Memorie di Giuda, vol. I

Set against the bustling backdrop of the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem, the story opens on a sultry evening in the seventh year of Pontius Pilate’s rule. The city swarms with pilgrims, soldiers, and foreign dignitaries, all converging on the Temple Mount while an uneasy political undercurrent hums beneath the celebrations. Amid the clamor, a small, diverse group gathers in the private chambers of Hannah’s palace, each bearing a secret stake in the city’s destiny.

The narrator, a Sadducean priest, watches the glittering procession of Romans and the murmuring crowds while his companions—a Moabite, an Essene, and the enigmatic Menahem, last of Judah’s line—discuss the arrival of Barabbas and the ominous timing of the city gates’ closure. Their conversation drips with half‑spoken doubts about a looming sacrifice and the fragile balance between Roman authority and Jewish hope. As night falls, the precarious atmosphere hints at betrayals and choices that could reshape the fate of Jerusalem.