{"product_id":"readers-of-the-lost-ark-imagining-the-ark-of-the-covenant-from-ancient-times-to-the-present-9780197653883","title":"Readers of the Lost Ark: Imagining the Ark of the Covenant from Ancient Times to the Present","description":"The sacred chest said to have been built by the Israelites to house the stone tablets on which the Ten Commandments were written, the Ark of the Covenant has long captured the popular imagination. According to the Bible, the Israelites carried it with them as they wandered in the wilderness and entered the promised land. After the Temple of Solomon was built, the Ark was kept in an inner sanctum where God made his divine presence felt to the Israelites. The Hebrew Bible is unclear about what happened to the Ark after the destruction of the temple and offers vague accounts of its function. Despite (or because of) this ambiguity, the Ark continues to hold an important place in Jewish and Christian tradition, even in its absence, and has led to much popular speculation. Widely imagined and re-imagined, it is perhaps today best known in popular culture as the object sought by Indiana Jones in the 1981 film \u003cem\u003eRaiders of the Lost Ark\u003c\/em\u003e. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn \u003cem\u003eReaders of the Lost Ark \u003c\/em\u003eKevin McGeough explores the different ways people have interpreted and made sense of the Ark from ancient times to the present, in biblical literature, theological discourse, art, popular film, travel souvenirs, toys, faith-healing events, and alternative histories. The book recounts stories of people who have sought to find the Ark of the Covenant and examines how the Ark takes on new meanings in Europe, North America, East Asia, Ethiopia, and the modern Middle East.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eKevin M. McGeough\u003c\/strong\u003e is Professor of Archaeology and holds a Board of Governors Research Chair in Archaeological Theory and Reception in the Department of Geography and Environment at the University of Lethbridge. He is the author of the three-volume series\u003cem\u003e The Ancient Near East in the Nineteenth Century\u003c\/em\u003e and of\u003cem\u003e Representations of Antiquity in Film: From Griffith to Grindhouse\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Oxford University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51260055322898,"sku":"9780197653883","price":36.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_2880038b-79a9-415f-b25f-437c6d703331.jpg?v=1746635980","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/readers-of-the-lost-ark-imagining-the-ark-of-the-covenant-from-ancient-times-to-the-present-9780197653883","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}