In the old crenellated church of Mary of Zion in Aksum, Ethiopia, an object is kept that emperors, patriarchs, and priests have assured the world is the most important religious relic of all time: the Ark of the Covenant. Are the legends true? Or is this story a monumental deception? In a triumph of historical detective work the acclaimed Ethiopia expert Stuart Munro-Hay traces the extraordinary legend of Ethiopia's Ark through ancient texts, local stories, from the Bible and from the writings of sixteenth and seventeenth century Jesuits up to modern times, before he reaches his conclusion. The Quest for the Ark of the Covenant settles the mystery of the Ark in Aksum once and for all.