Readers queue to buy a novel on Freemasonry

“The Menace Dan Brown” – a hit at the International Book Fair

Standart | Dec 1, 2009

Impatient readers, Freemasons and politicians queued to buy the novel “33 – The Menace Dan Brown” by Dimitar Nedkov, a high-ranking mason himself. “In the last few days we have been making lists of the people willing to buy The Standart daily with the book,” newspaper sellers said.

“Our orders for the newspaper almost doubled,” they added.

The novel that for the fist time unveils secret rituals and initiation oaths of the Freemasons is already on the market. It can be found at newspaper stands and in bookstores. The novel is an intriguing adventure, which is read all in one go and would become a hit at the starting tomorrow XXVIII International Book fair in Sofia. Dimitar Nedkov’s “33 – The Menace Dan Brown” is expected to become one of the most fascinating premieres at the fair.

Sofia mayoress Yordanka Fandakova will open the most important event connected to literature and books. The book fair takes place in the National Palace of Culture and will be opened to public till November 6. Bulgaria’s minister of culture Vezhdi Rashidov is expected to visit the book fair.

The story of “33 – The Menace Dan Brown” is about how Bulgaria’s membership in NATO and the EU was hanging by a thread just because one of country’s PMs wanted to outlaw the Freemasons, the Illumini, Rozenkroizers and all Rotary and Lions clubs in Bulgaria. The director of FBI personally advised him that if he does that, the USA wouldn’t consider Bulgaria as its partner.

33 – The Menace Dan Brown challenges both historians and Masons by revealing that not the Priory of Sion but the Bogomils were the original forefathers of the Knights Templars. The evidence for this is kept in Bulgaria.

Mr. Nedkov’s novel further reveals that Pope John Paul II personally decided to arrive in Bulgaria in May 2002 and that his mission was a respond the message coded in the third secret of Our Lady of Fatima.

“Dan Brown is away from the truth, he does not know everything about the lost symbol,” the outstanding expert in Masons’ history in Bulgaria, Dimitar Nedkov, writes in his book. He believes the American writer may learn the true story in Bulgaria.

The holders of the Bronze Lion 2009 award will be announced tomorrow at the inauguration of the Book Fair in Sofia. This year the award will be given for the best publisher’s project and for a publisher’s project which produced widest social significance. Over 120 Bulgarian publishing houses and 8 foreign ones take part in the exhibition. The honorary guest at the Fair this year is Serbia. In these lines a delegation of the European network for books and literature – TRADUKI arrives. The network involves wherein Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Germany, Kosovo, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Austria, Romania, Switzerland, Serbia and Slovenia.

Pope John Paul II making the sign of fidelity to the Craft.

An initiated Mason throws the gauntlet: Fatima Prophecy Brings John Paul II to Bulgaria

Bulgarian priests used to work in the Vatican’s most secret archives, Dimitar Nedkov reveals in his novel

Standart | Nov 27, 2009

“Pope John Paul II took the decision to visit Sofia at his sole discretion in order to dissolve completely any suspicions of the Bulgarian trace in the attempt on his life. His councilors were absolutely against the idea but he refused to listen to them. This was one of the few cases when the Pope would not take their opinion in consideration.”

This is the gauntlet high-ranking Mason, Dimitar Nedkov throws in his first novel 33 – The Menace Dan Brown.  The book will be released together with the December 1 issue of the Standart. In the book, Nedkov, who is recognized as one of the notable experts in the history of the Freemasons suggests that the mission of John Paul II to Bulgaria was coded in the third prophecy of Fatima. This has been one of the most jelously kept secrets of the Vatican. The Pope was the only person who knew its contents.

The mysterious story began on May 13, 1917. Then three young shepherds witnessed the apparition of the Virgin Mary in the vicinity of a small Portuguese town of Fatima. The vision reappeared on every 13th day of the month till October. Thus the children learnt about the First and Second World War, about the onset of Communism as an official state power.

On her last appearance, Our Lady of Fatima spoke fateful words. In her third prophecy Our Lady said things that were later related by little shepherdess Lucia and written down. Lucia’s writing was put into an envelope and handed to the Bishop of Leiria. Lucia became a nun; her request was the envelope to be opened after 1960. The bishop sent it to the Pope.

After the envelope was opened, the Vatican surprisingly refused to reveal the secret to the general public. The same was the response of Pope John-Paul II. “This is a spiritual message which doesn’t concern any concrete events. It is unnecessary to make a sensation of it,” the Pope explained his decision.

“The third prophecy of Our Lady of Fatima is one of the reasons why the Pope -Freemason John Paul II – was so persevering in his efforts to rehabilitate the Freemasons before the world,” Dimitar Nedkov continues to send challenges in his first novel.

The author hints that the Third Secret of Fatima refers to the Freemasons, the Illuminati, the Knights Templar and the Bogomils. The author claims that it’s the Pope, along with the Grand Commander of the Masons and a monk from Mount Athos, who are the real guardians of the Brotherhood’s greatest secrets.

“Bulgarians have worked in the Vatican’s most secret archive chambers,” Nedkov reveals in his work.

The author alleges that representatives of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church have had access to documents about Pythagoras, Galileo Galilei and the Mysteries of Fatima.

The victims say Craig beat them, shackled them to beds, kept them in dog cages and starved them.

Durham Couple Sentenced In Satanism Abuse Case

NBC17 | Nov 27, 2009

DURHAM, N.C. – A North Carolina couple has been sentenced on misdemeanor charges in a case involving abusing other adults during Satan worship.

Joseph Scott Craig, 25, and his 30-year-old wife Joy Johnson were each sentenced Friday to two 60-day suspended sentences and a year of probation.

Search warrants said the victims were a man and a woman who moved in with Craig and Johnson after they became friends through their satanic interests.

The victims say Craig beat them, shackled them to beds, kept them in dog cages and starved them.

Craig entered an Alford plea, which means he maintained his innocence but acknowledged prosecutors had enough evidence for a conviction. Johnson pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting her husband.

Vicar sends warning over occult activities

A rural vicar has warned people not to dabble in the occult after a sheep’s head was impaled on a pole outside one of his churches.

Telegraph | Nov 26, 2009

Rev Nick Bromfield says he has spotted several signs of black magic worship in the area and even seemingly harmless pub psychic nights and crystal readings can cause untold damage.

Mr Bromfield decided to speak out after seeing increasing evidence of “dark forces” in the Forest and being called on to pick up the pieces when things go wrong.

“I want people to be aware of the potential damage that can be caused by this kind of activity,” he said.

“It might sound medieval to talk about the relationship between good and evil, but there is no middle ground on this. People need to leave well alone.

“I have been told there are people operating in a darker place, and I have seen signs of satanic activity in the Forest.

“It’s difficult to quantify but there is something about borders that attracts occult activity and the seclusion is also very attractive. They are allowing in forces that can do great damage.

“I know a lot of pagans in the Forest and they are as appalled about this as Christians.”

Mr Bromfield, the rector of Drybrook, Lydbrook and Ruardean, is asked to bless around 10 homes a year because of the owners’ fear something is amiss.

So far he has not needed to call in the diocesan deliverance officers who are allowed to perform exorcisms.

But he is regularly asked to help people who have been left angry, upset or sometimes scared after being tempted to contact dead loved ones.

The vicar says he has seen animal carcasses laid out in circles or surrounding stones, which could be a sign of black magic worship in the woodlands.

A few weeks ago a parishioner at one of his churches was upset to find a severed sheep’s head dripping with blood mounted on a pole in the grounds.

“Naturally it wasn’t very pleasant and I burned it,” said the vicar, who fears it could have been a warning.

“But I think it’s something that clergy in many rural parishes have experienced.

“It’s either a malicious deliberate provocative act against the church or our “friends” from that sphere of activity sending a tribute because we are successful.”

Independent | Nov 10, 2009

By Ben Padley

Jack Straw’s decision to no longer force applicants for the judiciary to declare if they are Freemasons was today branded a “disgrace” by a Labour MP.

Gordon Prentice (Pendle) said there would again be a “cloak of secrecy” following the move by the Justice Secretary.

Mr Straw said last week that a review had shown no evidence of “impropriety or malpractice” as a result of a judge being a Freemason and it would be “disproportionate” to continue with the practice, introduced in 1998.

The United Grand Lodge of England made representations to ministers in May and indicated it might seek judicial review of the policy.

At Commons question time today Mr Prentice asked: “Is it not a disgrace that you have decided to allow judges no longer to have to declare if they are Freemasons?

“We know that one in 20 of our judges are Freemasons. Why on earth the cloak of secrecy?”

Mr Straw replied: “There was no secrecy about my announcement, I made the announcement by way of written ministerial statement last week in the light of a European Court of Human Rights judgment against the state of Italy, which was made in 2006, and to which our attention was drawn by the Grand Lodge of Freemasons.

“It suggested that a continuation of a compulsory register…was likely to be unlawful. After legal advice I accepted that. It is open to any judge to declare that they are Freemasons.”

He added that there had been “no evidence” of any “unacceptable behaviour by Freemason judges.

Ministry of Justice figures indicate there are 3,808 judges in England and Wales and 205 or 5.4 per cent are Freemasons. There are also 29,702 magistrates, of whom 1,900 or 6.4 per cent are Freemasons.

Illustration by Etienne Gilfillan/Photos from Getty Images

London still sees more than its share of buildings which seem to owe more to the occult than to strict practicality. Number One Canada Square, better known as Canary Wharf, is topped with a conspicuous pyramid with a flashing light at its apex. It could hardly be a more graphic embodiment of the familiar image of a pyramid topped by an eye, a symbol familiar from the back of the US dollar bill.

While Dan Brown looks for Masonic symbolism in Washington, DC, we journey through Masonic London, on a trail that takes in Isaac Newton and Jack the Ripper, St Paul’s Cathedral and Canary Wharf, conspiracy theories and occult forces…

Fortean Times | Nov 2009 Issue

City of Symbols

By David Hambling

Dan Brown’s latest novel sends symbologist Robert Langdon on a new quest. Having previously tangled with the Priory of Sion and the Illuminati, this time he’s pursuing the Freemasons; and once again he must follow a treasure trail of clues hidden in the urban landscape. Dan Brown is notorious for his loose approach to historical fact, and accuracy takes second place to keeping the plot moving. His location is Washington, DC, a city with plenty of Masonic connections. But Brown might have done better to start at the roots of Freemasonry in the City of London.

The City of London, or Square Mile, is history and mythology made concrete, going right back to the celebrated London Stone itself. [1]  Settlement here dates to pre-Roman times, but the biggest influence on the City as we know it today was the rebuilding project that took place after the Great Fire of 1666. This gave London much of its present form and introduced many of its greatest monuments. Unlike the previous random sprawl, which had grown up organically over centuries, the rebuilding was carried out according to a deliberate master plan. Some claim that it was simply an attempt to build on more orderly and ‘rational’ lines, but if we peel back the surface the esoteric, Masonic and even magical aspects of the City are revealed.

We now tend to view the 17th century as a period of scientific progress when rationality broke free from the bonds of superstition. However, that rationality took many forms, and sacred geometry, numerology and astrology were just as respectable as astronomy and chemistry. The quest was on for the keys to the Universe. While we might now believe that science will provide all the answers, in those days the occult held an equal attraction for men of learning, and this is something we can see in their works.

The Freemasons emerged at just the right time for the great rebuilding project (see panel: “The Found­ations of Freemasonry”, p35). They were the latest group of seekers after ultim­ate knowledge, following hard on the footsteps of the “Invisible Coll­ege” of the Rosicruc­ians, which was either a conspiracy, an impenetrable secret society or a hoax, depending on whom you believe. The Royal Society, still an important organis­ation today, dates back to this era and is regarded by some as an extension of the Invisible College. Founded in 1660 as the “Royal Society of London for the Improvement of Natural Knowledge”, it originally dealt as much with alchemy and astrology as what we now think of as science. There was a large overlap between membership of the Royal Society, Freemasons and even more secretive esoteric groups such as the Cabala Club.

The great architect of the new London was of course Sir Christopher Wren – astronomer, geometer, Royal Society founder member, MP and architect. He also appears to have been a Freemason. On 18 May 1691, the antiquary and bio­grapher John Aubrey noted: “This day… is a great convention at St Paul’s Church of the fraternity of the adopted masons, where Sir Christopher Wren is to be adopted a brother…”

Some discount this as hearsay, since Aubrey was simply repeating what he had been told by one William Dugdale. However, the theory is supported by an old trad­ition in the Masonic Lodge of Antiquity No 2 that Wren was Master of the Lodge, and to many Freemasons his membership of the Craft is obvious in his works, particularly in his greatest monument – St Paul’s Cathedral (see below: ‘Isaac Newton and the Temple of Doom’).

Working with Wren were two other notables, John Evelyn and the notorious Nicholas Hawksmoor. The latter was nicknamed “the devil’s architect”, and his Masonic credentials are not in doubt. Hawksmoor’s membership was recorded in 1691, when he became Wren’s assistant. Other acknowledged Freemasons include John James, the second surveyor appointed alongside Hawksmoor, and Nathaniel Blackerby, treasurer to the commission building new churches.

THE NEW JERUSALEM

To the builders of the new London, the city was to be the New Jerusalem. Rome was in the hands of Catholics, so London must succeed it as the capital of the true faith. This was reinforced by a popular theory that the English were the descendants of the Lost Tribe of Israel, who disappeared into the West after the destruction of the kingdom in 722 BC. Londoner William Blake – who had a tendency to employ Masonic imagery – was merely echoing this idea when he wrote of Jerusalem being “builded here” decades later. This belief was a help to those who believed that Britain should be a global empire, a true successor to Rome, with a temporal and religious capital to match it.

Several concepts were put forward for the new street plan. All of these did away with the warren of tiny streets and alleys and imposed some sort of regularity. Some, such as the plans put forward by cartographer Richard Newcourt, were simple grid patt­erns. But both Wren and Evelyn had more complex ideas, and it has been suggested that Evelyn’s plan bears a marked resemblance to the Sephiroth or Tree of Life from the mystic Cabala, “the best hieroglyph of the known and unknown universe”. Cabalism was a popular topic among esoteric philosophers of the day, with its mathematical and geometric approach, some of which was assimilated into Freemasonry.

Evelyn had previously written about how a careful arrangement of the environment could “influence the soule and spirits of man, and prepare them for converse with good Angells”. In Cabalism, the angels are the messengers between the physical and metaphysical world.

In the event, practical considerations restricted the wholesale remodell­ing of London to more modest changes. But while they could not demolish streets at will, the architects of London arranged places of worship according to their plan. Wren realigned the axis of St Paul’s so it stood 2,000 cubits (914m / 3,000ft) from Temple Bar to the West and the same distance from St Dunstan-in-the-East in the other direction. Hawksmoor’s St George-in-the-East is 2,000 cubits from the London Wall, St John Horselydown was placed 2,000 cubits from the Monument and Hawksmoor’s St Mary Woolnoth is the same distance from his Christ Church Spitalfields.

The measure of 2,000 cubits is used in the biblical Book of Numbers in its rules for city planning: “[M]easure from without the city on the east side 2,000 cubits.” It had featured in modern studies of sacred geometry since 1662. John Wilkins, vicar of St Lawrence Jewry and the first secretary of the Royal Society had converted it into modern measures, creating the essential yardstick for a New Jerusalem.

THE DEVIL’S ARCHITECT

Christopher Wren is remembered as the chief architect of modern London, but his assistant Nicholas Hawksmoor towers above him in occult circles thanks to his 12 churches built in accordance with the 1711 Act. These made a break from the trad­itional Gothic style and introduced a new and alien geometric vocabulary of obelisks, pyramids and cubes. His supposedly morbid interest in pagan cultures and pre-Christian worship have helped darken his reputation.

Hawksmoor’s churches are based on a layout of intersecting axes and rectangles, which he described as being based on the “rules of the Ancients”. His work borrows from Egypt, Greece and Rome – all revered by the Freemasons – and often in a grand manner. The nave of St George’s Bloomsbury church is a perfect cube, with a tower in the shape of a pyramid. Seven of the keystones are decorated with flames, the eighth bears the Hebrew name of God inside a triangular plaque surrounded by a sunburst; the symbolism of this is obscure.

Hawksmoor’s St Mary Woolnoth is based on the idea of a cube within a cube. This has represented the squaring of the circle from ancient times, which takes us back to the ideal proportions of Leonardo’s Vitruvian Man… and, of course, the Freemasons. [2]

But it is the alignment of Hawksmoor’s churches as much as their architecture that has provoked speculation, starting with the writer Iain Sinclair’s book-length prose-poem Lud Heat in 1975. This describes how Hawksmoor’s churches form regular triangles and pentacles, and “guard, mark or rest upon” the city’s sources of occult power. Sinclair even provides maps to prove the alignments, which are a clear sign of Hawksmoor’s true Satanic affiliation.

Sinclair was the first to connect Hawksmoor’s churches with some of the most shocking crimes in London’s history – the now largely forgotten Ratcliffe Highway murders of 1811 and Jack the Ripper’s killing spree in 1888. Sinclair suggests that the malign influence of Christ Church, Spitalfields, is so great that it attracts dark acts of violence to its vicinity.

The theme was taken up in Peter Ackroyd’s novel Hawksmoor in 1985, which switches between the rebuilding of London after the Great Fire and a modern serial killer case. Ackroyd, a great scholar of London, playfully names his modern detect­ive Hawksmoor, while the book’s 17th-century architect is Nicholas Dyer.

The idea of Hawksmoor as a manipul­ator of dark forces was further refined in Alan Moore’s hugely ambitious graphic novel From Hell. This involved a unified conspiracy theory linking Hawksmoor, the Freemasons and the Jack the Ripper killings. The Ripper murders, in this version, are carried out by Queen Victoria’s personal physician to conceal an illegitimate child conceived by her grandson, Prince Albert, Duke of Clarence.

Moore taps into an earlier strand of Ripperology connecting the killings with the Freemasons. The oath of secrecy taken by Freemasons includes a very colourful description of the supposed penalties, including mention of a cut throat and the statement “that my left breast had been torn open and my heart and vitals taken from thence and thrown over my left shoulder” and “my body had been severed in two in the midst”. Freemasons insist that this oath is symbolic and the penalties have never actually been inflicted on oath-breakers. A number of commentators, though, have suggested that the way the Ripper’s victims were mutilated closely parallels these specific injuries.

Stephen Knight went even further in his book Jack the Ripper: The Final Solution in 1976. Graffiti found near two of the murders read: “The Juwes are not the men who will be blamed for nothing”. Knight claimed that “Juwes” was not a misspelling of “Jews”, as usually supposed, but is actually a Masonic term referring to Jubela, Jubelo and Jubelum. These are three murderers in Masonic legend who are linked with the gory penalties set out in the oath. Knight’s book received something of a mauling (or perhaps a disembowelment) from other Ripper experts, though it has proved influential, spawning numerous books and films.

Even if the Ripper killings were some sort of enactment of the Masonic penalties, it does little to solve the case. Were they a warning, or was there some other symbolic purpose? Was the Ripper a crazed Free­mason? Or is it all, as Sinclair suggested, down to the influence of Hawksmoor’s dark architectural patterns?

Full Story

peoplemagazinedaily.com | Oct 28, 2009

By Editorial Staff

The popularity of Dan Brown’s new book The Lost Symbol prompted CNN’s “am fix” to investigate the Freemasons in Congress and the White House.

Earth’s largest and oldest secret fraternity has had wide influence on the construction of Washington D.C.’s layout and the people who make up the U.S. government.

While in the halls of Congress on Oct. 6, CNN’s reporters were met mostly with politicians who did not want to speak to them. A couple senators did speak but divulged very little information about their fraternity.

CNN reports on Freemasons in Congress

WV Democratic Representative Nick Rahall educated the reporters about the Masonic compass and square symbol and recited a short history of his involvement as a Freemason.

The “my am” anchors let the viewers know they did not really believe Rahall when he said the Masons are not trying to rule the world.

CNN also briefly explained the Freemasonic connection to the Declaration of Independence, the founding fathers of the USA, members including Presidents and Congress members, and one of the many road symbols in the layout of Washington.

They only point out the Masonic compass and square created by the streets around the Capitol Building. Other occult Masonic formations include an owl around the Capitol Building, an upside-down pentagram stemming from the White House and a pyramid. We will explain these formations in greater depth in a later article.

In the official picture for the “Russian Roulette” single, Rihanna is not only wrapped in barbed wire naked, but she is also wearing an open eye-patch over her one eye that happens to be the alleged Illuminati Freemason Eye of Horus symbol she loves to show off.

Tiffany Evans Claims Rihanna & Others Satanists; Slams “Russian Roulette;” Rihanna’s Devilish History

People Magazine Daily | Oct 23, 2009

By Editorial Staff

Diary of a Mad Black Woman actress and singer Tiffany Evans insinuated on her Twitter account yesterday that Rihanna worships the Devil as a Satanist and called her new song “Russian Roulette” irresponsible for its glamorization of suicide.

The 17-year-old “Star Search” winner wrote: “Russian Roulette= Suicidal Rate gon sky rocket!

“You gotta watch what u say. Because there are a lot of weak people in the world. They are susceptible to anything so anything you say or do some people actually do listen. So make sure its nothing bad. Its okay to be deep,but not murder deep.

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Rihanna, Justin Timberlake to Sing Anti-Terrorism Anthems

Prodigy Says Jay-Z Sides With The ‘Evil Illuminati’

“Man! I really wish I could tell you guys what the industry really is and what stars are apart of destroying this world. The stars who worship satan,and those who have killed to get the respect they have now. You’d be verrrry surprise. Some of your favorite people pretend to worship God but they only do that to save face. Or seem innocent.

“Satan was head of music in heaven. He uses influential people…to help influence the world. Think about that. Once u make a certain amount of money. Just know that that’s when they ask u to join. To get in you have accept the beast, worship. Once you join they assist u with ur career.make u huge.only if u agree and obey to destroy Gods word.and his children.

“Ppl listen and pay attention. Its a war going on right now between Good and Evil. Evil will rule this world for a min. The people that have this power are the people that RULE the whole world. I’m done I won’t say anymore before I get in trouble.

“Being in this industry for many years, I’ve come to realize artist and labels need to be held accountable for their actions. I strongly feel that artists, whether they like it or not, are role models and should act as such. I am opposed to the freedom of speech or artistic expression, but there are certain rules to be followed.”

Article Continues Here

________
Rihanna – Russian Roulette

“Just pull the trigger…”

Hip Hop and the Occult: secret message in Rihanna song Umbrella Part 1

Hip Hop and the Occult: secret message in Rihanna song Umbrella Part 13

German Chancellor Angela Merkel looks a statue of Nefertiti (Nofretete) after a ceremony marking the opening of the Neue Museum (New Museum) in Berlin October 16, 2009. The famous bust which is part of a permanent Egyptian exhibition and papyrus collection was returned to display at its original location in the New Museum building on Museum Island on Thursday. Reuters

Seventy years after it was destroyed by war, Neues’s reopening hailed as miracle

By Tony Paterson in Berlin

Independent | Oct 17, 2009

For sixty-six years, much of the historic Neues Museum, Berlin’s equivalent to the Louvre, was a bombed-out ruin in the heart of the city. Today it will reopen for visitors with a bust of the Egyptian queen Nefertiti taking pride of place, after a €212m (£193m) restoration masterminded by leading British architect David Chipperfield.

The museum was officially reinaugurated yesterday by Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel, who lives opposite the cultural complex in the city’s revamped centre. The renaissance of the museum, which contains 9,000 exhibits and artefacts ranging from a 700,000-year-old Stone Age shaped flint to a piece of barbed wire taken from the Berlin Wall, marks the return of one of Germany’s most important cultural landmarks to the reunited city.

The event was described as a second miracle for Berlin after the fall of the dividing wall two decades ago. Michael Eissenhauer, general director of the city’s museums, said the occasion was thrilling. “There is a wonderful electrifying power here,” he said. “I won’t ever experience a moment like this again in my life.” Pride of place is occupied by the 3,400-year-old bust of Queen Nefertiti, the Neues Museum’s star exhibit, which has been reinstalled in its former resting place after spending the last days of the Second World War in a German salt mine and 29 years in a museum in the old West Berlin. Other exhibits include a ceremonial golden Bronze Age “wizard’s hat” more than 2ft tall, dating from 1,000 BC.

The reopening of the museum also signified the final stage in the restoration of the 19th-century city centre “Museum Island” complex commissioned by the Prussian kaisers, after an interval lasting 70 years. “It is like the missing pearl being finally added to a necklace,” said Hermann Parzinger, president of Germany’s Prussian Cultural Foundation.

The complex was closed to the public in the autumn of 1939 and badly bombed during the Second World War. The Neues Museum suffered several hits during a Royal Air Force raid in 1943. Invading Red Army troops further damaged the building and plundered one of its most priceless exhibits, King Priam’s treasure, the collection found by the German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann. That was taken to Moscow where it is still housed in the city’s Pushkin Museum. East Germany was unable to pay for repairs to the museum after the war.

As part of the restoration concept, Chipperfield chose to leave many of the wartime scars inflicted on the building untouched. In the main entrance, originally constructed in 1855 to a design by the German architect Friedrich August Stüler, the walls remain stripped back to bare brick. Inside, Chipperfield has installed an elegant modern staircase of white cement and marble.

He admitted that restoring a war ruin was a task unlike anything he had done before. “We felt very strongly that we should hold on to the original material,” he said, “but that was a very difficult thing to describe to the public and there was a lot of emotional anxiety about what this would mean in the end.” Despite harsh criticism from some interest groups, the restoration has been widely praised.

US pop diva Madonna (C) prays at the tomb of Ha’Ari Ha’Kadosh, or Rabbi Isaac Luria Ben-Shelomo, at the ancient cemetery in the northern Israeli city of Safed, on Sepetmber 4, 2009 after her ‘Sticky and Sweet’ tour concert in Tel Aviv?s Yarkon Park in Israel. Getty Images

Madonna declared Israel to be “the energy center of the world” and draped herself in an Israeli flag

Bloomberg | Sep 5, 2009

By Calev Ben-David

Pop star Madonna capped a week-long visit to Israel by joining Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sarah at their Jerusalem residence Friday night and helping them ceremonially usher in the Jewish Sabbath.

“The singer Madonna and her Israeli manager Guy Oseary were hosted Friday evening in the Prime Minister’s Residence for the welcoming of the Sabbath. Mrs. Netanyahu and Madonna performed together the lighting and blessing of the ceremonial candles,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a text message to reporters.

The singer gave two concerts in Tel Aviv this week to conclude her world-wide “Sticky and Sweet” tour, between visits to local Jewish holy sites motivated by her interest in a popularized form of the traditional Jewish mysticism known as kabbalah.

At one concert Madonna declared Israel to be “the energy center of the world” and draped herself in an Israeli flag handed her by an audience member. Two years ago she made a private visit to Israel in which she attended a kabbalah seminar in Tel Aviv.

While her two concerts together drew some 100,000 Israeli fans, Madonna’s visit also attracted criticism from both Jews and Palestinians. Hania Bitar, director-general of the West-Bank based Palestinian Youth Association for Leadership and Rights Activism, told the Ynet news Web Site that Madonna should have also spoken out against Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.

A prominent Israeli scholar of traditional Jewish mysticism, Rabbi Yitzhak Batzri of Jerusalem’s Shalom Yeshiva, told the Arutz-7 news Web site that “there is no connection between what the singer learns and true kabbalah,” and condemned her performances as immodest.

The Roman-Catholic born entertainer, who said in a 2004 televison interview she also wants to be known by the Jewish name, Esther, has studied for several years at the Kabbalah Centre, a Los Angeles-based organization that teaches a popularized form of the ancient Jewish mysticism.