[Depicted in Indiana Jones and the Genesis Deluge, the fourth novel in the series published by Bantam Books, written by author Rob MacGregor - released in 1992]
After tragically losing his wife Deidre in a plane crash while trying to escape the Amazon a year prior, Indiana took a needed break from any adventures and was confined to his work at London University, where he had been teaching Celtic archaeology.
It wasn’t long after, however, that Indiana soon lost his position due to a lack of focus and requesting a leave of absence for fieldwork, and he was soon back in Chicago with his old friend Jack Shannon who was now immersed in the underground crime scene.
While catching up on old times Indy & Jack are soon accosted by Al Capone and his men, who forcefully demand that Jack and his brothers pay them a percentage of their earnings at a local night spot.
The following morning Indy & Jack attend a church where they hear a speech by a Russian doctor who claims to have discovered Noah’s Ark during a recent visit to Turkey, who along with his daughter Katrina was looking to hire a team of scholars to travel back to the site and authenticate it.
After both of Jack’s brothers are gunned down in the mob dispute, the two friends decide to accompany the doctor on a train to New York, where they all boarded a ship to Istanbul to carry out the mission.
Upon their arrival Indiana visits the Hagia Sophia and kisses Katrina inside of the temple, although their short romance is interrupted when a pack of men come to assault and kidnap them, in which a struggle ensues yet Indy is ultimately no match for their power.
Having been drugged Indiana wakes up three days later in a wagon traveling through Cappadocia, where Katrina surmises that they likely had been followed by the Bolsheviks, the Russian empire who feared that the Ark’s true existence would challenge their dominance and control.
Instead Jack and Dr. Zabolotsky learn that it was actually a surviving group of Janissaries who kidnapped them, as their Muslim faith required them to protect the Ark from anyone who’d reveal it before God himself on Judgement Day.
After being imprisoned for days Indy & Katrina are left to die in a maze of underground tunnels, yet they’re ultimately reunited with Jack and Dr. Zabolotsky who escape together with another chance to find the Ark near Mount Ararat.
Soon after the doctor’s legitimacy is called into question only to later be assassinated by actual Bolsheviks, though sometime later they actually do encounter a massive ship that resembled the stories of Noah, which had in fact been protected by the Janissaries who had laid out traps intending to kill them.
Shrewdly, Indiana engages in a firefight with the Janissaries which then triggers an avalanche, thus burying any evidence of the Ark after all.
Back in New York it’s revealed that Jack & Katrina are now a couple, yet Katrina gifts Indiana her father’s initial evidence of the Ark’s existence, of which Indy promptly replies that it belongs in a museum.
Thus mythology and legend that surrounds this adventure is:
Noah’s Ark - depicted in Genesis chapters 6-9 of the Bible, the Ark was the vessel or ship built by Noah that spared him and his family from a world-engulfing flood. It was said that God warned Noah about the impending flood and gave him instructions on how to build the Ark, in which seven days before the deluge he was told to enter the Ark with his extended family along with two of every living thing (mammals, birds, amphibians, etc.), to preserve life once the water cleared. As the fable is told the Ark stayed afloat for 150 days before coming to a rest at the Mountains of Ararat, where it’s been extensively searched for since 300 AD to present day. It should be noted that through Islamic faith the Quran tells a very similar story of Noah’s Ark, and flood myths are prominent in faiths of almost every religion and culture.
Judgement Day - Said to be the second coming of Christ and the final and eternal judgment by God, where in layman's terms the ‘good’ and holy are glorified and the ‘bad’ and evil are persecuted.
Two main groups of adversaries that Indiana encounters are the:
Bolsheviks - founded by Vladimir Lenin and Alexander Bogdanov, they were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) (apart from the other faction of Mensheviks) that was a socialist political party and the leaders of the revolutionary working class in Russia. After the first and very deadly attempt of a Russian Revolution in February of 1917, the Bolsheviks inevitably came to power in October of that year.
Janissaries - decorated infantry units that reigned during the Ottoman Empire (1299-1923) and operated under direct order from the Sultan, serving as his personal bodyguards, household troops, as well as the first modern standing Army of Europe. In the mid 1300’s they were first made up of young Christian boys who had been kidnapped and made slaves, subsequently then forced into Islam where they soon achieved noble status due to their strict discipline and internal cohesion. Unlike typical slaves they were always paid regular salaries for their work, yet they were forbidden from marriage to ensure their complete loyalty to the Sultan. By the mid 17th century their stringent policies were relaxed and civilians paid to become Janissaries, which depreciated their prestige and nobility in addition to their once favorable military record. After much resistance and revolt against their own Sultans, the Janissaries were captured, executed, and formally disbanded in 1826.
Main locations in this adventure are:
Istanbul - historically recognized as Constantinople and Byzantium - is the most populated city in Turkey and the country’s economic, cultural, and economic center. It’s location surrounds the Bosphorus Strait, which separates Europe and Asia between the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea.
Cappadocia - historical region in Turkey that dates back to 4th Century AD where volcanic eruptions created a distinct landscape made of natural wonders, which centuries later would be occupied by the Persians, Greeks, Romans, and Ottoman Empire before it became a part of the Republic that it is today. The region was known to have several underground cities with a variety of defensive traps in case of any invasion.
Hagia Sophia - Originally a church under Justinian rule it was converted to a mosque once captured by the Ottoman Empire in 1453, where it remained the world’s largest cathedral for nearly a thousand years until the Seville Cathedral was built in Spain. Hagia Sophia translates to Holy Wisdom in Greek and was always revered for its Byzantine design that changed the history of architecture. After the fall of the Ottoman Empire it was reformed to a museum, where today it is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the Republic of Turkey.
Mount Ararat - a snow-capped compound volcano that lies on the far east of Turkey and borders Armenia, that is widely thought throughout Christianity to be the final resting place of Noah’s Ark. Otherwise it is the highest peak of Turkey with the first official summit not recorded until 1829, and has been designated as the principle iconic symbol of Armenian culture.
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