Vendyl Jones
Vendyl Miller Jones (May 29, 1930 – December 27, 2010) was an American Noahide scholar who directed archaeological searches for biblical artifacts such as the Ark of the Covenant.
Vendyl came to believe that many apparently anti-Jewish statements in the gospels were "omitted in more ancient manuscripts" basing this claim on the "marginal notes" of an unidentified Bible.
In October 1956, Jones resigned the pastorate and moved to Greenville, South Carolina where he began his studies in the Talmud-Torah (a children's elementary religious school) under Rabbi Henry Barneis.
That same year the Copper Scroll was found in Cave #3 at Qumran, West Bank, which listed the hiding places of 64 sacred articles which included the Tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant.
[6][7] In the 1992 excavation, the VJRI team announced the discovery of a hidden silo in the bedrock that contained a reddish snuff-looking material that appeared to be organic in nature.
[8][9] It was analyzed by Zohar Amar of Bar-Ilan University who noted that "According to Jones, the site where the red material was found corresponds exactly to the description of the ‘‘Cave of the Column” referred to in the Copper Scroll."
He concludes that the substance found by Jones "is a cleaning material known in the ancient Hebrew as "borit" [lye] which was produced in this region by the inhabitants of Qumran and was one of their industries.
"[10] Jones believed his archaeology to have eschatological significance, and that when he found the ancient religious items he was looking for, God would be revealed to the world, all Jews will return to Israel, and there would be peace in the Middle East.
He then hoped that a drill-hole bore would reveal the Ark's location in September, but was prevented from proceeding due to lack of funds and the need for another environmental study required by the government.
[12][13][14] While attempting to find or grow a Red heifer in order to revive the ancient temple rituals, Jones was an active member in the 2004 attempt to revive the Sanhedrin along with Rabbi Yisrael Ariel head of The Temple Institute, and later worked with the President of the Sanhedrin Rabbi Adin Steinzaltz.
[17] This movement was prominent in a court case brought before the Sanhedrin, where a German Noahide settler was living in a contested settlement near Susya, Har Hevron and being evicted due to complaints by the Jewish settlers from nearby Bet Yatir, along with complaints by Arab former cave inhabitants in the vicinity who had been evicted.
[citation needed] He dedicates a chapter to the subject in his book A Door of Hope: My Search for the Treasures of the Copper Scroll stating he never claimed to be the basis for Indiana Jones.
'"[21] According to the story, a certain Randolph Fillmore Archived 2013-12-06 at the Wayback Machine, who had been on one of Jones's digs, wrote the first draft for Raiders of the Lost Ark; Vendyl became "Endy", then "Indy".
"[27] Other men more frequently identified as the inspiration for Indiana Jones are Hiram Bingham III, Colonel Percy Fawcett and Roy Chapman Andrews.
[26][28][29] A Smithsonian Channel analysis concludes that the similarities to these men was indirect, with explorers like these serving as the model for heroes in adventure films of the 1940s and 1950s, which inspired writers like Lucas.
