In 1856, young Moses Shapira entered the Jaffa Gate of old Jerusalem, determined to make his fortune any way he could. By 1872, he was widely recognized as the foremost antiquarian dealer in Europe. Tourists from around the world came to his shop in the Street of the Christians. Museums fought to buy his Moabite figures and pots, excavated with the help of Bedouin tribes, deep in the caves above the Wadi Mujib in Moab.
In 1883, he revealed his greatest find—sixteen strips of hand-inked, leather-like documents—3,000 years old. They told an earlier version of the Last Words of Moses to the Hebrews: what became known as the Book of Deuteronomy. But this version had an extra commandment: Thou shalt not slay the soul of thy brother.
He offered them to the British Museum for a million pounds. The London papers could talk of little else than “The Shapira Scrolls” for three months. But were they authentic? Everything hung on the judgment of two scholars, Christian David Ginsburg, a friend to Moses, and Charles Clermont-Ganneau, his arch-enemy. By the end of the summer, both men declared the scrolls were a forgery, and Moses Shapira left London in disgrace.
Six months later, he was found in a shabby hotel in Rotterdam, a bullet through his head.
But was it suicide, as the police seemed to think—or was it murder?
John Singer Sargent and Violet Paget face their most perplexing case yet, as they become involved in investigating the death of Moses Shapira—and determining the fate of the Shapira Scrolls.
Mary Burns’ debut historical novel J-THE WOMAN WHO WROTE THE BIBLE was published in July 2010 by O-Books (John Hunt Publishers, UK). Her second novel, PORTRAITS OF AN ARTIST about the 19th century portrait artist John Singer Sargent, was published by Sand Hill Review Press in 2013. This was followed by her Sargent/Paget Mystery series: THE SPOILS OF AVALON, THE LOVE FOR THREE ORANGES, and THE UNICORN IN THE MIRROR. #4 is on the way! Other literary novels include EMBER DAYS, OF RIPENESS & THE RIVER; and a non-fiction literary essay/exploration "Reading Mrs. Dalloway".
BLOGS: Literary Reviews Blog and Portraits of an Artist and
Sargent-Paget Mysteries
Ms. Burns was born in Chicago, Illinois, grew up in the western suburb of LaGrange, and attended Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, where she earned both Bachelors and Masters degrees in English, along with a high school teaching certificate. She relocated to San Francisco in 1976 where she now lives with her husband Stuart in the West Portal neighborhood. Ms. Burns has a law degree from Golden Gate University, has been president of her neighborhood association and is active in citywide issues. During most of her working career she was employed as a director of employee communications, public relations and issues management at various SF Bay Area corporations, was an editor and manager of the Books on Tape department for Ignatius Press, and has managed her own communications/PR consulting business as well, producing written communications, websites and video productions for numerous corporate and non-profit clients.
My Thoughts
Who is John Singer Sargent? He was an American expatriate portrait artist, very popular in his time.
Who is Violet Paget or Vernon Lee? She was an author of supernatural fiction, known for dozen volumes of essays on art, music, and travel.
John Singer Sargent and Violet Paget are the protagonists of The Eleventh Commandment by Mary Burns. The story is about the true account of Moses Shapira, a Jerusalem antiquities dealer and Semitic artifacts, most known for the Shapira Scrolls. He was also known as the alleged forger of these same scrolls. These scrolls were a set of leather scripts that were depicted as ancient biblical artifacts. Because of the shame of being called a forger, which he denied, led him to commit suicide. Or did he? Was he murdered for the scrolls? This is a mystery that will never be solved.
Mr. Sargent and Ms. Paget decided that they need to investigate his death. Their investigation encompasses what happened prior to Shapira's death with clues piling up that could possibly change the course of history. The scrolls are wanted by many people. Who are the bad guys? Why do they want the scrolls so badly that they would resort to murder and theft?
The Eleventh Commandment is the fourth mystery that takes the mystery of the Shapira Scrolls and the fictionalized sleuths, Mr.Sargent and Ms.Paget. An interesting take on the mystery of the scrolls and where are they now? The scrolls were real but not known its authenticity or value. I am sure that that is a mystery in itself. Who has them?
I found that Moses Shapira was a well-educated man who firmly believed in what he had discovered. I found him to also be a sad individual. Away from his loving family, trying to prove that he was not a forger. Then commit suicide. Heartbreaking for sure.
I learned a lot from the story, also that the author did impeccable research and portrayed the characters to be real.
I give the book 5 stars and hope to read more by the author!
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