiquities Bureau, plus a representative from the Vatican, to the Villa Jovis.
Dr. Guioccini I had already met, and he seems like a good, competent scientist. Vincent Sinisi, the Bureau's publicist, is a very tanned, handsome guy with brilliant white teeth who reminds me of an aging male model. He smiles way too much for my taste, and seems to have eyes for Isabella. Dr. Castolfo, the Board's President, is a heavyset man with much gravitas. He reminds me of an Italian version of Raymond Burr. Marc Stefani is the oldest board member at 83, and gets around with some difficulty. He is very soft-spoken and kind. Antonio Neapolitani is much younger, and works mainly with prehistoric archeology. I remember reading a report he wrote about a Neanderthal site in northern Italy. Cardinal Caesar Raphael is the Vatican's chief archeologist and Father MacDonald's superior. He is tremendously respected in the world of Biblical archeology. The next one to get off the chopper was a woman named Maria Tintoretto. She is lean and hawk-faced, and seems to be perpetually angry - especially with any and all Christians! I have known two kinds of atheists in my life - those who simply don't believe and don't care if other people believe or not, and those who go through life oozing hostility to anyone they meet who dares to think that there is a God. She is definitely the latter! Next came Dr. Luigi Castellani, a classical historian and expert on the Roman era. I would love to spend some time with him discussing Pompey, Caesar, and crew! Last of all, the liaison between the Board and Italy's President, Ricardo Gandolfo, debarked, and the show and tell session could begin.
First we took them to the chamber itself, and Isabella described how the earthquake uncovered it and what all was found there, then we moved into the mobile lab and showed them all the artifacts, as well as a slide show of the entire excavation. Dr. Castellani LOVED seeing the sword of Julius Caesar! They announced that, since all the artifacts had been removed from the chamber and the government was anxious to have the Villa Jovis re-opened for tourism, the mobile lab and all the artifacts would be removed this afternoon to the National Historical Museum in Naples, where we will begin studying them next week. Then we decamped to Dr. Rossini's house in Capri Village for a formal meeting of the Board.
At the meeting, we were told that all five of us would be carrying out the curation, reading, and translation of all the texts from the chamber. Dr. Sinisi wants to inform the media of everything that we have found, including the fact that we discovered a scroll by Pontius Pilate, on Monday - he is anxious for the tourism and publicity that the find will generate. There was some dissent on this, but a majority of the Board sided with him. Monday we are holding a press conference! With that and a few logistical issues decided, the Board left us, and we began preparing for a farewell dinner here at Giuseppe's house on Capri. It's been a remarkable week for all of us, and who knows what next week will bring, as we move our operation to Naples? All I can think of is those two scrolls, sitting in their rehydration tanks, waiting to be read!
Actually, that's a lie. With the smells pouring from the kitchen, I am thinking of dinner right now!
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