History
THE REAL INDIANA JONES: The Middle East, Archaeology, and Hollywood--the True Story of Professor Edgar J. Banks
Dr. Ewa Wasilewska
While silver screen archaeologist/adventurer Indiana Jones is a fictional creation, if he were modeled after anyone it could be Professor Edgar J. Banks. As an archaeologist, Banks organized, with the help of the Rockefeller family’s money, the second American expedition to Iraq. But too much success cost him his job and reputation, resulting in one of the biggest cover-ups in the history of academia—involving the University of Chicago. As an explorer, Banks crossed the Middle Eastern deserts before Lawrence of Arabia, and was the first American to reach Mt. Ararat’s summit—in search of Noah’s Ark. As an antiquities dealer, he brought home at least 20,000 cuneiform tablets for scholars to study. Initially praised, his former peers condemned him.
When hired as a consultant by a secret Hollywood movie company (Sacred Films, Inc.) to produce silent movies based on the Old Testament, Banks became an unwilling witness to two scandals covered up by the Famous Player-Lasky Corporation (Paramount Pictures). The movies disappeared, documents were “accidentally” burned in a fire, and almost all papers leading their production to Cecil B. DeMille were destroyed.
Dr. Wasilewska’s documentation includes private letters, public articles and documents, de-classified information from the U.S. government, rare old personal photographs, authentic cuneiform tablets, and stills from the secret, sacred and lost movies.
When hired as a consultant by a secret Hollywood movie company (Sacred Films, Inc.) to produce silent movies based on the Old Testament, Banks became an unwilling witness to two scandals covered up by the Famous Player-Lasky Corporation (Paramount Pictures). The movies disappeared, documents were “accidentally” burned in a fire, and almost all papers leading their production to Cecil B. DeMille were destroyed.
Dr. Wasilewska’s documentation includes private letters, public articles and documents, de-classified information from the U.S. government, rare old personal photographs, authentic cuneiform tablets, and stills from the secret, sacred and lost movies.
Ewa Wasilewska was born in Gdansk, Poland. She has conducted archaeological/anthropological fieldwork and traveled extensively (alone!) through the Middle East, Central Asia, Malta and China. Dr. Wasilewska is an Associate Professor/Lecturer at the Department of Anthropology and the Middle East Center, University of Utah.
