The Pillars of All Knowledge

This book is built around the following statement made by Flavius Joseph in his book Antiquities of the Jews, c. 94 AD.  "It is written that the pillar of all knowledge remains in the land of Siriad, to this day, "  The book begins with the creation of the Pillars at the beginning of recorded time, and moves into modern time where one of the Pillars is found by chance in modern day Iraq by a Team of US Army Special Forces (Green Berets) during the Gulf War.
 Following the Gulf War, the book then moves to developing and implementing a plan to extract the Pillar and associated historical artifacts from post war Iraq. The recovered items are analyzed by various experts to determine their age, composition and chemical makeup, as well as interpreting ancient Chaldean writing and symbols found with the artifacts.  The book contains elments of the Bible, the works of Josephus, US military operations, the oil production business, cattle ranching, and scientific research.
 Not only is it a fictional history, but it is also a love story between the main character, who is a US Army Green Beret, and the daughter of a Texas cattle rancher.  It keeps the reader engaged to know "what happens next."