About this title: Here is the first report of the most astonishing archaeological discovery since the opening of Tutankhamen's tomb: the exact location of the long-lost Ark of the Covenant. This is a story as thrilling as the exploits of Indiana Jones and as significant as the excavation of Troy. 16-page photo insert.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Touchstone Books, NY
Date Published: 1993
ISBN-13:9780671865412ISBN:0671865412
Description: Good. No dust jacket as issued. 1993 Touchstone soft cover. NOT EX LIB! Clean but tanned pages with light reading wear, spine is not creased, some edgewear with tanning, mild cover scuffing & chipping. Glued binding. 608 p. Contains: Illustrations. read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Touchstone Books
Date Published: 1993
ISBN-13:9780671865412ISBN:0671865412
Description: Fair. No dust jacket as issued. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 608 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: General/trade. damage to first 100 pages read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Crown
Date Published: 1992
ISBN-13:9780517578131ISBN:0517578131
Description: A wonderful copy with some minor edgewear to the cover. Dust Jacket has some edgewear present. -, Hard Cover, Very Good / Very Good. read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Former Library book. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Very Good. Great condition for a used book! Minimal wear. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Touchstone Books
Date Published: 1993
ISBN-13:9780671865412ISBN:0671865412
Description: Fair. No dust jacket as issued. Highlighting/underlining. Underlining in text. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 600 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: General/trade. read more
This book is a trip, almost literally. I never read with my rose glasses.... You know, prove it, I'll believe it. So I went to several Ethiopian web sites, and it seems everyone in Ethiopia claims the Ark IS there. Hmmm.... So far, the main delight is the view of European history from a different, and if the author is correct, very enlightening angle. From Pope Clement V, Vasco de Gama, the Masonic Rite.... I am seeing some aspects of European history in a different light, and I admit the hook is in my mouth. As for the Ark, I'll keep reading.... The supposition is that it has been in Ethiopia for about 2,900 years. So much can happen in 3,000 years.....
Ok, my review:
Ever see a movie that was full of excitement and action from start to almost end, and then, as if the director suddenly ran out of money, the movie just stops, ends; almost no resolution?
Maybe not; I have. That is this book. It just stops, bamb. No answer.
That doesn't make it a bad book, in fact, this book will go on my book shelf, instead of all the many boxes of books Brenda & I have packed away. This is 'Raiders of the Lost Ark', inreal life. I finished a few days after I bought the book. As above, it has great value in getting one to look at history from a different angle. Veracity? Hmmm... I checked some of the events in the book and those I checked seemed accruate; but I never found out if Sir Issac Newton was a freemason. Irony has my reading the autobiography of Ariel Sharon just after reading Sign and the Seal. He actually mentions the evacuation of Ethiopian Jews to Israel, and also the issues of their beliefs and customs which are expounded on in the Sign book.
So, is the Ark of the Covenant in Africa? Great book, but no answer. The Ark travels in public from time to time, but it is always covered. The author was not allowed near it. So the Ark is there, or it isn't. I guess the future will let us know. Despite the lack of a resolution, the book it great, and pertinent to current events, or perhaps I should say it has portent. That, along with the action and history, is why I give it five stars. The Ark, if returned to Israel, would belong in a new Temple, a Temple which belongs on the Temple Mount, which is now occupied by The Dome of the Rock. That is a political time bomb."
"If you're a fan of history, or distant lands, or treasure finding, or mysteries, or are just intrigued by the notion that there may indeed be more truth to "Raiders of the Lost Ark" than meets the eye, then look no further. This book takes you through a journey of all of the above, and is tied up very smoothly by Graham Hancock and his gift with words."
"This was really a fascinating, compelling read despite (or because of?) the fact that I found the author both arrogant and repellent, and most of his theory just laughable. He argues that the Ark of the Covenant and the Holy Grail are one and the same, cunningly disguised and coded by a Templar plot which includes all Perceval/Wasteland authors (except the Welsh ones). He very conveniently leaves out any scholarly, literary and biblical evidence that doesn't support his theory, and while most of what he suggests (indeed, believes) leaves me boggled by its preposterous nature (the Ark appears to have been some kind of radioactive/nuclear device powered by meteorites???), every now and then he points out something that I find both convincing and intriguing.
And then he fails to back his own argument! No mention of the emperor Iyasu's fatal skin disease... so similar to the mysterious "leprosy" that afflicts those who come in the presence of the Ark--Iyasu being the Ethiopian emperor who, in the late 17th century, had more than one deep and meaningful heart-to-heart with the Ark which had not allowed anyone before (or since) to see it.
Hancock was (though he claims to regret) not only in Mengistu's employ, but appears to have been a confidant and supporter of Mengistu and his regime, which really does make me cringe. I don't know if it makes me cringe less or more when Hancock describes his attempt to shove his way into the very private sanctuary of the Holy of Holies at the Timkat festival in Gondar. Urgh. He does get soundly beaten up for the effort, but at the time it doesn't change his plans for attempting the same thing in Aksum (where the REAL Holy of Holies is supposed to be...)
While I just can't quite bring myself to believe the theory of Ark as Infernal Machine, it is a brilliant theory to entertain. This is why I write fiction. If this book were presented as fiction, it would be a knock-out.
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I nearly had a fit, cackling away, when he referenced the Monymusk Reliquary (not even by name--I recognized it by its description, though he names it in the notes) as a battle-winning mini-Ark, and then discovered in my own forgotten notes to another book that I had made exactly the same connection about a year ago. (And immediately forgotten about it. The Monymusk Reliquary, of fine 7th (?) century Celtic craftsmanship, is in the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh and for reasons obscure has become something of a family obsession. Maybe we are all in fact obsessed with the Ark?)."
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