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Product Description
God's Gold charts the fate of the greatest religious treasure in history, the key symbols of the Jewish faith -- looted from the Temple of Jerusalem. The golden candelabrum, silver trumpets and bejewelled table were ransacked by the Roman emperor Vespasian in AD 70. They were cast adrift in Mediterranean lands, which saw 550 years of turbulent history and the rule of four different civilisations. Now, only an intriguing trail of clues remains as to their whereabouts. The Temple treasure is an immeasurably precious hoard, but it has yet greater significance as a symbol of man's communications with God. The gold is central to Israel's dreams for messianic redemption and its discovery could signify the return to an age of biblical sacrifice. Using untapped historical texts and new archaeological sources, Sean Kingsley reveals the incredible history of this treasure, its composition and religious, political and financial meaning across the ages. Unexpected discoveries send him on a physical pilgrimage to trace the treasure's destiny, which exposes facts more astonishing than fiction.
About the Author
Sean Kingsley is a London-based archaeologist. He specialises in the Holy Land, where he discovered and researched the largest cluster of ancient shipwrecks in the eastern Mediterranean. He is Managing Editor of Minerva, the International Review of Ancient Art and Archaeology, and Visiting Fellow at the Research Centre for Late Antique and Byzantine Studies at the Reading University. He writes for various popular magazines. This is his sixth book.
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This is a well-researched book that attempts to locate what is arguably the greatest lost treasure in human history - the Second Temple treasure of Jerusalem. It reads like a thriller in places, but there's no doubting the efforts the author made to establish his case. His conclusions may well be right but, like one other reviewer, I did sometimes find myself wondering why he was placing so much faith in sources that seemed to me to be somewhat vague or questionable at best.
And there was at least one error - I think it's now generally accepted that the Essene community at Qumran was neither an ultra-religious Jewish sect nor anything to do with the Dead Sea Scrolls, simply because there's not a shred of empirical evidence to link the two, but the author still points to the large number of Jewish ritual baths, or miqva'ot, on the site as proof of this hypothesis. The latest research suggests that these are nothing more than ordinary water cisterns, and that Qumran was almost certainly a secular, not a religious, community.
But, overall, a good and absorbing read.
And there was at least one error - I think it's now generally accepted that the Essene community at Qumran was neither an ultra-religious Jewish sect nor anything to do with the Dead Sea Scrolls, simply because there's not a shred of empirical evidence to link the two, but the author still points to the large number of Jewish ritual baths, or miqva'ot, on the site as proof of this hypothesis. The latest research suggests that these are nothing more than ordinary water cisterns, and that Qumran was almost certainly a secular, not a religious, community.
But, overall, a good and absorbing read.
This book tells the interesting story of the author's expedition to find out what happened to the priceless treasure and religious symbols taken from Jerusalem by the Romans after the sack of the Temple of Jerusalem by them in AD70.
Another theory put forward in a different but related book is that Alaric, chief of the Goths, who sacked Rome in AD410 took the gold. This possibility receives scant attention here and I think that the book would be improved if this possibility was considered.
Also at points I felt the book went off on a slight tangent into details that were not necessary for the story (eg the Jewish monastries in the hills and the economy surrounding them).
Overall though it's well worth reading this book.
Another theory put forward in a different but related book is that Alaric, chief of the Goths, who sacked Rome in AD410 took the gold. This possibility receives scant attention here and I think that the book would be improved if this possibility was considered.
Also at points I felt the book went off on a slight tangent into details that were not necessary for the story (eg the Jewish monastries in the hills and the economy surrounding them).
Overall though it's well worth reading this book.
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