What lost Ark? It's right in there...
Posted on 01/24/2003 8:34:33 AM PST by blam
Ark of Covenant is in Jerusalem, and I will find it - archeologist
Israeli scholar tells Sackville audience hunt for relic is nothing like the movies
By CHRIS LAMBIE
The Daily News
Thursday, January 23, 2003
The Ark of the Covenant is probably buried somewhere deep in the hidden catacombs under Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, says a leading Israeli archeologist.
The biblical ark was a wooden box containing the two tablets of the Ten Commandments given by God to Moses on Mount Sinai.
“If somebody will ever find the Ark of the Covenant, it will be me,” Dan Bahat told about 50 people yesterday at Sackville’s Faith Baptist Church.
Bahat blames Steven Spielberg’s 1981 Indiana Jones adventure, Raiders of the Lost Ark, for making people curious about the relic’s whereabouts.
“As a matter of fact, the whole story of the Ark of the Covenant started after the film Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark; before, you didn’t hear so much about it,” said the Bar Ilan University professor who is on a tour of Canada sponsored by the Israeli government.
Bahat, a father of four, said his search for the ark has been nothing like that of the movie archeologist Indiana Jones.
“Harrison Ford did it beautifully,” he said. “But I must tell you one thing. I never jumped out of running cars, I never went into a dungeon full of poisonous snakes, and I never fought Nazi Germans.”
Three major world religions — Muslims, Jews and Christians — revere Temple Mount, which is thought to be where Abraham offered to sacrifice his son to God. Later, Solomon built a temple over the same spot, to house the sacred Ark of the Covenant and the stone tablets setting out the Ten Commandments, the very ones Moses had brought down from Mount Sinai.
Bahat suspects the relic may still be hidden “in an enormous subterranean structure” inside Temple Mount.
“If there is a place where you could hide the Ark of the Covenant, it is this cave,” said Bahat, who has been excavating tunnels along the Western or Wailing Wall, a massive remainder of the wall around the last Jewish temple.
Ethiopian Christians, however, believe the ark resides in their country.
The Bible says the Queen of Sheba visited King Solomon. Most scholars say she came from present-day Yemen. But Ethiopian legend maintains she was from that country and gave birth to Solomon’s son, Menelik. This tradition says that when Menelik visited Solomon, his aides stole the ark and brought it home. It is said to be held under strictest secrecy in the town of Axum.
Bahat discounts that version of events. “It is nonsense,” he said. “There is no reason whatsoever why it would be in Ethiopia.”
Why not ?
* said with a snotty French accent - Yes! It's Verrry Nice !
Templars controlled the region for 100 years. During that time they combed the dust for artifacts and recovered the True Cross, the spear, the sponge, a nail, the headcloth, the shroud, the placard, the robe, and countless fingerbones and other relics, the collection originally kept in Constantinople but moved to France and all still in France. If the Ark were in Jerusalem, they would have found it, and the cup as well.
Arks were very common.
France is not interested in yet another war in the ME simply because they already have everything from the ME that they wanted: the Ark and the Graal are not and were not in the ME at the time of the Crusades.
Possibly because the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Yasser's uncle, was Himmler's favorite non-Aryan boy, and "Mein Kampf" still sells in Arabic bookstores.
It sells well everywhere. Always has. It's a highly disorganized book and it's incomplete because the author was released from prison before he finished it. Another ten years would have been to the benefit of all. What a mess.
This guy claims he found the Ark of the Covenant already
http://www.wyattarchaeology.com/ark.htm
The ark was a common ceremonial structure. There are probably many to be found. The question is whether the Ark itself is important, or the contents, or both.
“It is nonsense,”
And, indeed, it is.
"Temple Mount, which is thought to be where Abraham offered to sacrifice his son to God."
Did he actually sacrifice his son? Utter madness!
"Well, there were two arks, so the Ethiopians might have one."
I have an original of the ark of the conveniant, therefore there must be a total of at least three.
You bought it from my cousin-in-law, I bet.
Madness it would have been, but he did not. What Abraham sacrificed instead was the shell of his own ego. And a ram.
I hope he doesn't open the top, otherwise his face will melt.
On a different note, did anyone see National Treasure?
"May we see it?"
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.