THE QUEST FOR THE LOST COVENANT ARK THE OF P'vT’, ’ ~"N archaeology/history/ $22.00 RELIGION THE SIGN AN D THE SEAL GRAHAM HANCOCK This major work of historical detection and true adventure reveals how Graham Hancock located the Ark of the Covenant after a search that began in 1983. Acting on the traditional beliefs of millions of Ethio- pian Christians and Jews that the Ark was somewhere in their country, Hancock embarked on a quest that would take him through archives in Europe, and to remote corners of the Third World as well as Israel and Egypt. In the course of his investigation he discovered vital connections between this awesomely powerful sacred object and the Knights Templar, the legends of the Holy Grail, Parsifal, and the saga of the Falasha Jews in Ethiopia. The Bible, in more than two hundred detailed references, describes the Ark of the Covenant and delineates whereabouts up its until the time of Solomon (970-931 b.c.). After that vanishes from the Bible and it from the temple built by Solomon to house the Ark. In this engrossing book Hancock (continued on back flap) DISCARD * »«» riw a fiv rt i» trt f APR Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2017 with funding from Kahle/Austin Foundation https://archive.org/details/signsealquestfor00hanc_0 The and Sign the Seal ‘And as concerning the Ark of the Covenant . . . the work thereofis marvellous. It catcheth the eye by force, and astonisheth the mind and it stupefieth it'with wonder. It is a spiritual thing and is full of compassion; it is a heavenly thing and is full of light; it is a thing of freedom and a habitation ofthe Godhead, Whose habitation is in heaven and Whose place of movement on the is earth . . Kebra Nagast Ethiopia, thirteenth century , O (P) h 0®*?+ :Q C Y IH1 + A rh £ 01+ v : : ) : • W VI T + Y : ft 't A <F> L : • • Also by Graham Hancock Journey through Pakistan Ethiopia: the Challenge ofHunge AIDS: the Deadly Epidemic Lords ofPoverty African Ark: Peoples ofthe Horn The and Sign the Seal The Quest for the Lost Ark of the Covenant Graham Hancock CROWN PUBLISHERS, INC. NEW YORK —— © Copyright 1992 by Graham Hancock All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Published by Crown Publishers, Inc., 201 East 50th Street, New York, New York 10022. Member of the Crown Publishing Group. CROWN is a trademark of Crown Publishers, Inc. Manufactured in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Hancock, Graham. The sign and the seal the quest for the lost Ark of the : Covenant Graham Hancock, / cm. p. — 1. Ark of the Covena—nt Miscellanea. 2. Ethiopia Description and travel 1981- 3. Hancock, Graham — Journeys Ethiopia. I. Title. BM657.A8H36 1992 7— 916.304 dc20 91-39041 ' CIP ISBN 0-517-57813-1 987654 21 10 3 First American Edition Contents Acknowledgements •• Vll Legend I I i Initiation 3 2 Disenchantment 23 II Holy Ark and Holy Grail 4i The Grail Cipher 3 43 4 A Map to Hidden Treasure 74 White Knights, Dark Continent 89 5 6 Resolving Doubts 121 A Secret and Never-Ending Quest 152 7 Labyrinth III 189 8 Into Ethiopia 191 Sacred Lake 200 9 io Ghost in a Maze 219 And David danced before the Ark 238 1 1 . . . A IV Monstrous Instrument 271 12 Magic ... or Method? 273 Treasures of Darkness 3i3 13 V Where is the Glory? 357 14 The Glory is departed from Israel 359 Hidden History 400 1 5 16 Door of the Southern Countries 43i VI The Waste Land 465 17 Supping with Devils 467 vi Contents 1 8 A Treasure Hard to Attain 476 References 517 . * Index 589