The Lost Ark of the Covenant

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

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

About the author

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.