The Book of the Cave of Treasures

<p>Despite its Harry Potter-like title <em>The Book of the Cave of Treasures</em> is actually a rich seam of Jewish and Christian apocryphal lore by means of which its 5th century author frames the story of Jesus in a truly cosmic context ­– as the inevitable conclusion of God’s redemptive plan for humanity set in train since the expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise.</p><p>Along the way we are treated to a feast of extra-Biblical details: of the life of the Patriarchs; of the Wind-Flood that overthrew Ur of the Chaldees Abraham’s home; of the mysterious Priest-King Melchizedek; the origin of the Magi; the genealogy of Mary; and Adam’s secret burial at the ‘navel of the world’ the very spot where Christ was later crucified.</p><p>Translated from the Syriac by Sir E.A.Wallis Budge former curator of Egyptian and Assyrian Antiquities at the British Museum the book is extensively annotated and contains 21 illustrations.</p>