During the U.S. occupation of Iraq, an archaeological finding of remarkable value is made at the site of a mediaeval fortress near Tikrit. Charged with recovering looted Iraqi antiquities, a young American officer named Harry Carpenter is assigned the task of investigating the site. Upon inspection, an Islamic shrine at the site yields a startling discovery that could plunge the region into religious violence. Meanwhile, in London, Geoffrey DeLisle, an operative of the British government, engages the services of a prominent and idiosyncratic archaeologist, Dr. Angus MacDonald. MacDonald`s initial reticence is overcome by his intellectual curiosity when he is invited to partially excavate the Iraqi site, extracting the provocative and potentially inflammatory remains, and documenting their significance in his private London laboratory. Assisted in his labors by Lily Morgans, a brilliant but slighted graduate student, and Maggie Selatiel, a tutor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the University of Oxford, Angus begins to unravel one of the greatest mysteries of the ages-and to reveal a centuries-old conspiracy, breathtaking in its scope and ambition.