It didn't happen, but it could have, says the author of a new novel that blends the worlds of archaeology, politics and terrorism into a thriller that is already being compared to "The Da Vinci Code."

The first-time author, Daniel Levin, will be at a book-signing for "The Last Ember" (Riverhead Books) at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 19 at Barnes & Noble in Old Orchard in Skokie. The debut novel has already drawn praise from the likes of Elie Wiesel, who writes in a book-jacket blurb that it "represents a much-needed literary protest against modern and ancient historical revisionism."

Writing a novel was not on Levin's mind when, after graduating from Harvard Law School, he clerked on the Israeli Supreme Court, he said in a recent phone conversation. While in Israel, he discovered that illegal excavations were taking place beneath the Temple Mount. The Israeli Antiquities Authority is powerless to stop them, he says, because the site is under the jurisdiction of the Waqf Authority, an Islamic land trust that has controlled it since the 12th century.

Levin had a special interest in the subject since he received his undergraduate degree, from the University of Michigan, in Roman and Greek civilization. "As a classics student, it was amazing to me to see this real-life destruction of the past," he says. "The Islamic land trust is destroying Judeo-Christian ruins beneath the Temple Mount so as to deny any connection between Judaism and Christianity and Jerusalem."

Once he began exploring the subject, "I knew there was a novel there," he says.

The plot involves the young protagonist's search for a hidden 2,000-year-old artifact sought throughout the ages. Along the way, he discovers both an ancient intelligence operation designed to protect the artifact and a modern plot to destroy it.

Against this backdrop, Levin says, the reality is that "in the last 30 years, especially in the last 10, we've discovered 20,000 tons of archaeologically rich soil (from the Temple Mount) that have been dumped. Ruins, including glass from the Second Temple era, have been intentionally smashed beyond any recognition. Pottery shards of pots that were used for ritual washing, jewelry, everything was methodically destroyed and the strata mixed to prevent anyone from being able to identify them."

It's a practice that goes much farther back than the modern era, he says. "Historical revisionism is nothing new and no one was better at it than the Roman emperors," he says. "Emperor Titus' ambition was to physically erase the Jewish connection to the Temple Mount just like the current Waqf Authority. This seemed to me very rich fodder for narrative."

Becoming a visiting scholar at the American Academy in Rome also helped. "My research really took wings there," Levin says. "I had Renaissance-era manuscripts at my fingertips. I felt like I had a shot at this - being able to tell a story with a really big canvas that raced around the Mediterranean and could give 2,000 years of history in a day and a night with the protagonist running for his life." The novel's action all takes place within a 24-hour period.

"I wanted to tell a fast-paced story, an international thriller set in the modern day that would entertain and educate the readers as to deadly historical revisionism and its ancient predecessor," he says. "To take the reader from the (Roman) Coliseum through biblical-era tunnels to the Temple Mount could make the ancient world seem as relevant as our own. I hope I can bring a real-life situation to people's attention."

Levin, now an international lawyer living and practicing in New York, couldn't have written a more timely book. A bill in the U.S. Congress would stop the Waqf Authority's destruction beneath the Temple Mount.

Invariably, "The Last Ember" invites comparisons to Dan Brown's blockbuster "Da Vinci Code," which deals with some of the same subjects.

"It's a welcome comparison if people like my book as well as they liked that one and think the themes and pace have as much energy," Levin says. "I hope to bring a real-life situation to people's attention. Not only my hero must confront it, but we all must confront it."