[jeffc]

I don’t think the Ark is in Ethiopia. If so, why wouldn’t they return it to Israel, the rightful owner? Other countries return artifacts to the place of origin all the time...

[jjotto]

Everyone loves a good tourist attraction, especially one that never has to be seen.

[Dr. Sivana]

If so, why wouldn’t they return it to Israel, the rightful owner? Other countries return artifacts to the place of origin all the time...

And many don't. Perhaps they fear that the wrong folks would put it in danger or otherwise misuse it.

[Leaning Right]

> I don’t think the Ark is in Ethiopia. <

Italy occupied Ethiopia from 1936 to 1941. I’d guess that if the Ark were there, Mussolini would have moved heaven and earth to find it.

[Pelham]

“I don’t think the Ark is in Ethiopia. If so, why wouldn’t they return it to Israel, the rightful owner?”

The Ark disappears from history just prior to the Babylonian conquest and exile of the Jews.

So if there is any truth to the Axum story the Ark would have been spirited out of Jerusalem ahead of the Babylonian invasion.

It might have been taken to a Jewish community on Elephantine Island in the Nile where there was a small Temple. That community seems to have existed while Egypt was under Persian rule. Around 400 BCE the Egyptians booted the Persians out and the Elephantine community ceased to exist. So were the Elephantine Jews killed off, assimilated, or did they escape? Maybe they fled south into Ethiopia, taking the Ark with them. It’s all speculation.