Book description
Professor Tudor Parfitt, a real-life British Indiana Jones, has made
the biggest discovery of the last 3,000 years - the secret location of
the fabled Ark of the Covenant. In 2006, he made an incredible journey
to its final resting place and in February 2008 he will reveal this to
the world. This is the amazing story of his quest.
This is the real-life account of Professor Tudor Parfitt's remarkable
discovery - of the lost Ark of the Covenant that disappeared from the
Temple of Jerusalem centuries ago. The holiest object in the world, the
Ark of the Old Testament contains the tablets of law sacred to Judaism,
Christianity and Islam. Scholar, orientalist and adventurer, Parfitt
embarked on an incredible journey to discover where the Ark is hidden,
and when he reveals his discovery history books will be rewritten forever.
Parfitt's quest took him on an incredible detective trail across the
Middle East and Africa. His search led him to ancient documents and
codes in Oxford and Jerusalem, and even to discoveries in modern genetic
science, for clues to take him closer to the Ark.
But some people didn't want the Ark to be found. In the wilder reaches
of the Yemen he narrowly escaped being kidnapped by Islamist fugitives.
In Africa he was shot at, ambushed and arrested. Amongst crossing paths
with a motley crowd of mystics, holy men, charlatans and politicians, he
encountered a strange tribe in the mysterious lands of the Limpopo River
who claimed that they knew the Ark's final resting place.
When Parfitt finally set eyes on the Ark, it wasn't at all where he
expected. His revelation of its whereabouts will cause an international
story with an effect on Judaism, Islam and Christianity that may be the
most controversial in history. Reviews for Tudor Parfitt's previous books:
'Parfitt writes like a dream.' Observer
'Parfitt …is a British Indiana Jones.' Wall Street Journal
'A rare mixture of scholarship and travelogue. There isn't a dull line
in the book.' Sunday Telegraph
'Parfitt reveals a rare talent for combining rigorous academic
standards with a sense of drama, an elegant style and, most pleasing of
all, the eye for fine detail of a first-class travel writer.' Mail on Sunday
'This is an exceptionally good book, lucidly written and exhibiting all
the craftsmanship of a first-rate detective novel.' Weekend Telegraph
Tudor Parfitt is Professor of Jewish Studies at London's prestigious
School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) and Fellow of the Oxford
Centre of Hebrew and Jewish Studies, and has written widely on the
history of the Jews of Africa and Asia. In 2006 he was appointed
Distinguished Visiting Fellow at Harvard University. As a broadcaster he
wrote and presented 'In Search of the Sons of Abraham' for Channel Four,
has written a number of documentaries for the BBC and was the subject of
an episode of CBS's 60 Minutes. He has travelled widely through remote
areas of Africa and Asia and divides his time between London and the
Templar region of the South Aveyron.
