God'S Gold

God's Gold explores the fate of the greatest biblical treasure in history, the central icons of the Jewish faith looted from the Temple of Jerusalem. The golden candelabrum, silver trumpets, and the bejeweled Table of the Divine Presence were plundered by the Roman emperor Vespasian and his son Titus in AD 70. These biblical treasures are cast adrift in Mediterranean lands and exposed to 550 years of turbulent history and the rule of four different civilizations; only an intriguing trail of clues betrays their ever-changing destiny. The Temple treasure is a priceless hoard, but it has yet greater significance as the ultimate symbol of man's communication with God. The gold's recovery is central to Israel's broken dreams of messianic redemption by building a new House of God on the Temple Mount and its hopes for a return to an age of biblical sacrifice. Using untapped historical texts and new archaeological sources, Sean Kingsley unravels the incredible history of this treasure; its character; and religious, political, and financial meaning across the ages. Unexpected discoveries send him on a physical journey to expose the treasure's destiny. From the Vatican to the Vandal palace of Carthage, Constantinople's hippodrome, and the wilderness of Judea, his remarkable quest reveals facts more astonishing than fiction.