The Sign and the Seal: The Quest for the Lost Ark of the Covenant PDF
Preview The Sign and the Seal: The Quest for the Lost Ark of the Covenant
The Sign and the Seal ‘And as concerning the Ark of the Covenant … the work thereof is marvellous. It catcheth the eye by force, and it astonisheth the mind and 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 is on the earth …’ Kebra Nagast, Ethiopia, thirteenth century Also by Graham Hancock Journey through Pakistan Ethiopia: the Challenge of Hunger AIDS: the Deadly Epidemic Lords of Poverty African Ark: Peoples of the Horn 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. 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. p. cm. 1. Ark of the Covenant—Miscellanea. 2. Ethiopia—Description and travel—1981– 3. Hancock, Graham—Journeys—Ethiopia. I. Title. BM657.A8H36 1992 916.304’7—dc20 91-39041 eISBN: 978-0-30782904-7 v3.1 Contents Cover Other Books by This Author Title Page Copyright Acknowledgements I Legend 1 Initiation 2 Disenchantment II Holy Ark and Holy Grail 3 The Grail Cipher 4 A Map to Hidden Treasure 5 White Knights, Dark Continent 6 Resolving Doubts 7 A Secret and Never-Ending Quest III Labyrinth 8 Into Ethiopia 9 Sacred Lake 10 Ghost in a Maze 11 And David danced before the Ark … IV A Monstrous Instrument 12 Magic … or Method? 13 Treasures of Darkness V Where is the Glory? 14 The Glory is departed from Israel 15 Hidden History 16 Door of the Southern Countries VI The Waste Land 17 Supping with Devils 18 A Treasure Hard to Attain References Acknowledgements First and foremost I want to thank Carol, my partner of ten years, for the precious gifts she gave me. Our marriage did not survive this book. I hope that our friendship will. Thanks, too, to my children: Sean and Leila, Luke and Gabrielle. You’ve paid a heavy price for your dad’s commitment to his quest. I mean to make it up to you. I’m enormously grateful to Donald and Muriel Hancock, to James Macaulay, and to Harold Elborn, for their constant support and interest, for their many readings of the evolving manuscript, and for the wealth of helpful suggestions and advice that they have offered. I would also like to put on record the appreciation that I feel for the invaluable contributions made by my friends Colin Skinner, Caroline Lasko, and Claire Lasko. As well as reading the manuscript at various stages, and commenting on it, they offered me consolation and solidarity in times of trouble and put up patiently with my often exasperating behaviour. In Ethiopia, Professor Richard Pankhurst was both a friend and a colleague to me. I’m honoured to have worked so closely with him. And in England I benefitted greatly from the input of a series of research assistants: Sadie Maine, Alex MacIntyre, Claire Wise, David Mestecky and Julia Hallawell. In addition, my Anglophone editors on both sides of the Atlantic, Tom Weldon at Heinemann, Jim Wade at Crown, John Pearce at Doubleday Canada, as well as my literary agents Bill Hamilton and Sara Fisher, have all shown an interest in this project and a commitment to it that has been above and beyond the call of duty. Many other people in many different walks of life have also helped along the way. Some would not want to be mentioned at all and others will, I hope, forgive me for not setting out here a list that would be too long for the available space. I cannot close, however, without expressing my very special thanks and gratitude to one person in particular – Santha, who took most of the photographs in this book and who saved my life. Graham Hancock, March 1992 Part I: Ethiopia, 1983 Legend
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