Chapter 9 Summary

In January 1901, Anna feels disembodied as England's monarchy changes. She has visited an ancient church where the Virgin Mary and Jesus are said to have been sheltered. Amal visited this church long ago and, like Anna, tested whether the Virgin's eyes would follow her around. Amal recalls the tour guide's explanation of the twelve marble columns, one of them black to represent Judas Iscariot. Picturing Anna as restless, Amal recalls King Akhen Atun and Queen Nefertiti, who proclaimed the worship of the one god, Atun, but were eliminated by the jealous priests of Anum-Ra.

Anna records Dean Butcher's explanation of how her favorite Egyptian church can share a name with the most famous pre-Islamic Arabic poetry: Mu'allaqah means "hung" and the church hangs on an ancient Roman gateway, while the prizewinning poetry was displayed on the Ka'ba. Amal thinks about other meanings of...