- last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT
Up until recently, I always glazed over the mobile Covenant city of High Charity. That is, until I read First Strike. At that time, I was reading through the forum at HBO when someone posted a crazy theory about the Ark being the same kind of artifact as High Charity. I began thinking about various explanations (namely the Covenant’s knack for emulation). But then in my Bible reading in the Old Testament, I came upon the phrase “high places” a lot. Everytime I saw it, I kept thinking of High Charity. Well, with a little research, this is what I’ve uncovered.
Old Testament Hebrew Lexicon
1. high place, ridge, height, bamah (technical name for cultic platform)
a. high place, mountain
b. high places, battlefields
c. high places (as places of worship)
d. funeral mound
The word “bamah” is used exactly 100 times in the Old Testament with these four definitions. It is always translated high place in reference to one of these four locations. Often, one must respect the context in this situation to understand what it means in any given passage. But to the Jews (and seemingly to the Covenant as well) all 4 definitions often overlap. Especially with the warrior-centric mentality of the Elites, to quote Bungie’s Primer to the Covenant, “Elites prefer to demonstrate their faith on the battlefield not the temple.” (http://www.bungie.net/News/TopStory.aspx?story=covenanthiera rchy&p=41894)
This is resounded by the tendency for the Prophets (and in turn the rest of the Covenant) to make anything Forerunner-ish “holy”. A weapon of mass destruction is a battlefield, a temple, as well as a funeral mound. This could also be an indication as to the significance in the naming of Burial Mounds. It could show that though the Covenant no longer occupies the space, an entire base was built (and ruined) there because they had such respect for their dead (and the cause for which they died).
This led me to look for the significance of this word to High Charity as we know it. This was first sparked by a passage in Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy 33:29 says:
“Happy art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people saved by the LORD, the shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thy excellency! and thine enemies shall be found liars unto thee; and thou shalt tread upon their high places.”
That last phrase, “and thou shalt tread upon their high places” really got my attention. Not only is that a prophetical passage in the book, but I believe it doubles as one in the game. Certainly it can be reasoned that in Halo 2 when you were fighting in High Charity, you were ‘treading’ upon that high place. The intent of Master Chief and the bomb that was sent out was to destroy this place, and if Cortana is not corrupted, we may just see this high place destroyed and desecrated. Also, if you remember in Halo 2, the Prophet of Regret said,
“Yet the humans were able to evade your ships, land on the Sacred Ring, and desecrate it with their filthy footsteps?”
This is another fulfillment of the “treading upon their high places” prophecy. The other 99 times that this word is used in the Old Testament, it shows reverence to spiritual things, as well as contempt for the false religions of the heathen. It shows serene sanctuary for the Israelites, but a blinding hatred for the tainted lands of the enemy. In this way, I see the prophets reflecting this in their “high” places.
As I was looking through the various passages concerning high places, I came upon an interesting passage concerning the nation of Moab (one of Israel’s enemies). Isaiah 16:12 says,
“And it shall come to pass, when it is seen that Moab is weary on the high place, that he shall come to his sanctuary to pray; but he shall not prevail.”
It is saying that when Moab comes to the end of itself, when it turns to its sanctuary, it shall not prevail. We all know that this is what all Covenant (the alien) theology is based on “The Great Journey” of the Forerunner. Gravemind alludes that this is the activation of Halo. We know that the Covenant is now falling apart at the seams with civil war, the destruction of the armada with the first Halo, and the slipping war with humans (thanks to the actions of Master Chief at the end of First Strike). I think that the Prophets are going to become desperate and go to their sanctuary (Halo) to pray (and subsequently activate Halo) and not prevail (die…and take everyone with them).
In searching, I found some interesting notes on the history of Moab. Moab means “of his father”. In a similar way, the prophets follow their “fathers” in everything. They emulate the technology, and treat the Forerunner as gods. Moab was always closely related to Israel (see: humans) in every way imaginable…except one. You see, in the beginning of Moabite history, the Moabites lived together with the Israelites, as they shared a common ancestor. But as time went on, the two nations separated because of wildly varying religion. Eventually, their appearance began to differ slightly, into even today, as a trained eye, can distinct a Jew from a Jordanian (modern day descendant of Moab). The religions differed because Israel believed in one God, and the Moabites believed in many different gods. Eventually, the Moabites were completely separate from the Jews, despite the proximity to Israel. This is just an interesting support for the Forerunner = Covenant = Human theorists in the room.