"What does all this Jewish history have to do with the treasure you're hunting?" I said, looking out the window of the plane at the barren desert we were passing over.
"It has everything to do with it, and you, by the way." He rejoined.
I didn't look at him for fear I would reveal something in my face. I realized that not looking at him was a tell all of its own, but I couldn't help it. What else did he know?
"Care to explain that?" I asked the question more softly than I had wanted it to sound.
"I believe that the kingdom of Kush had a very heavy influence of both Jewish customs and blood lines. They remained paganistic as a nation, but I believe there were those there also practicing Judaism. I say this for several reasons, but I'll narrow it down to just three reasons. Menaleck possibly ruled there and he was half Jewish. Several remnant tribes of Israel are known to have settled there after the captivity. The last reason is from the Bible, but a lot farther into the future somewhere in the area of 30AD or so. Phillip, one of the twelve disciples of Jesus, is told by an angel of the Lord to go along the desert road toward Gaza, in Acts 8:26-40. He meets a man, an Ethiopian eunuch of great standing. He is in charge of all the treasures of Candace, Queen of Ethiopia, aka Kush. Phillip is told by the Spirit to go stand by the eunuch's chariot. The eunuch was reading the book of Isaiah and didn't understand a certain passage in particular that foretold of the coming of Jesus. Phillip shares the news of Jesus with him and the man is saved and baptized that same day. The eunuch departs home satisfied and Phillip is transported to Azotus by the Spirit of God. Now there are a couple of things to take away from this interesting tidbit of scriptural reference. Kush, long after the fall of Israel's prominence, is still a powerful nation to be reckoned with. At this time, after Jesus resurrection and ascension into heaven the good news of the gospel had not yet been made freely available to the gentiles. Peter doesn't have his vision of the gospel being preached to the world of the gentiles until two chapters later in Acts, when he's summoned by Cornelius the centurion. Why then would this eunuch be studying the Old Testament, and why would Phillip be sent to explain the scripture to someone who wasn't Jewish? I believe that it can be best explained in that this powerful eunuch in charge of the treasury of Ethiopia was in fact Jewish, a descendant of the refugees of the twelve tribes of Israel. The man had an important, powerful position in the land of Kush. It stands to reason, I think then, that there was a very powerful Jewish influence there, dating all the way back to the days of Solomon and even before him, perhaps. Who then is this great Candace of Ethiopia that the eunuch serves? The answer to that is that there have been many Candace's of the Empire of Kush throughout time. Candace is not a personal name, it's a title. It means 'glowing' or 'glowing bright' and was the term given to all the queens of the Kingdom of Kush, also known as Nubia and Ethiopia. The people of Kush put a spin on the traditional headship of their peoples. They had both kings and queens, but the queen was the ultimate authority and not the king. The queens were so powerful that they could request the king to kill himself and he by matter of tradition had to do so. The queens were known to the people simply as Candace and the last name of their origin, being how they were told apart from each other. These queens were known for both their wisdom and their skill in battle. In 325 BC the Candace of Meroe marshaled her armies and arrayed them at the northern border of her land, as Alexander the Great, having finished with his conquest of Egypt and hearing of the fabled wealth of Kush, marched with his army toward the fabled land. Upon seeing the vast number of warriors of Kush and the Candace's skillful placement of them, Alexander turned back for fear of what would be said if he were to lose to a female general. Later, another Candace invaded Roman held territory and defeated several Roman legions in open battle. The list of the accomplishments of the many Candace's could go on and on. Eventually, through the ravages of time, most of the ancient kingdoms of Africa fell to European imperialism or internal strife of their own making. The grandeur of Kush disappeared and now little is known of it. I thought I'd reached a dead end in finding the treasure of Kush and then I heard of a small cult like group that kept a low profile, but that seemed to have tremendous impact in concern to societal matters in the region. They were said to be ruled by a female, who went by the title of Candace, and was respected as such. It was very hard to find anything on them, as they were so secretive. Then I found out from a source that there was no current ruling Candace. The last Candace lived to an astonishing one hundred and fifty two years. She was forced into a marriage not to her liking as a young woman. Her husband did many evil things and out of fear that he would reveal the secret of the treasures of Kush, she asked him to kill himself. He refused, lacking the honor of the tradition dating back far into the history of the Candace's. She killed him herself when he refused. They'd had one son together and in time it became apparent that the son took after his father in almost every way and excess. He, in fear of his mother, nearly succeeded in killing her, but she survived and had him hunted down instead. He had but one surviving daughter, that he had never known, and the Candace adopted her and raised her as her own. The girl didn't want any part of the responsibility of her ancestral duty though and ran away to the city. She met a businessman and fell in love, but it was a one sided affair. Her businessman lover knew of her ancestry and all he wanted from her was the wealth of the ancient Kushites. He imprisoned her and beat her in order to force her to tell him what she knew, and where the old Candace could be found. She refused and somehow managed to trick a guard and escaped. Alone and pregnant she walked over two hundred miles back to where the old Candace lived in secretive isolation. She died in childbirth giving birth to twin boys. The boys, for a time, lived with the Candace and then they left. Their father found them and tried to enlist them to help him get the treasure, but the boys wanted it for themselves and they tortured and killed their father together. The Candace had them both exiled, with the knowledge that the dynasty was to die with her. Then, something happened. A daughter of one of the two brothers killed one brother in retribution for her mother's death by his hands. It was unclear what would happen to the girl, but the Candace stepped in and demanded that the girl be brought to her to train as the next Candace. Her father agreed to it, but only on the condition that the girl be told all the secrets of the past, to which the Candace agreed. The girl lived with the Candace for two years from the time that she was twelve till she was fourteen. Then the girl left and went back to her father's home and the old Candace was never seen again. The girl's father, anxious to finally learn the secrets of the past for himself, pressured his daughter to tell him what she knew. She refused over and over. He choked her one night to the point of unconsciousness and told her that if she didn't tell him what he wanted that he'd rape her himself in the morning. She was sixteen. She had learned a few things in how to defend herself, while with the Candace and she over-powered her security detail in the night and slipped out of the house undetected, by climbing down three floors on the outside of the house. She then swam through several miles of open sea water to the mainland. She was never heard from again and was presumed dead, until eleven years later, she turned up as a successful and highly respected homicide detective working for the NYPD. Lisa Tauranto, you are the last Candace of the kingdom of Kush."