The Ark III

 

So what happened to the Ark of the Covenant? Where is it, and if we don’t know where it is, well, what was its fate?

 

The short answer is that it’s been long lost to history, around the time the Babylonians conquered the Kingdom of Judah in the year 587 BC. Though it is not specifically mentioned during the passages describing the fall of Jerusalem and the pillaging of the Temple artifacts, one can make a good case that the Ark was taken to Babylon.

 

That’s the first possibility. And in Babylon, it could either have been destroyed (if God allowed such a thing), hidden, or transferred somewhere else. The trail runs cold.

 

Second, perhaps King Josiah from the previous post hid the Ark yet again as the Babylonians advanced on Jerusalem. Maybe in the First Temple, or in a catacomb or some other underground chamber beneath it.

 

Third, there is a mention in the Book of Second Maccabees 2:4-10 that the Prophet Jeremiah hid the Ark in a cave on Mount Nebo, the mountain where Moses overlooked the promised land before he passed on.

 

Fourth, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church claims that the Ark is housed in the northern city of Axum in Ethiopia, at the Church of Out Lady Mary of Zion. No one is allowed inside to view it, so we have little choice but to take them at their word.

 

Fifth, the Lemba people in southern Africa state that they posses the actual Ark, and keep a replica in Zimbabwe. The Lembas trace their lineage back to Yemeni traders and do practice a form a semitic religion.

 

Finally, there is a Samaritan tradition the holds the Ark is kept at a sanctuary on Mount Gerizim, about 35 miles north of Bethlehem. (However, there is also a Samaritan tradition that Abraham was to sacrifice his son Isaac on Mount Gerizim, when most biblical scholars believe the sacrifice was to take place on Mount Moriah).

 

So, in summary, the six most plausible (if such a word can describe the fate of a holy object lost nearly 2,600 years ago) locations for the Ark of the Covenant appear to be:

 

1)    1) The ruins of Babylon in Iraq

2)    2) Beneath the location of the First Temple in Jerusalem

3)    3) Mount Nebo in Jordan

4)    4) A church in Ethiopia

5)    5) A undisclosed location in southern Africa

6)    6) Mount Gerizim in Israel

 

But I’d like to think of a seventh possibility:

7)    7) A nondescript warehouse on the outskirts of Washington, D.C. …

 

(In all seriousness, my amateurish opinion probably lies with #2)