As part of my normal Sunday morning trip to Costco, I like to head over to the book table to see if they have anything good. This past week, sandwiched in between the latest Daniel Silva and James Patterson books, I found
The Last Ember
.The plot of Daniel Levin’s debut novel is similar to other historical-religious thrillers: There’s a secret lurking under Rome and Jerusalem. Ancient artifacts have more meaning than one could ever imagine. Finding a buried secret could change the nature of the world’s major religions. It’s a fast-paced book of mystery, murder, and a bit of romance in between.
But there’s something different about this book, and the way it connects the stories of the ancient and present-day worlds.
MyJewishLearning had the chance to talk with Levin recently about his motivations and theories.
Levin says he was inspired to write the book after clerking on a case for the Israeli Supreme Court. The case, which is also the main storyline in The Last Ember, centers on an alleged illegal excavation beneath the Temple Mount. Preservationists believe that such excavations seek to destroy records and artifacts of Judeo-Christian history in Jerusalem.
In his book, Levin contrasts these excavations with another attempt to change the history of the Holy Land—that of the Roman emperor Titus, who captured Jerusalem in the year 70.
“What we do know is that Titus was obsessed with controlling history,†Levin says. “No one was more expert at manipulating and controlling the past than Roman emperors. When we see statues in museums today of missing heads and other important appendages, it’s not erosion, but rather a systemic campaign of erasing people whose ideas or existence was inconvenient to Roman emperors. As a former classics student, I was taken at the similarities of historical revision of today and in the ancient world. Both are attempts to rewrite the past to fit one politics and belief.â€
As the plot thickens, Levin introduces an intriguing academic argument that starts to connect the pieces between the time of the Temple and today. He suggests that Flavius Josephus, the first-century Jewish historian and Roman apologist, was actually a spy for the Jews, while serving as Titus’ official historian.
“We know there was something funky in Titus’ palace,†says Levin. “We know that Berenice, who was a beautiful war prisoner from Jerusalem as well as and Josephus’s publisher, Epaphroditus, along with Josephus, were all either expelled or killed on the same day. All had a connection to Jerusalem. Anyone Josephus touched turned up dead. He disappears from the historical record with a silence that is deafening.â€
So what was information was Josephus transmitting to the Jews? The Last Ember argues, though it’s hard to believe, that through clues left in his books as well as archeological evidence, Josephus was laying a map to find the most important artifact Titus supposedly took from Jerusalem–the Temple Menorah.
“Why is there is a spy plot in Titus’ court at all?†Levin says. “The temple was destroyed and there was nothing left to save.” Or, the novel, asks was there?
In answering that question, the novel–which takes places in only 24 hours–takes the reader through thousands of years of Jewish history. The Last Ember is at the same time a fun, easy-to read thriller and a thoughtful critique of the intersection of politics and archeology. Though the plot lines may be far-fetched, the verisimilitude of the characters helps the reader trust and believe the author’s words. And, as in most thrillers, it’s a challenge to see if you can stay two steps ahead of the mystery.
But just as Levin warns, “In Jerusalem, remember that first impressions are deceiving.â€
