This is an amazingly fascinating book of adventure and scholarship where Parfitt sets off in search of answers to a centuries old puzzle: does the Ark of Covenant still exist and if so where is it? It is full of well researched details. I highly recommand it.

Tudor Parfitt extends his interesting research on a lost Jewish tribe located in South Africa to the puzzling story of the location of the Lost Ark of the Covenant. The book is interesting, but is not convincing. Mr. Parfitt too readily dismisses many alternate theories without much evidence, based on his own hunches. For example, when considering the look of the ark, he says he just does not believe that the Jews could have made such an item in the desert, and put gold lefing on it. They were there for a while, and probably had set up some type of society. They may not need much gold to cover the ark. Further, the ark could have been gold plated at a later date, and the scribes who wrote exodus could have been referring to the ark they knew - after it had been fixed up - so to speak.

He also dismisses other hiding places for the ark without much comment. I wont give it away.

Don't get me wrong - there is some interesting stuff in this book. But the thesis of the book is not well supported. The ark's final resting place and design? I wont give it away - but he does not have many cards in his hand. Very dissapointing.

There has been a television special aired on his thesis of the History Channel. I would watch this first, and then decide if you would like to commit to reading the entire book.

Today's word, children, is vainglorious. It means: Characterized by or exhibiting excessive vanity; boastful. And I can think of no better word for a man who finds a stinking old drum in a jungle in Africa and claims to have found the Ark of The Covenant.

Think of it this way, the equivalent is myself finding an old Dixie cup in my backyard and claiming it was the Holy Grail! Or if I found an old Burger King crown in a dumpster and claimed it was the royal diadem of an antediluvian king of Sumer! Don't throw out that old greeting card, it may perchance be a cuneiform tablet containing a lost epic Akkadian poem!...Ok, I think I made my point.

The height of the author's (Tudor Parfitt, who will henceforth be referred, ingratiatingly, as Parfait) vainglory resides in the fact that although he believes the Bible when it comes to the existence of the Ark of the Covenant, he completely ignores, or attempts to refute the description that the Bible has for the ancient artifact. Parfait actually believes that the Bible was telling the truth about the existence of the artifact, but lied about its presentation. In other words, he is so vainglorious that he actually believes a personal whim of his over the ancient writings that documented the artifact's existence in the first place. That, my friends, is vainglory.

In this book which would make an excellent installment in the Indiana Jones series if not for the fact that the author actually expects you to believe it, Parfait travels throughout the world looking for the lost tribes of Israel and the Ark in question, getting shot at and evading, gracefully, a number of other pitfalls. Throughout this tall tale, the author claims that he is aided by charlatans, crooks, and scheming politicians. Birds of a feather, flock together.

As I previously mentioned, Parfait finds a rotting, stinking drum found in the African jungle among a tribe of African-Americans. Oh wait, they don't live in America, so I guess that just makes them Africans. Well, how can `African' be a race unto itself? Oh well, liberals never did make much sense, anyway, let's just say a tribe of black people, sorry if that offends, I just don't know the PC term for an African-American that isn't American.

Claming that this black, African tribe are descendants of the ancient Israelites is asinine. Next thing you know this guy will be telling us that Jesus was a poor black man that was `lynched for our sins' ala Rev. Wright. The ancient Israelites were Semitic, olive skinned people. They were not black. The ancient Egyptians, were not black. Get over it. If our teachers were actually teaching instead of putting prophylactics on bananas then maybe people would know this.

To make matters worse, he then goes onto claim that this drum isn't the real Ark of the Covenant, simply a remake of the destroyed original. I'm not making this up. Therefore, he's saying that the real Ark of the Covenant was a rotting, stinking drum, but just not this rotting, stinking drum. Sorry, Parfait, this isn't a movie and your readers don't have a willing suspension of disbelief. That really sums things up, children. Don't read this book. Don't watch the documentary. Don't take Parfait seriously.

The cover and the claims on it put me off. However when I started reading this book I could not put it down. It is beautifully written, the characters are great and the story is both informative, psychologically rich and exciting. The question of whether what this Brit found was the ark or not seems pretty irrelevant - but for my money his rather modest claims seem quite credible - that this is the last thing on earth in direct connection with the original ark. The genetic evidence he marshalls is quite rmearkable. The chapter on Papua New Guinea, snakes and until recently cannibals was very amusing, and the fast moving writing towards the climax of the book was so gripping I could not leave it.

Tudor Parfitt is a British (technically "Welch") scholar and a non-Jew with a scholarly fascination with Hebrew culture. I've read most of his books, including his writings about the lost tribes of Israel, and while all are interesting and engaging, this is one of his best. In writing about his adventure to find the Ark, Parfitt spins quite a tale, interlaced with an enjoyable blend of personal narrative, eccentric characters, and expository text. His final discovery and conclusions are controversial, and he takes quite a bit of liberty in biblical interpretation, but his adventure is appealing to anyone interested in the fascinating subject.

Tudor Parfitt is a British (technically "Welch") scholar and a non-Jew with a scholarly fascination with Hebrew culture. I've read most of his books, including his writings about the lost tribes of Israel, and while all are interesting and engaging, this is one of his best. In writing about his adventure to find the Ark of the Covenant, Parfitt writes an engaging narrative, interlaced with an enjoyable blend of personal narrative, eccentric characters, and expository text. His final discovery and conclusions are controversial but his adventure is appealing to anyone interested in the fascinating subject.

If you are looking for an authoritative and informative book on the Ark of the Covenant, my advice is for you to keep looking and pass this one by. If however, you are looking for information about the lost decendents of ancient Isreal, this is for you. I also get the distinct impression that Mr. Parfitt is one of those types that only looks for those facts that fit his particular theories. I can't quite buy into them. Mainly because he doesn't seem to have any respect for anyone's religous beliefs and constanly refers to them as "cults". He doesn't believe that the ancient Isrealites had the tools, material or ability to construct a gold covered ark, even though they were the artisans and craftsmen of Eygpt and had all of the spoils of Eygpt with them. Doesn't seem to bother him that they made a golden calf to worship though. Wonder how they did that? He discounts all the testomony of the power and presence of God and replaces it with a crude wooden drum and theories of gunpowder or some other inflammable material. If you are interested in the history of the Lemba, by all means buy this book. It has some interesting parts, but nothing that I would consider relevant to the present whereabouts of the Lost Ark of the Covenant.

This is a fascinating book, but it's value is more in the history of the Lemba tribe than the Ark itself, frankly. The discovery of another "lost tribe" is a big deal, and Parfitt does a great job with that. But the focus on the Ark seems a bit odd the way he approaches it.

The emphasis seems to be on the physical ark itself, the container itself. But that rather misses the point. It's finding the things from INSIDE the Ark that matters. That's the reason everyone is searching for it to begin with. Finding a 2500 year old container is nice, but that's hardly the stuff that re-defines our world. But finding the Tablets of Moses from inside the Ark, now that's what everyone is after! That's what matters!

So the focus on this "drum" seems entirely beside the point. That's the point where the book lost me. How does this drum in any way connect back to the stone tablets? That's the important issue, and it's not properly addressed.

I loved reading this book. I found Parfitt's study very intriguing and his ability to link clues together fascinating. I am just curious why he left his treasure where it was for others to fight over...why didn't he take it where other scholars could study it? There is much detailed information in the first chapters. Towards the end, just when the story is heating up, he seems to end the book abruptly.

However, still a fascinating read! I highly recommend!

I am surprised that no one else has reviewed this book yet. So, as unqualified as I my be, I have decided to do so. "Lost Ark of the Covenant" is a page-turner containing new ideas about the whereabouts of the Ark of the Covenant. While it may be an exciting travel book, the factual information seems a little iffy. I have trouble believing what Mr. Parfitt thinks to be the Ark actually is. I'll grant its amazing that the Lemba of southern Africa have the "Moses Gene" and I don't doubt that they did come from Yemen and possibly Israel before that. But the idea that their 'ngoma' or wooden drum is the Ark seems a little far fetched to me. Additionally, the author's premise that the Ark actually was an early "weapon of mass destruction" seems a little more than unlikely.
Another thing about the book that bothered me was that Mr. Parfitt never tells whether or not the Gogodala of Papa New Guinea are of Jewish descent or not. He did the DNA testing. Why not include the results in the book, positive or not? This only leaves the reader frustrated.
Some events in "The Lost Ark" seem to work out too perfectly. It seems to me that he disregards some Ark locations too quickly (eg. It can't be under the Temple Mount because people have been looking there for so long.)
While I don't believe Parfitt's theory, I still had a hard time putting the book down. The real-life adventure was exciting, and the history (most of it) piqued my interest. I would certainly recommend reading this book. Perhaps Mr. Parfitt can convince you of his theory and I am just a stubborn reader.
I'm not sure why this book hasn't made a bigger splash. It seems that recently every year around March/April there is a new biblical mystery/conspiracy in the news (Da Vinci Code, Tomb of Jesus.) I have a feeling this may be this years, but so far "The Lost Ark" hasn't reached the limelight.