King Solomon the Bibles wisest king was possessed of extraordinary wealth. The grand temple he built in Jerusalem was covered in gold. Over the ages many have sought to find the source of the great kings wealth -- but none with so much flair wit or whimsy as Tahir Shah. Intrigued by a map he finds in a shop not far from the site of the temple Shah assembles a multitude of clues to the location of Solomons mines. From ancient texts to modern hearsay all point across the Red Sea to Ethiopia. Shahs trail takes him on a wild ride by taxi bus camel and donkey to the gold-bearing corners of this storied and beautiful country. He interviews the hyena man of Harar is hauled up on a rope to enter a remote cliff-face monastery and stumbles upon an illegal gold mine where thousands of men women and children dig with their hands. But the hardest leg of the journey is to the accursed mountain of Tullu Wallel where legend says the devil keeps watch over the entrance to an ancient mine shaft... Book jacket.
