The Gold of Exodus
The Discovery of the True Mount Sinai
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- $8.99
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- $8.99
Publisher Description
Mount Sinai. For many, it is the most sacred place on Earth—the site where God descended to give Moses the Ten Commandments. Yet for centuries, mankind has not known its exact location. In this heart-pounding true story, award-winning journalist and bestselling author Howard Blum tells the enthralling account of two modern-day adventurers—Larry Williams, a two-time Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate from Montana and a self-made millionaire, and his friend Bob Cornuke, a retired policemen and former SWAT team member. Lured by the prospect of finding the fabled fortune in gold that the ancient Hebrews took with them when they fled from Egypt, the two men set out to find the true site of Mount Sinai—with only the Old Testament as a guide.
Eminent biblical scholars at Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania have argued that Mount Sinai is not in the Sinai Peninsula at all, but rather in northwestern Saudi Arabia. However, they were never allowed into the kingdom to prove their argument. When Cornuke and Williams are also denied entry, they daringly sneak into Saudi Arabia. And what they discover at the mountain known as Jabal al Lawz will astonish the world—and inspire readers to rethink the role of the Bible in history. They find the remains of the stone altar at which the Golden Calf was worshiped, the twelve pillars that Moses ordered to be erected, the cave where Moses slept, and, most sensationally, the unnaturally scorched spot on the mountaintop where God gave Moses the two stone tablets. They also explain, in a fascinating account, the truth about the parting of the Red Sea waters. And not the least of their discoveries is the fact that one of the most sacred spots on earth is now a top secret Saudi military base. As these two adventurers follow in Moses' footsteps, they become pawns in a dangerous game of international power politics and intrigue, This action-packed tale—part high-tech treasure hunt, part modern-day spy thriller, and part biblical detective story—is riveting. And it is all true.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The search for the "real" site of Mt. Sinai, where Moses was said to have received the Ten Commandments, is the basis for this briskly paced and often comic nonfiction thriller from Blum (Gangland). The quest mixes the religious with the mercenary: the Bible says that before leaving the mountain, the Israelites buried the gold they had brought with them out of Egypt. An unlikely pair of American amateur treasure hunters--Larry Williams, an eccentric millionaire, and Bob Cornuke, a former SWAT-team leader from California--researched the subject and concluded that Mt. Sinai was not on the Sinai peninsula, as commonly believed, but was the mountain Jabal al Lawz in southwestern Saudi Arabia. The Saudis do not allow tourists into the country, but in 1988 Williams and Cornuke sneaked in on a forged visa. What they didn't know, and what adds a level of geopolitical irony to Blum's story, was that the Saudis had begun constructing a top-secret military installation on the mountain, and that Israeli intelligence was eager to learn about it. The result is a rather madcap adventure, as the two hapless, middle-aged Indiana Joneses deal with shady Arabs and Israeli spies in London, negotiate with bedouins for information and sneak past the Saudi army in the middle of the night, using only the Old Testament as a guidebook. While Blum's latest never quite builds to its promised climax, Williams and Cornuke's trip to the summit of what may or may not be one of the holiest mountains in the world is always wryly entertaining. 100,000 first printing; first serial to Vanity Fair; film rights to Castle Rock.