Digging Up Armageddon: The Search for the Lost City of Solomon

Digging Up Armageddon: The Search for the Lost City of Solomon by Eric H. Cline

Eric Cline has written many other books that describe details of ancient civilizations that archeologists have discovered. In this book, he focuses instead on the archeologists themselves. The focus is on the dig for "the lost city of Solomon". The site had many layers of artifacts, some of which are still being uncovered. 

Most of the work done was done between the world wards by Rockefeller-funding groups from the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago. These had plenty of problems working together. This is to be expected with people traveling across the world to spend huge amounts of time together working with others. Some people didn't get along. Others had extreme prejudices. Others were just a product of their time. Wives would often accompany the men, but did not do much work until the end. Some people just did not get along with each other. There were mixtures of local workers with out of towners. Great discoveries were made, but there were also plenty of mistakes made. The work came to an abrupt close due to World War II. The return was prevented by looting and damage to the site. 

The book was not what I had expected. It does, however provide a counterpoint to the archeology of Indiana Jones. These guys were working at the same time, but not quite the same glamor of those in the movie.