It seems that the massive popularity of the Dan Brown thriller The Da Vinci Code has created a veritable cottage industry for books about the Knights Templar and the hidden treasure at Rennes-le-Chateau.

During a recent excursion to a local book store, I counted at least nine titles on the subject. Of course, all these efforts will be of varying quality, depending on the scholarship of the author.

This book is not about Rennes-le-Chateau, and whatever may or may not have been hidden there for centuries.

Rather, it is about the mysterious Ark of the Covenant, best known to the public through the first Indiana Jones movie Raiders of the Lost Ark.

The Ark supposedly is a gold chest-like artefact capable of wielding immense destruction. Some have speculated it originated with a highly advanced extraterrestrial or terrestrial civilisation.

Of course the traditional religious explanation is that the Ark harnessed the power of God.

At one point in time the Philistines captured the Ark and took it back to their capital city of Ashod. This did not do them a lot of good, as they appear to have lacked the knowledge on how to handle it.

When they tried to unleash it against rebel forces they were fighting, it not only killed the rebels, but the Philistines as well. The upshot was that before it was returned to the Israelites it killed over 50,000 people.

One aspect of the legend I had not heard before is revealed here. Only the high priest wearing the “Breastplate of Judgment,” studded with 12 precious stones (the Stones of Fire), was capable of handling this early Weapon of Mass Destruction safely.

The problem with books dealing with early Middle Eastern or Biblical matters is that often they are so full of detail about the religious and political history of the time, to the extent your eyes begin to glaze over.

It is a credit to the author that he largely avoids this pitfall and presents some unique theories in a popular readable form.

For example, he speculates that the ancient plagues of Egypt (locusts, frogs, etc.) may have originated from the immense volcanic eruption on the island of Thera, somewhere around 1360 BCE. Egypt was in a direct line of the fallout.

It is estimated this volcano was six times more powerful than the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa, which disrupted worldwide weather systems for several years thereafter.

Phillips has some unique ideas about the Biblical prophet Moses and thinks he may have been a full-blooded Egyptian named Tuthmose. Not much is known about this figure, but he was heir to the throne. His personal profile and that of Moses appear to match in a number of aspects.

Curiously, the tomb for Tuthmose was completed but never used. He vanished from history, and another member of the royal family, Akhenaten, became Pharaoh. Was it because Tuthmose was in disgrace for leading the displaced Israelites?

There is a tale the Ark still exists in the Ethiopian town of Axum, housed in the local chapel, but it has proved impossible to confirm whether it is genuine or a replica, as the religious authorities refuse to allow anyone with historical knowledge to examine it.

Other theories state it is hidden in Egypt, or never left the immediate vicinity of where it was originally housed.

If it is still in a cave, it may be impossible to locate due to the changes in topography. Certainly, what we do know is that the Israelites removed their precious artefacts and hid them, not once but several times, when their temples were looted and destroyed.

The last records were about 622 BCE and it is thought the Ark may have been removed during the Babylonian invasion, when the Jerusalem Temple was pillaged.

So, how do the Knights Templar figure in this scenario?

Phillips carefully traces what happened from the first reference to the Ark in the Bible, through the chaos of war and invasion to the tradition that Jeremiah had hidden valuable religious artefacts in a secret cave on Mount Sinai.

It appears that one Ralph de Sudeley was sent to command a Templar garrison in the Valley of Edom. After a stay of two years, he returned to England in 1189, suddenly becoming very wealthy.

The Templars ran afoul of King Edward II and even worse the Black Death of 1350, so whatever treasures they possessed, once again would have to be hidden.

The author says he became interested in the claims of a rebel Victorian historian named Cove Jones, who was either an accomplished liar, or had his hands on something of fantastic importance, which he had hidden with cryptic clues prior to his death in 1907.

Through some amazing synchronistic events, Phillips and his associates managed to locate three unusual stones, hidden for nearly a century, that they believe were part of the “Stones of Fire” arrangement. The fourth and final prize remains elusive.

Colour photos document these discoveries, including a strange red ball of fire at Farnborough Lake that the stones may have summoned.

Although any book dealing with ancient secrets is going to be largely a matter of speculation, Phillips makes a very credible case, and his long and winding search for the truth makes for a gripping narrative.

Definitely a cut above many other books relating to the Templar mysteries. Quite fascinating.

– Reviewed by W. Ritchie Benedict in New Dawn No. 93