We have risked all for a cause, a moral cause: to stop the codices from being sold off on the black market by unscrupulous figures, many based in Europe and the USA who really should know better.
Some of these figures have academic positions; some of them are merely self-interested; none of them has a good excuse for partaking in illegal activities; all of them will be aware of the potential for the codices to transform our knowledge of the origins and connections of three great religions. Our experience has taken us through periods of police protection, coming in the light of serious threat and considerable expenditure on our part in order to demonstrate the worthiness of further analysis into the hoard.
We have been accused by certain parties of ‘being in it for the money’: nothing could be further from the truth. That others have sought to take advantage of our position is sadly indicative of the present state of civilization – one that is far from the words of the man represented on the codices. It is extraordinary that 2,000 years after these events they should still exert such influence on a modern, transformed and technological society.
Bureaucracy has no conscience: the empty space of its soul is banality, behind which individuals hide the truth of both other people and themselves. The hoard has been suppressed in Jordan and certain individuals demoted and removed from their posts – no explanation has been given, no reasons for such a turn of events. Unfortunately, the worst mistakes of history are made when we try to gloss over them and to rewrite them rather that confronting them and learning.
In the West there have also been concerted attempts to suppress all knowledge of the discovery: opinion-based blogs representing hidden and secret causes have offered only opinion – but on the basis of no scientific analysis, no proper investigation of the hoard, only ad hominem attacks on both of us and on the eminent experts who have advised us. We have even been inhibited from telling some of our story owing to the fear of legal reprisals; despite the fact that most of the defendants are not in a position to morally defend themselves. No doubt, now the text is published and accompanied by an academic companion, the bloggers and detractors will redouble their efforts in writing to the press and broadcasters.
Given that the codices are supposed, in large part, to be ‘fakes’, the interested parties have been surprisingly passionate in their denunciations. If the codices are fakes, surely they would be disinterested?
Academic presses, when approached, expressed initial interest only for such interest to mysteriously evaporate when the time came to prepare for publication: the same too with publishers. In the USA, broadcasters were warned off, even though they were impressed by the extent of the evidence offered by us.
Senior political figures whom we consulted confirmed the suppression. Despite the many obstacles put in our path, almost seven years later, the book telling our story has finally been published. We are also glad to finally release the historical and scientific analysis that the public has long been waiting for.
For further and detailed scientific and scholarly analysis please see The Case for the Jordan Codices, by Dr Margaret Barker, Professor Philip Davies, David Elkington, Jennifer Elkington, Dr Keith Hearne and others.