| A
Meeting with
Riyadh
University |
Tuesday
April 9, 1985
Ron
Wyatt and David Fasold
went to the local
Prince's office in
Tabuk where they again
met with the
Interrogation Team
from Hagl, the
archaeologist from
Riyadh University, the
Deputy Prince, several
Imams, a translator
and Samran. Ron and
Dave began to be
questioned about Jebel
el Lawz. The Deputy
Prince, through the
translator, then asked
Ron, "Why would
Musa (Moses) bring the
people to this
isolated and
undesirable spot when
there were so many
better locations in
the area?" This
was a valid question,
because Jebel el Lawz
is not an area that
can support life to
any extent. There is
no water supply. Ron
replied simply that
"Moses was
following the cloud,
which led them
there".
One
of the Imams then
hotly responded in
Arabic, "That's
not in the
Koran!" Ron then
quoted the words of an
Imam he had heard on
the television:
"Every true
Moslem believes every
true prophet. If he
doesn't believe every
true prophet, he isn't
a true Moslem."
Then,
Ron asked, "Was
not Musa a
prophet?" As soon
as he said these
words, all of the men
began nodding their
heads "yes".
With
this final question,
the interrogation
ended. The Saudis were
all convinced as to
the authenticity of
Jebel el Lawz - it was
the true holy mountain
of God. The Deputy
Prince, through the
interpreter, then
proceeded to ask Ron
and Dave to stay,
excavate and preserve
the site. The
archaeologist again
shook Ron's hand and
congratulated him on
the discovery.
Promises were made
that the King would
provide all the
funding for the
project, a reward
would be paid, and Ron
would be introduced to
the King.
At
that point Ron had to
decline, for he had
scheduled a very
important meeting in
Ankara, concerning his
Noah's Ark project,
and it was too
important to miss.
The
Saudis were not very
happy about Ron and
Dave's refusal. They
were not used to
anyone not obeying
their wishes. Dave's
video was confiscated
by Abu Collet's men,
and had been his
photographs which they
had developed a few
days earlier.
"You
are to forget that you
ever came here. We
don't want to read
about this in a book
or see it in a
movie." Ron and
Dave acted agreeable
without directly
making any promises.
Any
hopes of closer
inspection of Jebel el
Lawz now rested in the
hope that the Saudis
wouldn't hold a grudge
- as soon as he could
financially afford it,
Ron planned to notify
them that he wanted to
do the excavation. But,
in time Ron discovered
that Jebel el Lawz was
not a subject the
Saudis wanted made
public.
