The Lost Book of Moses: The Hunt for the World's Oldest Bible

A gripping account of one man's
quest to find the oldest Bible in the world and solve the riddle of the
brilliant, doomed antiquities dealer accused of forging it.

 

In
the summer of 1883, Moses Wilhelm Shapira--archaeological treasure hunter,
inveterate social climber, and denizen of Jerusalem's bustling marketplace--arrived
unannounced in London claiming to have discovered the world's oldest Bible
scroll. Written centuries earlier in the barren plains east of the Dead Sea and
stashed away in caves, the mysterious scrolls called into question the divine
authorship of the scriptures, taking three thousand years of religious
faith and turning them upside down. When news of the discovery leaked to
the excited English press, Shapira became a household name. But before the British
Museum could acquire them, Shapira's nemesis, French archaeologist Charles
Clermont-Ganneau, denounced his find as a fraud. Humiliated, Shapira fled the
country. Six months later he was dead.

 

With
the discovery of the eerily similar Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947, investigators reopened
the case, wondering whether the ill-fated merchant had, in fact, discovered the
first Dead Sea Scroll, decades before the rest. But by then Shapira's scrolls had
vanished.

 

Tigay,
award-winning journalist and son of a renowned Bible scholar, set out to find
the scrolls and determine Shapira's guilt or innocence for himself. The globetrotting
hunt that follows vibrates with the suspense of a classic detective tale. Weaving
meticulous research into fast-paced storytelling, Tigay spins a remarkable tale
of history and theology; intrigue and scandal; greed, ambition, and the
struggle for authenticity. With a brilliant eye for detail, Tigay takes us from
restricted storerooms at the Louvre to musty English attics to a flooded
Jordanian gorge--and to the German countryside where he meets Shapira's
aggrieved descendants.

 

At once historical drama and modern-day mystery,
The Lost Book of Moses brings to life
19th century London and Jerusalem and a cast of rogues, reverends, and relic
hunters at whose center sits Moses Wilhelm Shapira, a flamboyant, ingenious,
and ultimately tragic personality.