Asha'man

Ok all you students of fabricated history, I want your opinion and thoughts. Did the Arc of the Covenant, the holy container for the stone tablets with the Ten Commandments, ever exist?

I’ve read The Bible Unearthed, and it seems the evidence points to the Exodus as pure fiction. The Hebrews were never slaves in Egypt and never fled across the desert to the promised land.

Given that, it’s reasonable to conclude that they were never lead (in their nonexistent flight) by a man named Moses, who never received any tablets of stone while not camped at Mount Sinai.

However, the Arc of the Covenant was an important part of Jewish culture for centuries. It was kept in the innermost and holiest sanctum of the Temple at Jerusalem. The Jews would protect it with their lives. According to the HB, it was captured in war (at least once that I recall), and an army was sent out to recapture it.

If I recall my Indiana Jones back-story correctly, when the Temple at Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians (587 BCE), the Arc was smuggled to safety (to Ethiopia?), and has never been seen since.

Sounds kinda fishy to me, it disappearing like that.

But imagine this: the High Priest had access to the innermost sanctum of the Temple. If the sanctum was empty, then the High Priest knew it. Not only that, but every one of a long line of succession of priests must have known this terrible secret. Was every single one of them in on the scam?

On the other hand, what if the sanctum wasn’t empty? That means that someone built an arc, knowing that it was a forgery, a fake. They knew it did not contain God’s commandments, and they built it as a deliberate deception.

mrmoderate

Raiders was based on a theory of the Ark of the Covenant that has long been dispelled. It was this theory that got Hitler supporting so much archeaological work in northern Africa which also added to the flavor of the very ficticious Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Good movie though.

Amaleq13

I'm not all that clear on the chronology. Is there good reason to conclude that at least some of the stories about the A of the C (that's what all the hip kids are calling it these days ) were written prior to its alleged disappearance?

Asha'man

I think there is at least a little overlap. According to The Bible Unearthed, most of these older OT stories were written down sometime before or during the reign of King Josiah, which was 639-609 BCE, after Assyria had taken over the northern kingdom of Israel. They were probably assembled from rough stories that had been circulating in verbal form for a while, I'd guess as much as a century. If the conquest by Babylon wasn't until 587 BCE, that leaves an empty (?) inner sanctuary for at least a few years after the stories were written.

Although, it's certainly possible that the A of C was added into the stories after Babylon came in and made a mess of things.

Clivedurdle

Pompeii (about 50 BC) and another senior Roman (about 70 AD)both looked in the Temple and were astonished to find it empty. But that was common knowledge - Hebrews and the comment about the veil being rent in two at the crucifixion attest to an empty Holy of Holies!

There was a wonderful documentary about I think it is Ethiopian xians who are quite categorical that they have the ark - I think they get it out every year as well!

hyzer

The Straight Dope has several interesting (and humorous) posts from Cecil and team about the ark of the covenant.

Amaleq13

The "actual" ark never leaves the Temple but many Ethiopian churches do trot out replicas on certain holidays. I really enjoyed Graham Hancock's first book (despite the fact that he subsequently became entranced with theories about ancient advanced civilizations), The Sign and The Seal, which was on this subject.

My favorite story is about the current Keeper of the Ark. Apparently, they are chosen for the lifetime position and not given the option of declining. When the current guy was picked, he ran away and they had to hunt him down. Hancock did a TV show version of his book and it included an interview with the guy where he tells the same story. It still makes me laugh.

Answerer

The ark in Ethiopian is a hoax. No one ever see it, not even the Patriarch of the eastern orthodox church! Its only known description comes from the 13th century Armenian author known as Abu Salih. However, the item he described was not even close to the description of bibical ark of covenant.

But I had to admit that its rather a good way of generating tourism revenue for the nation and faith.

Amaleq13

The credibility, or lack thereof, of Hancock's book does not, IMO, detract from the enjoyability of the story it tells about his search.

ElectEngr

[MHO]
If Isreal/Masad thought there was any truth to the stories of the Ethiopian Ark, they'd be all over the place like stink on s[censored]. World opinion be dammned.
[/MHO]

Later,
ElectEngr