Some say it just went missing during the Babylonian captivity....
The Ark of the Covenant is the sacred container of the Ten Commandments as well as Aaron’s rod and a sample of manna, the mysterious food that kept the Israelites alive while wandering in the wilderness during their journey to the promised land.
You said — Some say it just went missing during the Babylonian captivity....
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That’s part of the theory for how it ended up down there and is still there now (for those who propose this theory). If I remember correctly from those who are saying this, it’s that the Priests wanted to protect the ark from being captured, so they took it off to another place and then through a series of steps, it ended up down in Axum... but that’s just one theory. There are others...
Here’s an article about it, too (it looks like a real poor translation, so be careful how you read it...)
But, I think what is going to be “revealed” is the opening of a *museum* which will house the “ark” (if it really is the ark) of which they will open to the public and create a new tourist industry down there for those guys... LOL...
Roma, 17 giu. (Adnkronos) - Soon the world will admire the Ark of the described in the Bible as the container of the Tables of the Law which God gave to Moses and the center, over the centuries, of research and studies.
He said in an interview exclusive video all’ADNKRONOS, Ign visible on the site, tested on-line site Adnkronos (www.adnkronos.com), the Patriarch of the Orthodox Church of Ethiopia Abuna Pauolos, in these days in Italy for ‘G8 of Religions’, and that tomorrow will meet Pope Benedict XVI for the first time and to which, “if you ask - continued the Patriarch - tell the whole of part of the current situation.”
“The Ark of - reaffirms Pauolos - is in Ethiopia for many centuries. Patriarca As I saw with my own eyes and only a few very qualified people have been able to do the same, so far.” According to the patriarch is kept in a church, but to defend the authentic copy of a religious symbol and ‘been placed in every church in the country.
The official announcement that the Etopia give the world the keys to the secret part of the millennium, will be given next Friday during a press conference at the Hotel Aldrovandi 14 Rome from the Orthodox Patriarch of Ethiopia, along with Prince Aklile Berhan Makonnen Haile Selassie, and the Duke Amedeo D’Aosta, which will be in Rome tomorrow morning.
According to some studies, the Ark was stolen from Jerusalem by the son of King Solomon and brought to Axum, regarded as the Jerusalem of Ethiopia. It will rise to Axum Museum named to host the Ark, whose project was funded by the Foundation of the prince, heir-designate to the throne by Haile Selassie before he died, Crhijecllu, acronym of the initials of the names of the children of Prince Christian , Jessica, Clarissa, Lucrezia.
A few weeks ago had been shown around the world the news that would have been seen by a journalist in the Ark authentic Ethiopian church. It ‘was then that the Patriarch has gained Pauolos the decision to “say once and for all the world the truth’” on the wooden crate and gold with the Tables of the Law of God The Patriarch has judged the time ripe to close permanently chapter in which up to now no history, no research, no ‘Indiana Jones’, was able to write the word order.
The Patriarch of the ancient Ethiopian Orthodox Church has wanted to be at his side in this adventure, the grandson of the Negus, head of an important family, whose role is recognized both in Ethiopia and abroad. Prince heir who two years ago managed to reconcile the Christian and Muslim factions at the center in Ethiopia for a hard contrast.
It ‘started the countdown to finally unveil the mystery of the sacred Ark of the Covenant, capable, according to legend, to release bursts of divine light and lightning can incinerate anyone who was affected, as is effectively described in the cult movie ‘I lost part of the predators’. From the fiction film will now be transferred to reality.
Friday press conference with the official announcement, an event was possible thanks to the collaboration of Paul Salerno, collaborator of Prince and the journalist Antonio Parisi, who for several years following the historical events of royal families and the Ethiopian in particular, and of course part of the Alliance.
What is the Ark of the Covenant, one of the greatest mysteries of antiquity on which fantasy, legend and history have continued to interlacing for centuries? The Ark, in Jewish tradition, contained the Tables of the Law, ie the Ten Commandments, and the artefact, acacia wood, was built by Moses. Outside decorations were gold and has long been kept by the Jewish people: it has accompanied its vicissitudes, the battles and defeats, the wanderings and struggles against the Philistines and was kept in various places until the King David is not l ‘was placed in the fortress of Jerusalem.
But it is Solomon, son and successor of David, to put the Ark in the Temple of Jerusalem which he himself had built. This story then interwoven with historical events and other religious and national traditions. In fact, the Ark of the disappeared in 586 BC with the conquest of Jerusalem by the Babylonians and the consequent destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem.
However it can be ruined, there is no written testimony, since the Ark becomes a symbol eternally searched by the men and found in various parts of the world, from Africa to the Middle East. Ethiopian tradition places the Ark in the kingdom of Axum, after Solomon had given to the son of the Queen of Sheba, Menelik I. Here, it remained over the centuries protected by Orthodox monks in the city ‘in the holy of Lalibela to Axum, where would be today.
The Ark, which is not visible to anybody except a monaco that the guards, is preserved in the complex of the cathedral of Saint Mary of Zion, and ‘therefore hidden to all and is carried in procession once a year but wrapped in a cloth .
The Ark has access to the imagination of archaeologists, writers, religious groups, seven of every kind. In fact, tradition states that it adopts a particular power but also that those who were touched fulminates. An object that given its location - the Temple of Jerusalem - has been from time to time in the middle of stories related to Masonry or Templars. However, it should be remembered that there are many churches in Ethiopia and in which ‘kept un’’’arca’’, as well as other scholars - often moving at the edge of mystery and legend - the place in various parts of the world.