<P> The first installment in the Indiana Jones film franchise , it stars Harrison Ford as archaeologist Indiana Jones , who battles a group of Nazis searching for the Ark of the Covenant . It co-stars Karen Allen as Indiana 's former lover , Marion Ravenwood ; Paul Freeman as Indiana 's rival , French archaeologist René Belloq ; John Rhys - Davies as Indiana 's sidekick , Sallah ; Ronald Lacey as Gestapo agent Arnold Toht ; and Denholm Elliott as Indiana 's colleague , Marcus Brody . </P>
what is indiana jones looking for in raiders of the lost ark
the Ark of the Covenant