I'm completely agnostic on this. My guess is that there really was an Ark. It disappeared. It might be in Ethiopia. We'll see.
Many scholars think the Ark was really “lost†in some destructive accident after God withdrew his power. Some think there were several and one is even on display in a museum in Africa. It is what is left of a wooden drum that was suppose to have the power to strike down enemies in battle.
I´m with you on that. I remember seeing a doc on the History Channel about the various nomadic tribes in the region all having an Ark of some type or other that they used to carry their holy items and that was paraded before the tribe before a battle. Seems like they were standard items in pre-islamic arabia.