The Morhekan Codex

The Morhekan Codex is a collection of works from the formation of the Morheka Sovereign-State. One of the few Sanghelios nations formed after the formation of the Covenant, the codex allows archaeologists to piece together the early history of the Covenant, and of the Sangheili. Many of its contents were later used as the basis for much of the Covenant's theological doctrine, and although presumed destroyed for centuries, it is still in remarkable condition. Discovered recently near the Morhekan capital city, Qur'anas, the artefact was discovered by peasant farmers. Human archaeological teams assisted Sangheili overseers in the uncovery of virtually thousands of relics, each containing precious information encoded within them by ancient scholars.

Creation
The Codex is actually comprised of four thousand memory capsules, items derived from Forerunner relics long before the Covenant was formed. Such artefacts have been in use for many hundreds of years, but the Morhekan Codex is the earliest known usage of these devices. Relatively crude and primitive by modern Sangheili standards, they nevertheless accomplish their task - each was encoded with a collection of holographic images and animations, as well as audio messages for future discoverers.

Various theories have been proposed as to why the Morhekans created the Codex. Some believe that the then-recent alliance between the Sangheili and the San'Shyuum threatened to erupt into a religious upheaval, with the contrasting phiolosophies tearing Sanghelios into a brutal civil war. This theory proposes that a sect of Sangheili priests encoded the sum of their knowledge and scattered it around their monastery to preserve their legacy for whoever found it. There is indeed an ancient monastary in the middle of the site, well known by the local inhabitants, and still used by local Sangheili religious officials. But it was built many centuries after the Codex was laid down.

Another theory claims that the Mopad incursion approximately 600 years ago forced theologians and philosophers to preserve their knowledge from the invaders, who were intent on reducing Morheka to an abandoned wasteland after centuries of territorial disputes. The invaders specifically targetted scientific and religious sites, hoping to destroy Morhekan knowledge and history, perhaps to erase the deeds of an ancestor, Elma 'Mopad, who is mentioned in The Ascension of Morheka. The stones are to precisely set to have been laid down so rapidly, however, and they form a complex geometric shape that would have taken months, if not years, or planning to form.

The most likely reason is that it was laid as the equivalent of a human Time Capsule - buried by ancestors to educate their descendants on their ways of life, their knowledge, and theirbeliefs. Indeed, Morhekan tradition lays much emphasis on the writing down and passing down of knowledge from parents to their children, to remind them that the ways of the past are not all worth rejecting. It may be that the Morhekan Codex is the ultimate extent to which the Morhekan people sought to pass their experience down.

Discovery
Originally, the site of the Codex was owned by a religious sect "Devotees of Sanghelios," which worshipped the Forerunners in the manner of the pre-Covenant Sangheili. This sect was persecuted during the Burning Crusade Against Heresy approximately five hundred years ago, and its followers scattered or slaughtered. Afterwards, the land fell to the Soitnam family, who rented it out to peasant farmers. Reports of strange objects being uncovered were paid no heed until three hundred years ago, when the Soitnam family, then in dire financial straits, were reabsorbed into the Morhekan Sovereign-State, and the extensive archaeological files of the Morheka began to turn up similar occurances. Over the next two hundred years, fourteen Memory Capsules were uncovered and transported to the Morhekan Library, where scholars worked to unlock their contents. Such work had proved fruitless until recently, when newly discovered knowledge of the Forerunners allowed the Library employees to unlock the first of fourteen stones.

It was this stone that allowed the Library to find the other Codex stones, though the sudden and violent outbreak of civil war within the Covenant threw the planet into chaos as it fought to repel the San'Shyuum and Jiralhanae occupiers from sacred soil. Afterwards, efforts were focussed on rebuilding the planet, with few resources to spare for archaeology.

UNSC Xenoarchaeologists offered their expertise to uncover and decipher the relics, in exchange for improved diplomatic relations and a small exchange of goods and technologies. With Sanghelios in such chaos, and the need to strengthen ties to any allies the Sangheili possessed, the Kaidon of Morheka, Qur'a Morhek, agreed readily. Over the next six months, Human and Sangheili worked to locate and excavate all four thousand memory stones, and work began on decoding it. While less than seven have been fully decoded, with information often shared between many stones to open a single message or file, a few files have been pieced together.

The Morhekan Ascension
The oldest tale of Pre-Covenant Morheka, it tells the story of the rise in prominence of Morheka The Kind, and the beginnings of the Morhekan Empire. Though many different variations exist, some adding or altering characters to suit dramatic convenience, the Morhekan Codex version is widely agreed to be the most accurate retelling of the real-life events.

Holy Scriptures
In addition to the story of its founder, the Morhekan Codex also contains numerous religious texts that predate the formation of the Covenant, or that were created to commemorate its founding.