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280 eastern side of the river. When it was time to go there, his disciples, headed by one named Elisha, went along. He made a stop at Gilgal (where Yahweh’s miracles were performed for the Israelites under the leadership of Joshua). There he tried to shake off his companions, but they went on to ac- company him to Beth-El; though asked to stay put and let Elijah cross the river by himself, they stuck with him unto the last stop, Jericho, all the while asking Elisha whether it was “true that the Lord will take Elijah heavenward today?” At the bank of the Jordan River, Elijah rolled his miracle mantle and struck the waters, parting them, enabling him to cross the river. The other disciples stayed behind, but even then Elisha persisted on being with Elijah, crossing over with him; And as they continued to walk and to talk, there appeared a chariot of fire with horses of fire, and the two were separated. And Elijah went up to heaven, in a whirlwind. And Elisha saw and cried out: “My father! My father! the chariot of Israel and its horsemen!” And he saw it no more. Archaeological excavations at Tell Ghassul (the “Prophet’s Mound”), a site in Jordan that fits the biblical tale’s geogra- phy, have uncovered murals that depicted the “whirlwinds” shown in Fig. 103. It is the only site excavated under the aus- pices of the Vatican. (My search for the finds, which covered archaeological museums in Israel and Jordan and included a visit to the site in Jordan, and ultimately led to the Jesuit-run Pontifical Biblical Institute in Jerusalem—Fig. 124—is de- scribed in The Earth Chronicles Expeditions.) Jewish tradition has held that the transfigured Elijah will one day return as a harbinger of final redemption for the people of Israel, a herald of the Messiah. The tradition was already recorded in the fifth century B.c.E. by the Prophet THE END OF DAYS II KINGs 2: 11-12