Vendyl Jones facts for kids
Vendyl Miller Jones (born May 29, 1930 – died December 27, 2010) was an American scholar who studied the Noahide Laws. He was also an archaeologist who searched for important items from the Bible, like the Ark of the Covenant.
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Vendyl Jones's Life Story
Vendyl was born in Sudan, Texas. He earned a bachelor's degree in religious studies and a master's degree in theology from the Baptist Bible College. He also studied at the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and later with experts like Dr. and Mrs. William Bowen and archaeologist W.F. Albright.
From 1955 to 1956, Jones worked as a pastor at a Baptist church. He began to believe that some parts of the Bible that seemed to be against Jewish people were not in older versions of the texts.
In 1956, Jones left his pastor job and moved to Greenville, South Carolina. There, he started studying the Talmud Torah, which is a Jewish religious school. He learned from Rabbi Henry Barneis and Rabbi Max Stauber. As he learned more, he realized his earlier studies were incomplete. Jones then developed his own religious ideas based on the Noahide Laws. These laws are moral rules that non-Jewish people are encouraged to follow, while Jewish people follow the Mosaic Law.
Vendyl continued his studies and gave lectures from 1964 to 1967. He then started the Judaic-Christian Research Foundation, which later became the Vendyl Jones Research Institutes (VJRI).
In 1964, a discovery from 1952 was reported: the Marble Tablets found in Beirut, Lebanon. In the same year, the Copper Scroll was found in a cave at Qumran, West Bank. This scroll listed 64 hidden sacred items, including the Tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant. This discovery greatly inspired Vendyl Jones.
Moving to Israel and Archaeology
In April 1967, Jones and his family moved to Israel. He continued his studies at Hebrew University. While there, he became involved in archaeology. He even helped the Israeli army during the Six-Day War by spotting camouflage, thanks to his color-blindness. After the war, he joined an excavation team at Qumran. His work continued under Israeli law.
In the following years, Jones kept working in the Judean desert with his friend, Pessah Bar-Adon. He also worked at other sites like Tel Debir and the Citadel of Herod the Great in Jerusalem.
After 1972, Vendyl led eight excavations at Qumran. More than 300 volunteers helped him, and his work was funded by individual supporters of VJRI. He did not receive money from the government or other organizations. However, some experts like Joe Zias and Robert Elliot Friedman questioned Jones's methods and qualifications. He was also denied digging permits by Israeli authorities.
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In 1988, Jones's team found a small jug from the time of King Herod in a cave near Qumran. It contained what might have been balsamic oil, a special oil used to anoint kings. Jones believed it was the original balm of Gilead. This discovery was reported in the news.
In 1992, the VJRI team announced they found a hidden spot in the rock. It held a reddish, snuff-like material. Zohar Amar of Bar-Ilan University analyzed it. Jones thought the spot matched a description in the Copper Scroll. However, Amar said Jones was picking only the information that supported his ideas. Amar concluded that the substance was "borit" (which is lye), a cleaning material made by the people of Qumran.
Jones believed his archaeological finds had a special religious meaning for the future. He thought that when he found the ancient items he was looking for, God would be revealed to the world. He also believed all Jewish people would return to Israel, and there would be peace in the Middle East. He was also connected to a group of rabbis who tried to bring back the Sanhedrin (an ancient Jewish court) in 2004. In 2005, it was reported that he thought he would find the Ark of the Covenant by August 14, 2005. This date was the anniversary of the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple. But as the date passed, he said he was misquoted. He then hoped a drill would show the Ark's location in September, but he couldn't continue due to lack of money and needing more studies.
Noahide Movement Work
Vendyl Jones was very involved in the Noahide movement, also known as Bnei Noach. This movement is for non-Jewish people who want to follow the seven Noahide Laws.
Jones was an active member in the 2004 attempt to revive the Sanhedrin. He worked with Rabbi Yisrael Ariel and Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz. After this, the "Sanhedrin Institute for Noahide Development" was created. Vendyl led it for the Noahides. This movement was involved in a court case about a German Noahide settler. It also tried to help solve conflicts between different groups in Israel.
After Vendyl Jones passed away, the Noahide Nations organization, with his wife's permission, created the Vendyl Jones Scholarship Fund.
Vendyl Jones and Indiana Jones
Vendyl Jones claimed that a movie script about him was shared in Hollywood. He believed this script inspired the character of Indiana Jones. In his book, A Door of Hope: My Search for the Treasures of the Copper Scroll, he wrote that he never said he was the basis for Indiana Jones. He explained, "I cannot help that my name is Jones and that I happen to be looking for, among other things, the Ark... I have enjoyed the fame the film created... but I want to make it clear that I have never declared, 'I am the real Indiana Jones.'"
The story goes that a man named Randolph Fillmore, who had been on one of Jones's digs, wrote an early version of the script for Raiders of the Lost Ark. In this script, Vendyl became "Endy," then "Indy." However, the creators of the film, Philip Kaufman and George Lucas, said they came up with the idea of an archaeologist searching for the Ark. The name Indiana came from Lucas's dog, an Alaskan Malamute. The character was first called Indiana Smith, but Steven Spielberg changed it to Indiana Jones.
Jones later said on his website that he had no connection to the movie character and never received money from the producers. Other people often thought to be the inspiration for Indiana Jones include Hiram Bingham III, Colonel Percy Fawcett, and Roy Chapman Andrews. Experts say that explorers like these inspired adventure films from the 1940s and 1950s, which then inspired writers like George Lucas.
Books and Writings
In 1983, Vendyl published a book called Will the Real Jesus Please Stand?. This book covered ideas he had shared earlier on cassette tapes about mysteries of Israel and the Messiah.
In 2005, his book A Door of Hope: My Search for the Treasures of the Copper Scroll was published. In it, Jones wrote about his childhood, moving to Israel, and his archaeological digs. He ended by saying that even if he didn't find the lost ark, he found friendship with his co-workers and volunteers. He wrote, "...my search for the treasures of the Copper Scroll has allowed me to learn from some of the finest minds driven by the biggest hearts... maybe I found what I was seeking."
While running the Institute for Judaic-Christian Research, he also published a newsletter called The Researcher for his supporters.
Death
Vendyl Jones passed away on December 27, 2010, from throat cancer. His funeral was held in Grandview, Texas.
News and Interviews
- BBC News Real 'Raiders of the lost Ark
- Israel National News: Kabbalist Blesses Jones: Now´s the Time to Find Holy Lost Ark
- Israel News Radio
- The People: A Million a Minute - Time
- Quest: The Search for the Ark of the Covenant (documentary film) - IMDB
- The Strange Search for the Ashes of the Red Heifer - The Biblical Archaeologist, 1996 The Biblical Archaeologist
- Searching for Biblical Treasure - Radio interview with George Noony Coast to Coast
- Interview with Vendyl Jones - Israel National Radio
- Vendyl Jones's Search For The Lost Ark - Associated Press (Video)
- From the Pulpits of Tennessee to the Desert of Israel: Legacy of Spiritual Maverick Vendyl Jones Lives On - Breaking Israel News
- Masquerader of The Lost Ark: Is a renegade Texas archaeologist the real Indiana Jones? - Texas Monthly, 1992
- "Finding the Lost Ark" by David Margolis
See also
In Spanish: Vendyl Jones para niños
