by Brad Ricca
“Parker Family Archive”: See Montefiore.
“Morley”: Earl of Morley, letter to author, September 16, 2017.
Dr. Nirit Shalev-Khalifa: Nirit Shalev-Khalifa, audio message to author, February 23, 2021.
Monty’s original documents: Mark and Olivia Parker, interview with author, August 26, 2020.
“Call me Mark”: ibid.
“my most respectful tributes”: Parker Archive.
ten full boxes: Valkoinen.
“tools, clays, and stones”: ibid.
correspondence about the cupboard: Israel Antiquities Authority, Silwan-Confiscation of Antiquities, Montague B. Parker’s Excavation ATQ_1870a (27 / 27).
“in someone’s home”: Author, email to Fawzi Ibrahim, November 8, 2020.
“diameter: 13.5 cm”: Fawzi Ibrahim, email to author, November 9, 2020.
“life in these hills”: Underground, 31.
copper mountain: “Jewish God Yahweh,” Haaretz, April 11, 2018, haaretz.com; Adam Gonnerman, “Yahweh’s Forge,” Medium, July 15, 2019, medium.com; Nissim Amzallag and Ariel David, “Furnace Remelting as the Expression of YHWH’s Holiness: Evidence from the Meaning of Qannāʾ (קנא) in the Divine Context,” Journal of Biblical Literature 134, no. 2 (2015): 233–52.
metal pails: Ronny Reich and Eli Shukron, “Light at the End of the Tunnel,” Biblical Archaeology Review 25, no. 1 (1999): 22–72.
EPILOGUE
Saltram as a museum: Mary, “Saltram Comes to Life,” Devon Daily, June 11, 2013, thedevondaily.co.uk. “Lady Astor” is supposed to be “Nancy Astor.” There is a priceless photo of “Monty” and “Lady Astor” that can be easily found on Pinterest. Thanks to Dave Lucas for help describing Monty’s spectacular sport coat.
Saltram: See Johnson. The film Sense and Sensibility (1995) was filmed at Saltram.
Astrippus and His Companions: Antonio Zucchi, Aristippus and His Companions After Being Shipwrecked Seeing Mathematical Diagrams and Realising the Land Was Inhabited, NT 872168, Saltram, Devon (Accredited Museum), 1768, nationaltrustcollections.org.uk/object/872168.1. Thanks to Louise Ayres for the invaluable help in establishing where the painting was in Saltram and that it was there for the duration of Monty’s life there.
pencil drawings: Margaret Holford, Countess of Morley, Art / Drawings and watercolours 22208, Saltram, Devon (Accredited Museum), 1855–1908, nationaltrustcollections.org.uk.
the dentist: J. W. Rinzler, The Complete Making of Indiana Jones (New York: Del Rey, 2008), 14–18.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
KEY SOURCES CITED IN THIS BOOK
Foley, Cyril P. Autumn Foliage. London: Methuen & Co., 1935.
The Holy Bible, King James Version. Cambridge Edition, 1769. King James Bible Online, 2021. kingjamesbibleonline.org.
Juvelius, Valter (as Heikki Kenttä), Valkoinen kameeli ja muita kertomuksia itämailta, Helsinki, Finland: Otava Publishing Co., 1916. Unpublished translation, n.p.
Kavaler, Lucy. The Astors: A Family Chronicle of Pomp and Power. New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1966.
Millen, Johan. På rätta vägar: Davids forntida stad upptäckt: Israels tio stammar återfunna (äro icke judarna). Stockholm: A.-B. Hasse W. Tullberg, 1917.
Parker Archive, Yad Ben-Zvi Archives, Captain Montague B. Parker Archive.
Stewart, Timo R. Valter Juvelius ja kadonneen arkin metsästys. Helsinki, Finland: Otava Publishing Co., 2020.
Vester, Bertha Spafford. Our Jerusalem: An American Family in the Holy City, 1881–1949. New York: Doubleday, 1950.
Vincent, Hugues. Underground Jerusalem: Discoveries on the Hill of Ophel, 1909–11. London: H. Cox, “Field” Office, 1911.
Warren, Charles. Underground Jerusalem. London: Richard Bentley, 1876.
Warren, Charles, and Charles Wilson. The Recovery of Jerusalem: A Narrative of Exploration and Discovery in the City and the Holy Land. New York: D. Appleton, 1871.
RESEARCH SOURCES
Backholer, Paul. The Ark of the Covenant. Byth Media, 2018.
Baigent, Michael, Richard Leigh, and Henry Lincoln. Holy Blood, Holy Grail. New York: Delacorte, 1982.
Buron, Melissa E. James Tissot. New York: Prestel, 2019.
Carew, Mairead. Tara and the Ark of the Covenant. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy, 2003.
Coetzer, Owen. The Anglo-Boer War. London: Arms and Armour Press, 1996.
Dalman, Gustaf. “The Search for the Temple Treasure at Jerusalem.” Palestine Exploration Quarterly 44, no. 1 (1912): 35–39.
Fishman, Louis. Jews and Palestinians in the Late Ottoman Era, 1908–1914: Claiming the Homeland. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2021.
Horovitz, Ahron. Discovering the City of David. Jerusalem: Koren, 2015.
Israel Antiquities Authority. Jerusalem: Biblical Archaeology. Jerusalem: Carta, 2017.
Johnson, Ceri. Saltram. Great Britain: National Trust, 1998.
King, Charles. Midnight at the Pera Palace. New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 2015.
Kingsley, Sean. God’s Gold. New York: HarperCollins, 2007.
Landay, Jerry M. Dome of the Rock. New York: Newsweek, 1972.
Masterman, E. W. G. “Recent Excavations in Jerusalem.” Biblical World 39, no. 5 (1912): 295–306.
Millgram, Abraham E. Jerusalem Curiosities. Philadelphia: Jewish Education Society, 1990.
Montefiore, Simon Sebag. Jerusalem: The Biography, New York: Knopf, 2011.
Moore, Alan, and Eddie Campbell. From Hell. Marietta, GA: Top Shelf, 2004.
National Geographic Society (U.S.), Cartographic Division. “The Holy Land.” National Geographic Magazine. Washington, D.C.: Cartographic Dept., December 1963.
Price, Randall. In Search of the Temple Treasures. Eugene, OR: Harvest House, 1994.
Rinzler, J. W. The Complete Making of Indiana Jones. New York: Del Rey, 2008.
Robinson, Bruce. They All Love Jack. New York: Harper, 2015.
Rubenhold, Hallie. The Five. Boston: Mariner Books, 2019.
Silberman, Neil Asher. Digging for God and Country. New York: Random House, 1982.
Sladen, N. St. Barbe. The Real Le Queux. London: Nicholson, 1938.
Von Daniken, Erich. Chariots of the Gods. New York: Berkley, 1999.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thank you—first of all, most of all—to you out there who are reading and thinking and listening. I wrote this book during a tough time for all, and for so many of you, unimaginable. I thought of you while writing this book. I hope these words find you in a better place.
I’ve been waiting to write this book for almost forty years. Thanks to Scott Mendel, my agent, ally, and friend of over ten years, When I first told him about this idea years ago, he instantly recognized not only the audacity of the story itself, but what it meant to me. And though we knew there were going to be many hurdles in its development, he said, “You are going to write this book.” It took me many years to figure out how to do so, but he was right, and his faith and encouragement in helping me write stories about things that matter to me is priceless.
Thanks to my editor, Michael Homler, on our fourth book together. Did he pitch this book with the aid of an action figure and the John Williams soundtrack crescendoing in the background? Of course he did. Thanks for your support, my friend—on this book, which you played a key part in, and in more important, far more difficult pursuits—as we both were home for a year with our small kids doing our best.
Thanks to the teachers and friends who informed parts of this book in real life and in my memory: Dr. John Romano, Dr. Britton J. Harwood, Dr. Gary Lee Stonum, Dr. Beverly Saylor, Dr. Patricia Princehouse, Dr. Peter McCall, Mike Sangiacomo, Dr. Tim Beal, and Rev. Clover Reuter Beal.
Thank you to all the librarians and archivists who were able to help me—and especially to those who couldn’t because their beloved books were locked away due to the pandemic. Thanks especially to Ann Sindelar and Madelin Evans. And to Louise Ayres and Zoe Sherman for their great help at the magnificent Saltram.
Thank you to Jeff Trexle
r, who embodies the words of a mutual friend: “There is a right and a wrong in the universe and the distinction should not be hard to make.” Your friendship, your help, and your propensity to help others inspire me.
To Mac’s Backs (macsbacks.com), the Ohioana Library Association, the Cleveland Arts Prize, and Susan Grimm for their support.
Thanks to my St. Martin’s Press family: Cassidy Graham, Hector DeJean, John Morrone, and Danielle Prielipp, who is a creative inspiration every time we talk. And a special thanks to Diana Frost for her care and powerful expertise. I am grateful to Dr. Angela Gibson for her terrific eye. I also dedicate this book to Sue Llewellyn, for her rich life in books.
Thanks to the various experts I consulted on things: Michael Pace of shotbypace.photography, Dana Keithly, David Landau, and Aura Nurmi. Sincere thanks to Charlotte McDurnan, John Richardson (a gentleman and a scholar). Also to Sherri Jackson, Felicity Cobbing, and Ivona Lloyd-Jones. And to Father (and Dr.) Jean-Michel de Tarragon of the École Biblique in Jerusalem for his help and generosity.
Thanks to my unforgettable Spring 2020 Graphic Narratives class at Case Western Reserve University. And to my new friends on Broxton, the best Halloween street of all.
To my colleagues in the ongoing expedition of the Parker story, I am honored to be part of your company: Dr. Nirit Shalev-Khalifa, for her utter generosity to someone new, and also a great tip of the hat as she was the one to finally bring the Parker archive to the world; Graham Addison, for his encyclopedic knowledge and absolutely brilliant organization of the archive itself; Dr. Ozan Ozavci, for his help on Cavid Bey, and to Dr. Louis Fishman, not only for his first, revelatory discovery in the Ottoman Archives, but for helping me to find my way through a time and place I was unaccustomed to. There are more stories to tell from all of these explorers and I cannot wait to hear them.
A special thanks to the Parkers, Lord and Lady Morley; aka Mark and his lovely wife. Mark’s generosity in sharing the archive unconditionally has given us a gift that is beyond any treasure: a good story. And great thanks—and much respect—to Olivia Parker, a crusader and friend. Olivia was a great help to me and it was always a very welcome email conversation to talk Monty, all the way from the other side of the globe. As I sat at home and did research, she was the adventurer. Not only will her story be powerful, but if anyone can find the Ark, it’s her.
To all my friends who understood Raiders from day one on Gershwin Drive and later on in the Nerd Herd. Special thanks to Chris Kelly, for always representing. And to Chris Strompolos, Eric Zala, and Jayson Lamb, who inspired me to actually do something about my favorite movie.
Love to my family: Nancy, Chris, Steph, and Sally, for helping us out, always, even if from six feet away. When this is over, we are all going to Disney World. For my Aunt Shirley, who inspires me. For Steve and Elaine and the rest of the family. On the New York side: Theresa, Richard, Bobby, Aunt Liz, and Alexa in Paris. Everyone: you know who you are—instead of some line in a book, I can’t wait to see you in real life.
For my boys—James, Brandon, and Alex—who are going to see Raiders soon. You guys are everything to me; never forget that. And for Caroline, who is the one person I don’t have to think up some incredibly over-the-top dramatic line about, because she already knows. This was the year I quit my day job to take care of the boys while she taught high school math behind a face shield. My hero. Love you—love all of you.
And thanks to my parents, who took me to movies of all kinds and let me read what I wanted. They let me find as much wonder as I could possibly imagine, from Little House on the Prairie to Fangoria. Not as mindless escape, not really, but as a means of understanding the world—not only as it is, but what it might be.
INDEX
The index that appeared in the print version of this title does not match the pages in your e-book. Please use the search function on your e-reading device to search for terms of interest. For your reference, the terms that appear in the print index are listed below.
Aaron
Abdülhamīd II, Sultan
Abraham
Addison, Graham
Alami, Faidie Effendi al-
Alexander the Great
Alexandra, Queen
Allah, Habib
American Colony
Anna Spafford Baby Home
Anubis
“the Architect”
Aristippus
Ark of the Covenant
in battle
hiding place of
present location of
secrecy of mission to locate
sought by the Syndicate
value of
See also cipher
Armenians, genocide of
Arnold, Chief
Ascot races
Assyrians
invasion of Judea
Astor, Alice
Astor, Ava
Astor, John Jacob
dies in Titanic sinking
Astor, Madeleine Force
Astor, Nancy
Astor, Vincent
Azmi Bey, governor
Babylon
bat, attack by a
Baumgarten, Rachel (young woman serving rabbi)
Bible, study of
Birket Israel
Birtles, Sergeant
black star
blood canal
Boer Wars
Bohner, Charles H.
bones, in tombs
Boys’ School of the London Mission to the Jews
calendar, biblical
Canaan
Canaanites
Carnarvon, Earl of
Carter, Howard
Cavid Bey, Mehmet
Cecil, Marion
Central News Agency
Chemosh (a god)
Christian pilgrims
Christians
Chronicles
cipher (Juvelius’s)
texts generated by
Clermont-Ganneau, Charles
Colony Club
Constantinople
cupboard of antiquities
Curtis, William E.
Curzon, Lord
Danaf, Khalil El-
David
Deutsch, Mr.
digging
rainy season bringing end to
rights, granted by Turks
speed of
Dome of the Rock (Haram al-Sharif)
archeological digs of
digging to side of it
digging under it (incident)
history of
shooting of two tourists inside
tours of
Dominicans
Dragon Shaft
climbing it
Dragon’s Well
Duff, Robin
Dung Gate
Easter
École Biblique
Edward VII, King
Effendi, Mahrumi
Egyptian artifacts
Eliahu, Jacob
Ezekiel
Ezekiel, Book of
Field of Blood
First Temple (Solomon’s Temple)
building of
Foley, Cyril
anecdotes told by
Fort, Charles
Foundation Stone
Freemasons
French archeologists
“The Friend”
Fuller, George A.
Gabriel
galleries II, IV, and XV (Siloam tunnel system)
Gehenna
German archeologists
Gihon
Gihon Spring
God, unknown name of
gold
Great War
guards
gunmen, Moslem
Hadrian
Haggard, H. Rider
Hakeldama
Halil Bey
Haram
hell (Gehenna)
Herod the Great
Hezekiah, King
Hezekiah’s Tunnel
Hezekiel, King
Hinnom
&nb
sp; Hinnom Valley
HINNON
Hoppenrath, Axel Werner
Hoppenrath’s wife
horses
Husayni, Hussein Bey al-
Iass, Kissam
Ibrahim, Fawzi
inscriptions
graffito of Jack the Ripper
O, Y, and Q shapes
Isaac
Isaiah
Isaiah, Book of
Israelites
Jack the Ripper
Jacob (brother of Bertha Vester)
Jaffa
Jaffankatu
Jebus
Jeremiah
Jericho
Jerusalem
in 1867
in 1880
mayor of, in 1869
Jerusalem Headquarters of Antiquities
Jerusalem main drain (sewer)
Jewish quarter
John 9
John Venn & Sons
Jordan River
Joshua
Judas Iscariot
Juvelius, Dr. Valter
arrives in the Near East
book by
break-in to hotel room of
cipher of
in Dead Sea valley
dealing with Hoppenrath
discussed by Millen
and Hakeldama
later years
meets Monty
meets the rabbi in the ghetto
in newspaper accounts
pursued by the rabbi
reports and letters of
scholarship of
Kaufman, Philip
Kemal Pasha, Mustafa
Kenttä, Heikki
“The Key”
Khalidi, Ruhi
Kidron
Kidron Valley
1 Kings
2 Kings