Delivered to Thunder House in Ramsgate on Guyekoni 4, the morning after the visit to the priest of Horus. The delivery is made by a woodcutter on errands to the Old City. No message accompanies the manuscript written upon vellum. It is addressed to Alayne Priest of Ptah.
For the Master: The Rule of War on the unleashing of the attack of the sons of light against the company of the sons of darkness, the army of Set: against the band of Stygia and the sons of the Python, and against the army of the sons of the South.
The sons of Albidar, the exiles in the desert, shall battle against them in ... all their bands when the exiled sons of light return from the Desert of the Peoples. The Python shall enter into the land, and in his time he shall set out in great wrath to wage war against the kings of the north, that his fury may destroy and cut the horn of .... This shall be a time of salvation for the people of Mithras, an age of dominion for all the members of his company, and of everlasting destruction for all the company of Set. The confusion of the sons of the Python shall be ... and Stygia shall fall unsuccored. The dominion of the Python shall come to an end and iniquity shall be vanquished, leaving no remnant; ... of darkness there shall be no escape. ...ness shall shine over all the ends of the earth; they shall go on shining until all the seasons of darkness are consumed and, at the season appointed by Mithras, his exalted greatness shall shine eternally to the peace, blessing, glory, joy, and long life of all the sons of light.
On the day when the Python falls, there shall be battle and terrible carnage before Mithras, for that shall be the day appointed from ancient times for the battle of destruction of the sons of darkness. At that time, the assembly of gods and the hosts of men shall battle, causing great carnage; on the day of calamity, the sons of light shall battle with the company of darkness amid the shouts of a mighty multitude and the clamour of gods and men to make manifest the might of Mithras. And it shall be a time of ... tribulation for the people which Mithras shall redeem; of all its afflictions none shall be as this, from its sudden beginning until its end in eternal redemption.
On the day of their battle against the Python ... carnage. In three lots shall the sons of light brace themselves in battle to strike down iniquity, and in three lots shall Set's host gird itself to thrust back the company...And with the seventh lot, the mighty hand of Mithras shall bring down...
When the battle formations are mar! shalled facing the enemy, formation facing formation, seven Priests of the sons of Albidar shall advance from the middle gates to the place between the formations. They shall be clothed in vestments of white cloth of flax, in a fine linen tunic and fine linen breeches; they shall be girdled with fine cloth of flax embroidered with blue, purple, and scarlet thread, a many-coloured design worked by a craftsman. And on their heads they shall wear mitred turbans. These shall be battle raiment; they shall not take them into the Sanctuary.
The first Priest shall advance before the men of the formation to strengthen their hand for battle, and the six other Priests shall hold in their hands the trumpets of Summons, and the trumpets of the Reminder, and the trumpets of Alarm, and the trumpets of Pursuit, and the Trumpets of Retreat. And when the Priests advance to the place between the formations, seven sorcerors shall accompany them bearing in their hands seven horns, and three Knights of the Church shall walk before the Priests and the sorcerors.
Blessed be Mithras for all his holy purpose and for his works of truth! Blessed be all those who ... him in righteousness and who know him by faith!
Cursed be Set for his sinful purpose and may he be execrated for his wicked rule! Cursed be all the spirits of his company for their ungodly purpose and may they be execrated for all their service of uncleanness! Truly they are the company of Darkness, but the company of Mithras is one of ... Light.
*Adapted from The Rule of War, which was found
among the Dead Sea Scrolls. It was mostly likely written in the first
century BCE by an Essene, a member of the most fanatically religious of
the many Jewish sects living in and around Jerusalem. The Essenes were
convinced that the end of the world was near, and that God was going to
lead them to victory over all their enemies.
They were utterly destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE.