Many amateur archaeologists have searched for Noah's Ark and the Ark of Covenant, but such quests have always ended in failure, despite claims to the contrary. Why is this? And why is it that no serious academic archaeologist will get involved in such misadventures? Cline debunks many of the looney hypotheses that have been presented by others and, for the first time, places all of these stories securely in their archaeological and historical contexts, with language and presentation that will appeal to the popular reader and scholarly rigueur that will appeal to the academic. Along the way, the relevant history and archeology of ancient Israel is presented in an exciting and readily - accessible manner, by one of today's rising stars in Biblical archeology.