Jack had finished his meal with his typical speed, which enabled him to look around the table and generally assess his surroundings.
Daniel smothered a smile as Jack opened his mouth. Things were about to get interesting.
"So, these Essene."
"Yeah," said Ziv, an enraptured look on his face.
"Who were they, exactly?"
Cutlery clattered to the tabletop. Food abruptly halted on its journey into mouths. Galya choked on her drink. Heads turned. Jaws dropped.
"You - you don't know?" The last word was a horrified squeak, and Daniel turned away to hide his laughter. Louie didn't notice.
"He doesn't know," murmured Galya. "Poor, uneducated - "
"Deprived," moaned Ziv.
"Ignorant," gasped Saloma.
"Utterly clueless slob," finished Mac mercilessly.
Jack jerked. "Hey!"
Daniel was certain he saw Sam biting her lip on a grin at the effortless repartee of the archaeologists. Teal'c cocked an eyebrow over his coleslaw.
"We must halt this travesty at once," Michelle ordered dramatically, eyes lighting up with unholy mischief. "Mac, center stage." Michelle gestured towards the ranking professor with her fork.
"The Essene," he began, his accented voice rolling richly across the chatter of the students. "They were very much an unknown sect of Christianity, until the uncovering of the Dead Sea Scrolls - "
"1946," sighed Louie. "What a wonderful year." He turned back to his pasta salad with relish.
"In 1946," finished Mac. Jack cast an amused glance at Louie, who remained oblivious. "At that time - we're of course talking thousands of years ago - they were a holy Brotherhood -Sisterhood which was persecuted on account of their beliefs."
"Ain't it always the way," Jack mourned.
"Anyway," Mac continued, ignoring him, " This sect brought forth many of the religious founders who would change the course of history and create the foundations of Christianity, including Joseph, Mary, Jesus, John the Baptist, St. Ann, John the Evangelist - the list goes on."
"Go figure," Jack muttered. Teal'c was listening closely. Because of their work and the touchy nature of religion and belief, it was rare that he found people willing to talk about Tau'ri faith.
"The Essenes considered themselves separate people," Daniel said, leaning forward as he became absorbed in the conversation. Of their own accord, his hands lifted and began moving as he tried to emphasize his point. "Not because of anything as superficial as appearance, but because of the illumination of their inner life, their knowledge of hidden mysteries of nature unknown to other men."
"Meaning-of-life stuff?" asked Sam.
"Exactly!" Daniel responded. "They looked at themselves as at the center of all peoples, because their sect, though reclusive in nature, was open to anyone who could pass the tests. Many of the original Essene were, and I quote, "heirs of God's sons and daughters of old", who "possessed their advanced knowledge and worked assiduously in secret for the triumph of the light over the darkness of the human mind". The mission entrusted to them turned out to be the founding of Christianity and western civilization."
"Sound like the souls of modesty," Jack commented.
Daniel snorted.
"They studied all the religions of their time," Michelle interrupted eagerly, "in order to extract great scientific principles. According to Essene philosophy, each religion was a different stage of one single revelation. "
"Indeed," said Ziv, eyes sparking with zeal. "They placed the most emphasis on the teachings of Hermes Trismegiste, the ancient Chaldeans, and Zoroaster. They looked to the secret instructions of Moses and one of the founding masters of their order - who revealed techniques similar to Buddhism - and the revelations of Enoch. They had a 'living science' composed of all these revelations."
"Thus," Mac continued, "they could communicate with angelic and heavenly beings, and had solved the question of the origin of evil on Earth."
Jack looked simultaneously as if he was trying not to glaze over, and as if he had been zatted.
"It gets better," said Daniel, getting into the spirit. Sam was leaning forward, enthralled in the rapid interchange among the archaeologists, and the dizzying amount of information being revealed. "The reason for their continual persecution stems from their solid refusal to lie or compromise. They had a strict discipline which forbade such actions, in order to preserve the purity of their immortal souls, and prevent any contact with evil spirits that could taint them."
"How do you know all this?" asked Sam wonderingly.
Galya grinned, seeing the scientist in the only woman to accompany the small military group. "The Essene also considered themselves to be guardians of what was known as the 'Divine Teaching'. They had many manuscripts in their possession, some of which date back to that vague era known as 'the dawn of time'." Air quotes emphasized her point. "Much like monks would later do in monasteries across Europe, members of the Essene School spent much time devoted to copying and transcribing the volumes into different languages. It was a sacred task to preserve and perpetuate such knowledge."
"Do you hope to find some such manuscripts within this excavation?" Teal'c asked.
Tobe sighed. "Ah, if only."
At the puzzled looks, Saloma said dryly, "We are archaeologists. We dig in the dirt, squabble and exclaim over the least little thing. To find something like that is a magnificent dream, with no more substance than a cloud."
"That was very poetic," said Jack admiringly.
Saloma shot him a cheeky grin and bit wolfishly into her hamburger.
"Hope springs eternal," Daniel commented dryly. Saloma chewed vigorously, still smiling broadly.
"Ah, Shakespeare," murmured Louie. " 'I say there is no darkness but ignorance'. Twelfth Night. Exquisite. Pure beauty."
"And then there's ignorance. Shall we finish bringing this lad into the light?" asked Mac with a downright devilish smirk, looking pointedly at Jack. The colonel was now definitely looking like he'd had a run in - or two - with the wrong end of a zat.
"The Essene, as I've said before, saw their Brotherhood-Sisterhood as the light shining in the darkness, the light inviting the darkness to change itself to light," Mac continued on. "When one asked to be admitted to their School, it was an awakening of the soul. Their task was to assist the 'sleeping souls', encourage the 'drowsy souls', and guide the 'awakened souls'. Only the awakened could become Essene."
"Though many people disagreed with these ideas," Daniel put in, taking control of the conversation. "The Essene were well known as the Brothers and Sisters in white. To the Egyptians, they were "The Healers, The Doctors", while the Hebrews called them "The School of Prophets". In Jerusalem, there was even a door that bore their name: the Door of the Essenes. Most people respected them and held them in high esteem because of their honesty, discretion, goodness and pacificism. Also, the Essene practiced good PR with the masses - free lodging for pilgrims, aid for the sick, and teaching."
"Whoa," said Jack, after a moment had passed in which the archaeologists said nothing, applying themselves to their food. "Is - that it?" he asked tentatively.
Daniel smiled. "Pretty much," he said, returning to his food.
Teal'c looked somewhat baffled. "Daniel Jackson," he said.
"Hmm?" Daniel asked.
"May I inquire as to the concept of the 'soul'?"
Jack's groan resembled the dying cry of a wounded animal. He shoved his chair back hastily and stood. "I'm going to go - shoot something."
"Sir?" asked Carter, baffled.
"Check something," Jack responded, moving away quickly. "I'm going to check something."
"I think I'll stay," said Carter, turning back to the table with a smile.
"You - do that," Jack mumbled. He turned from the table and walked away as quickly as he could without seeming to run, the rapid-fire commentary from the academics ringing in his ears.
Mac turned to Daniel. "So how much of that d'you think he got?"
Daniel glanced at Jack and smiled. "Don't be fooled, he got it all. He probably didn't enjoy the getting, but he's got it."
Mac looked thoughtfully at the disappearing Air Force Colonel. "There's much more to him than would first appear."
Daniel nodded a little. "Yea, with Jack, there is."
"You were friends," said Mac gently, knowing that he was treading on shaky ground.
"Yes," Daniel sighed. "We were. Now - I don't know."
"Do you think you could be friends again?" Mac asked. The low conversation between the two men was lost in the religious jargon being tossed around the table as the scholars expounded on history, theory, and actuality.
"I don't know," Daniel replied, his eyes locked on Jack's retreating back. "It will take a lot of work, I think. But God, I hope so."
- - - - - - - - - - -
Okay. ALL information about the Essene is credited to this website: All the information related is true, according to the website. I will not, however, vouch for anything other than the accuracy of my information to that on the site; therefore, it is entirely possible that the information is erroneus. But not to my knowledge.
Hope I didn't blow you away.
Productions deadline date is coming up - unfortunately, I'm not finished. There's a convenient ending spot around ch. 25, where I will be forced to cut you off. After the reconciliation, but before the NID situation is fully dealt with. Sorry.
Have I mentioned that I love all questions thrown at me in reviews? I do my best to answer in the context of the story, or email when I can't, so if you have a question, leave me your email in a review and I guarentee and (probably lengthy) response. Ciao!