Ark of the Covenant

A late 19th-century artist's conception of the Ark of the Covenant, employing a Renaissance cassone for the Ark and cherubim as latter-day Christian angels.

The Ark of the Covenant (Hebrew: אָרוֹן הָבְּרִית‎ Ārōn Hāb’rīt [modern pron. Aron Habrit]; Arabic: تابوت العهد‎ Tābūt Al-ʿahd) is a vessel described in the Bible as containing the Tablets of Stone on which the Ten Commandments were inscribed, along with Aaron's rod and manna. According to the Pentateuch, the Ark was built at the command of God, in accord with Moses' prophetic vision on Mount Sinai (Exodus 25:10-16). God was said to have communicated with Moses "from between the two cherubim" on the Ark's cover (Exodus 25:22). The Ark and its sanctuary were considered "the beauty of Israel" (Lamentations 2:1). Rashi and some Midrashim suggest that there were two arks - a temporary one made by Moses himself, and a later one constructed by Bezalel.[1]

Biblical account relates that during the Israelites' exodus from Egypt, the Ark was carried by the priests some 2,000 cubits, or 1,000 m; 3,400 ft (Numbers 35:5; Joshua 4:5) in advance of the people and their army, or host (Num. 4:5-6; 10:33-36; Psalms 68:1; 132:8). When the Ark was borne by priests into the bed of the Jordan, water in the river separated, opening a pathway for the entire host to pass through (Josh. 3:15-16; 4:7-18). The city of Jericho was taken with no more than a shout after the Ark of Covenant was paraded for seven days around its wall by seven priests sounding seven trumpets of rams' horns (Josh. 6:4-20). When carried, the Ark was always wrapped in a veil, in tachash skins (the identity of this animal is uncertain), and a blue cloth, and was carefully concealed, even from the eyes of the Cohanim who carried it.

Over time, the accounts of the Ark have gathered a number of references in popular culture.

Contents

Terminology

The Hebrew word aron as used in the Bible refers to any type of ark, chest or coffer (Book of Genesis 50:26; 2 Kings 12:9, 10).

The Ark of the Covenant is distinguished from all others by such titles as:

Construction and description according to the Bible

Carrying the Ark of the Covenant: gilded bas-relief at the Auch Cathedral

According to the Book of Exodus, God instructed Moses on Mount Sinai during his 40 day stay within the cloud (heaven on earth) was shown the pattern for the tabernacle and furnishings, the Ark to be made of shittim-wood made to house the Tablets of Stone.

Detailed instructions[2] are given by God for the plan of the Ark: it is to be 2½ cubits in length, 1½ in breadth, and 1½ in height (as 2+1⁄2×1+1⁄2×1+1⁄2 royal cubits or 1.31×0.79×0.79 m). Then it is to be plated entirely with gold, and a crown or molding of gold is to be put around it. Four rings of gold are to be put into its four feet—two on each side—and through these rings staves of shittim-wood overlaid with gold for carrying the Ark are to be inserted; and these are not to be removed. A golden cover, adorned with golden cherubim, is to be placed above the Ark. The Ark is finally to be placed behind a veil (Parochet), a full description of which is also given.

References to the Ark in Scripture

The Ark of the Covenant is mentioned in both the Bible and the Qur'an.

In the Bible

The Ark is first mentioned in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament/Torah in the Book of Exodus, and then numerous times in: Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, I Samuel, II Samuel, I Kings, I Chronicles, II Chronicles, Psalms and Jeremiah.

In the Book of Jeremiah, it is referenced by Jeremiah, who, speaking in the days of Josiah (Jer. 3:16), prophesied a future time when the Ark will no longer be talked about or be made again.

In II Maccabees, chapter 2, "one finds in the records" that Jeremiah, having received an oracle of the Lord, ordered that the tent and the ark and the altar of incense should follow him to the mountain of God where he sealed them up in a cave, and he told those who had followed in order to mark the way, but could not find it, "The place shall be unknown until God gathers his people together again and shows his mercy, and then the Lord will disclose these things, and the glory of the Lord and the cloud will appear, as they were shown in the case of Moses, and as Solomon asked that the place should be specially consecrated."

In the New Testament, the Ark is mentioned in the Book of Hebrews and the Book of Revelation.

Hebrews 9:4 states that the Ark contained "the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant."

Revelation 11:19 says the prophet saw God's temple in heaven opened, "and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple."

In the Quran

In chapter 2 (Verse 248), the Children of Israel, at the time of Samuel and Saul, were given back the 'Tabut E Sakina' (the casket of Shekhinah) which contained remnants of the household of Musa and Harun (Moses and Aaron) carried by angels which confirmed peace and reassurance for them from their Lord. It is mentioned in the middle of the narrative of the choice of Saul to be king. The Qur'an states:

And (further) their Prophet said to them: "A Sign of his authority is that there shall come to you the Ark of the covenant, with (an assurance) therein of security (Sakina) from your Lord, and the relics left by the family of Moses and the family of Aaron, carried by angels. In this is a symbol for you if ye indeed have faith. (Qur'an 2:248)

The Islamic scholar Al Baidawi mentioned that the Sakina could be Tawrat, Books of Moses.[3] According to Al-Jalalan, the relics in the Ark were the fragments of the two tablets, rods, robes, shoes, mitres of Moses and the vase of Manna.[3] Al-Tha'alibi, in Qisas Al-Anbiya (The Stories of the Prophets), has given an earlier and later history of the Ark.

According to most Muslim scholars, the Ark of the Covenant has a religious basis in Islam, and Islam gives it special significance. Shia sect of Muslims believe that it will be found by Mahdi near the end of times from Lake Tiberias.[4]

Biblical account

Mobile vanguard

Moses and Joshua bowing before the Ark, painting by James Jacques Joseph Tissot
The Ark at the erection of the Tabernacle and the sacred vessels, as in Exodus 40:17-19

After its creation by Moses, the Ark was carried by the Israelites during their 40-years of wandering in the desert. Whenever the Israelites camped, the Ark was placed in a special and sacred tent, the Tabernacle. When the Israelites fought the Amalekites, the Ark provided them with God's protection.

When the Israelites, led by Joshua toward the Promised Land, arrived at the banks of the River Jordan, the Ark was carried in the lead preceding the people, and was the signal for their advance (Joshua 3:3, 6). During the crossing, the river grew dry as soon as the feet of the priests carrying the Ark touched its waters; and remained so until the priests—with the Ark—left the river, after the people had passed over (Josh. 3:15-17; 4:10, 11, 18). As memorials, twelve stones were taken from the Jordan at the place where the priests had stood (Josh. 4:1-9).

In the Battle of Jericho, the Ark was carried round the city once a day for seven days, preceded by the armed men and seven priests sounding seven trumpets of rams' horns (Josh. 6:4-15). On the seventh day the seven priests sounding the seven trumpets of rams' horns before the Ark compassed the city seven times and with a great shout, Jericho's wall fell down flat and the people took the city (Josh. 6:16-20). After the defeat at Ai, Joshua lamented before the Ark (Josh. 7:6-9). When Joshua read the Law to the people between Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal, they stood on each side of the Ark. The Ark was again set up by Joshua at Shiloh; but when the Israelites fought against Benjamin at Gibeah, they had the Ark with them, and consulted it after their defeat.

Capture by the Philistines

The Ark is next spoken of as being in the Tabernacle at Shiloh during Samuel's apprenticeship (1 Sam. 3:3). After the settlement of the Israelites in Canaan, the Ark remained in the Tabernacle at Gilgal for a season before being removed to Shiloh until the time of Eli, between 300 and 400 years (Jeremiah 7:12), when it was carried into the field of battle, so as to secure, as they had hoped, victory to the Hebrews. The Ark was taken by the Philistines (1 Sam. 4:3-11) who subsequently sent it back after retaining it for seven months (1 Sam. 5:7, 8) because of the events said to have transpired.

After their first defeat at Eben-ezer, the Israelites had the Ark brought from Shiloh, and welcomed its coming with great rejoicing.

In the second battle, the Israelites were again defeated, and the Philistines captured the Ark (1 Sam. 4:3-5, 10, 11). The news of its capture was at once taken to Shiloh by a messenger "with his clothes rent, and with earth upon his head." The old priest, Eli, fell dead when he heard it; and his daughter-in-law, bearing a son at the time the news of the capture of the Ark was received, named him Ichabod—explained as "Where is glory?" in reference to the loss of the Ark (1 Sam. 4:12-22).

The Philistines took the Ark to several places in their country, and at each place misfortune befell them (1 Sam. 5:1-6). At Ashdod it was placed in the temple of Dagon. The next morning Dagon was found prostrate, bowed down, before it; and on being restored to his place, he was on the following morning again found prostrate and broken. The people of Ashdod were smitten with tumors; a plague of rats was sent over the land (1 Sam. 6:5). The affliction of boils was also visited upon the people of Gath and of Ekron, whither the Ark was successively removed (1 Sam. 5:8-12).

After the Ark had been among them for seven months, the Philistines, on the advice of their diviners, returned it to the Israelites, accompanying its return with an offering consisting of golden images of the tumors and rats wherewith they had been afflicted. The Ark was set in the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite, and the Beth-shemites offered sacrifices and burnt offerings (1 Sam. 6:1-15). Out of curiosity the men of Beth-shemesh gazed at the Ark; and as a punishment, seventy of them (fifty thousand seventy in some ms.) were smitten by the Lord (1 Sam. 6:19). The Bethshemites sent to Kirjath-jearim, or Baal-Judah, to have the Ark removed (1 Sam. 6:21); and it was taken to the house of Abinadab, whose son Eleazar was sanctified to keep it. Kirjath-jearim remained the abode of the Ark for twenty years. Under Saul, the Ark was with the army before he first met the Philistines, but the king was too impatient to consult it before engaging in battle. In 1 Chronicles 13:3 it is stated that the people were not accustomed to consult the Ark in the days of Saul.

In the days of King David

At the beginning of his reign, King David removed the Ark from Kirjath-jearim amid great rejoicing. On the way to Zion, Uzzah, one of the drivers of the cart whereon the Ark was carried, put out his hand to steady the Ark, and was smitten by God for touching it. David, in fear, carried the Ark aside into the house of Obed-edom the Gittite, instead of carrying it on to Zion, and there it stayed three months (2 Samuel 6:1-11; 1 Chronicles 13:1-13).

On hearing that God had blessed Obed-edom because of the presence of the Ark in his house, David had the Ark brought to Zion by the Levites, while he himself, "girded with a linen ephod," "danced before the Lord with all his might" — a performance that caused him to be despised and scornfully rebuked by Saul's daughter Michal (2 Sam. 6:12-16, 20-22; 1 Chron. 15). This derision of David on her part prompted God to take away her fertility. In Zion, David put the Ark in the tabernacle he had prepared for it, offered sacrifices, distributed food, and blessed the people and his own household (2 Sam. 6:17-20; 1 Chron. 16:1-3; 2 Chron. 1:4).

The Levites were appointed to minister before the Ark (1 Chron. 16:4). David's plan of building a temple for the Ark was stopped at the advice of God (2 Sam. 7:1-17; 1 Chron. 17:1-15; 28:2, 3). The Ark was with the army during the siege of Rabbah (2 Sam. 11:11); and when David fled from Jerusalem at the time of Absalom's conspiracy, the Ark was carried along with him until he ordered Zadok the priest to return it to Jerusalem (2 Sam. 15:24-29).

In Solomon's temple

The Ark carried into the Temple

When Abiathar was dismissed from the priesthood by King Solomon for having taken part in Adonijah's conspiracy against David, his life was spared because he had formerly borne the Ark (1 Kings 2:26). Solomon worshiped before the Ark after his dream in which God promised him wisdom (1 Kings 3:15).

During the construction of Solomon's Temple, a special inner room, named Kodesh Hakodashim (Eng. Holy of Holies), was prepared to receive and house the Ark (1 Kings 6:19); and when the Temple was dedicated, the Ark—containing the original tablets of the Ten Commandments—was placed therein (1 Kings 8:6-9). When the priests emerged from the holy place after placing the Ark there, the Temple was filled with a cloud, "for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord" (1 Kings 8:10-11; 2 Chron. 5:13, 14).

When Solomon married Pharaoh's daughter, he caused her to dwell in a house outside Zion, as Zion was consecrated because of its containing the Ark (2 Chron. 8:11). King Josiah had the Ark put in the Temple (2 Chron. 35:3), whence it appears to have again been removed by one of his successors.

The Babylonian Conquest and aftermath

In 586 BC, the Babylonians besieged Jerusalem and, once captured, plundered and destroyed Solomon's Temple. Some historians[5] suggest that the Ark was probably taken away by Nebuchadnezzar or perhaps destroyed in battle. Consequently, the rebuilt Second Temple did not house the Ark in its Holy of Holies room.[6]

According to the Book of Revelation, the Ark is in the Temple of God in Heaven in vision: "Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the Ark of his Covenant" (Rev. 11:19 NIV).[7]

Rumoured present locations

Since its disappearance, the Ark entered the domain of legend, and some have claimed to have discovered or have possession of the Ark. Several possible places have been suggested for its location. However, the Second Book of the Maccabees and the Book of Revelation state that the ark is no longer on Earth.

Mount Nebo

2 Maccabees 2:4-10, contains a reference to a document saying that the prophet Jeremiah, "being warned by God" before the Babylonian invasion, took the Ark, the Tabernacle, and the Altar of Incense, and buried them in a cave on Mount Nebo (Jordan) (Deut. 34:1), informing those of his followers who wished to find the place that it should remain unknown "until the time that God should gather His people again together, and receive them unto mercy."

The Temple Mount of Jerusalem

Area believed by Muslims to be the place where the Ark of the Covenant sat before King Solomon's Temple was destroyed. A dome was later built by the Arabs who now refer to it as the Dome of Spirits.

Modern excavations near the Temple Mount in Jerusalem have discovered the existence of tunnels.[8] However, digging beneath the Temple Mount itself is heavily restricted due to the religious and political sensitivity surrounding the area. One of the most important Islamic shrines, the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, sits in the location where Solomon's Temple is thought to have stood.

According to the Hebrew Traditions, King Solomon, when building the Temple, had the Ark of the Covenant put on a platform which could be lowered down into a tunnel system if the Temple were ever over-run.[9] Such overrun did eventually come when King Nebuchadnezzar's troops destroyed the Temple and carried off its treasures, but no mention of the Ark of the Covenant was made, possibly because it had been lowered into the cave system below and secreted away by Levite priests.[9][10]

Ethiopian Orthodox Church

The Chapel of the Tablet at the Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion in Axum allegedly houses the original Ark of the Covenant.

The Ethiopian Orthodox Church claims to possess the Ark of the Covenant or tabot in Axum. The object is now kept under guard in a treasury near the Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion, and used occasionally in ritual processions.[11] But versions of the Axum tabot are kept in every Ethiopian church, each with its own dedication to a particular saint, most popularly Mary, George and Michael.[12]

The Kebra Nagast, composed to legitimise the new dynasty ruling Ethiopia following its establishment in 1270, narrates how the real Ark of the Covenant was brought to Ethiopia by Menelik I with divine assistance, while a forgery was left in the Temple in Jerusalem. Although the Kebra Nagast is the best-known account of this belief, this belief predates this document. Abu Salih the Armenian, writing in the last quarter of the twelfth century, makes one early reference to this belief that they possessed the Ark. "The Abyssinians possess also the Ark of the Covenant", he wrote, then after a description of the object describes how the liturgy is celebrated upon the Ark four times a year: "on the feast of the great nativity, on the feast of the glorious Baptism, on the feast of the holy Resurrection, and on the feast of the illuminating Cross."[13]

On 25 June 2009, the patriarch of the Orthodox Church of Ethiopia, Abuna Paulos, said he would announce to the world the next day the unveiling of the Ark of the Covenant, which he said had been kept safe and secure in a church in Axum, Ethiopia.[14] The following day, on 26 June 2009, the patriarch announced that he would not unveil the Ark after all, but that instead he could attest to its current status.[15]

Southern Africa

The Lemba people of South Africa and Zimbabwe have claimed that their ancestors carried the Ark south, calling it the ngoma lungundu or "voice of God", eventually hiding it in a deep cave in the Dumghe mountains, their spiritual home.[16][17][18]

On 14 April 2008, in a UK Channel 4 documentary broadcast,[19] Tudor Parfitt, taking a literalist approach to the Biblical story, described his research into this claim. He says that the object described by the Lemba has attributes similar to the Ark. It was of similar size, was carried on poles by priests, was not allowed to touch the ground, was revered as a voice of their God, and was used as a weapon of great power, sweeping enemies aside.

In his book The Lost Ark of the Covenant (2008), Parfitt also suggests that the Ark was taken to Arabia following the Second Book of Maccabees, and cites Arabic sources which maintain it was brought in distant times to Yemen. One Lemba clan, the Buba, which was supposed to have brought the Ark to Africa, have a genetic signature called the Cohen Modal Haplotype. This suggests a male Semitic link to the Levant.[20] Lemba tradition maintains that the Ark spent some time in Sena in Yemen. Later, it was taken across the sea to East Africa and may have been taken inland at the time of the Great Zimbabwe civilization. According to their oral traditions, some time after the arrival of the Lemba with the Ark, it self-destructed. Using a core from the original, the Lemba priests constructed a new one. This replica was discovered in a cave by a Swedish German missionary named Harald von Sicard in the 1940s and eventually found its way to the Museum of Human Science in Harare.[18]

Parfitt had this artifact radio-carbon dated to about 1350 AD, which coincided with the sudden end of the Great Zimbabwe civilization.[21]

Jewish sources in the Talmud, as well as the Jewish exegete Rashi (Rashi's commentary of Deuteronomy), suggest that there were two Arks: one was the original simple wooden Ark of Moses described in the Book of Deuteronomy, the other was the later golden Ark made by Bezalel as described in the Book of Exodus. Rabbinic opinion maintains that the first of these Arks was the Ark of War and the second was a ceremonial object which stayed in the Temple. Parfitt suggests that the Ark he found was the descendant of the Ark of War and that a wooden chest being used as a weapon was replicated at least once, and possibly many times. Parfitt offers the suggestion that the wooden ark may always have been a drum as well as a weapon of some sort, like the ngoma. It was often found in musical processions, David danced in front of it and it was covered over with a piece of leather. Parfitt, however, offers no explanation of the original principal contents of the Ark, the stone tablets.

Other Middle Eastern Sites

Michael Sanders claims to have found the location of the Ark Of the Covenant's 'stones' in Djaharya near an ancient temple created by Ramses III (now an old tower in ruins).[22]

Europe

Languedoc, France

Several legends hold that the Ark was carried home to Languedoc by Templars returning from the Crusades.[23]

United Kingdom

In 2003, historical author Graham Phillips traced the route of the Ark through research using Biblical texts as being taken to Mount Sinai in the Valley of Edom by the Maccabees, along with other religious treasures. Phillips claims it remained there until the 1180s, when Ralph de Sudeley, the leader of the Templars who apparently found the Maccabean treasure at Jebel al-Madhbah, returned home to his estate at Herdewyke in Warwickshire, UK, taking the treasure with him.[24]

Ireland

During the turn of the 20th century British Israelites carried out some excavations of the Hill of Tara in Ireland looking for the Ark of the Covenant – the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland campaigned successfully to have them stopped before they ruined the hill.[25]

Asia

Shikoku, Japan

Local claims exist that the ark hidden within limestone caves under Mt. Tsurugi. That mountain is the highest one in Shikoku and the second highest in western Japan, at 1,955 meters (6,413 ft), and has a sacred status in the Shugendo faith (which incorporates elements of Shintoism and Buddhism). The Japanese government bans excavations on the mountain for environmental reasons.[26]

See also

Ethiopia
Hebrews
Middle Eastern
"Manna"
  • Shittah-tree
People
Other

Further reading

References

  1. ↑ Hertz 1936
  2. ↑ "Exodus 25 / Hebrew - English Bible / Mechon-Mamre". Mechon-mamre.org. http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0225.htm. Retrieved 2010-03-07. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Hughes, Thomas Patrick (1995-12-01). A Dictionary of Islam By Patrick Hughes, Thomas Patrick Hughes, pg 624. Books.google.com. ISBN 9788120606722. http://books.google.com/?id=JherW50tVyAC&pg=PA624&dq=ark+of+the+covenant+islam. Retrieved 2010-03-07. 
  4. ↑ Iqd al-Durar fi Akbar al-Imam al-Muntadhar, by Shaikh Jamaluddin Yusuf al Damishqi, p. 51-a
  5. ↑ "IBSS - Biblical Archaeology - Where is the Ark of the Covenant". Bibleandscience.com. http://www.bibleandscience.com/archaeology/ark.htm. Retrieved 2010-03-07. 
  6. ↑ Where is the Ark of the Covenant? - Article by Thomas S. McCall, Th.D.
  7. ↑ The Ark of the Covenant in Prophecy By Dr. Randall Price
  8. ↑ "Jerusalem Tunnel Linked to Bible". News.nationalgeographic.com. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/09/0911_030911_SiloamTunnel.html. Retrieved 2010-03-07. 
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Rambam. Yad Hachazahah. 
  10. ↑ Masechet Yoma of the Talmud, 52b
  11. ↑ Smithsonian magazine investigates the Ark; Smithsonian Magazine | People & Places | Keepers of the Lost Ark?
  12. ↑ Stuart Munro-Hay, 2005, The Quest for the Ark of the Covenant, Tauris (reviewed in Times Literary Supplement 19 August 2005 p 36)
  13. ↑ B.T.A. Evetts (translator), The Churches and Monasteries of Egypt and Some Neighboring Countries attributed to Abu Salih, the Armenian, with added notes by Alfred J. Butler (Oxford, 1895), pp. 287f
  14. ↑ Fendel, Hillel (2009-06-25). Holy Ark Announcement Due on Friday. Aruta Sheva (Israel International News). Retrieved on 2009-06-25 from http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/132067.
  15. ↑ IGN (2009-06-19). Ho visto l'Arca dell'Alleanza ed è in buone condizioni. Retrieved on 2009-06-26 from http://www.adnkronos.com/IGN/News/Cronaca/?id=3.0.3445266776.
  16. ↑ The real Indiana Jones: Intrepid British don Tudor Parfitt's mission to find the Lord Ark By ZOE BRENNAN , Daily Mail, 22nd February 2008 [1]
  17. ↑ THE LOST ARK OF THE COVENANT by Tudor Parfitt, published by HarperCollins 2008.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 A Lead on the Ark of the Covenant, By David Van Biema Thursday, Time.com, Feb. 21, 2008.
  19. ↑ "Debates & Controversies - Quest for the Lost Ark". Channel4.com. 2008-04-14. http://www.channel4.com/culture/microsites/C/can_you_believe_it/debates/lostark.html. Retrieved 2010-03-07. 
  20. ↑ Schindler, Sol "The genetics of Jewish ancestry" which is a review of Abraham's Children: Race, Identity and the DNA of the Chosen People' by Jon Entine The Washington Times [2]
  21. ↑ [3]
  22. ↑ Cline, Eric H. (2007-09-30). "Cline, Eric H., "Raiders of the Faux Ark," ''The Boston Globe'', September 30, 2007". Boston.com. http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2007/09/30/raiders_of_the_faux_ark/. Retrieved 2010-03-07. 
  23. ↑ Opening the Ark of the Covenant: The Secret Power of the Ancients, by Frank Joseph, 2007, p. 226
  24. ↑ Phillips, Graham (April 2005). The Templars and the Ark of the Covenant: The Discovery of the Treasure of Solomon. Bear & Company. ISBN 1591430399. http://www.grahamphillips.net/Ark/Ark_Intro.htm. 
  25. ↑ Ivan McAvinchey. "News 2006 (March 9)". Rsai.ie. http://www.rsai.ie/index.cfm?action=obj.display&obj_id=153. Retrieved 2010-03-07. 
  26. ↑ "Is the legendary Lost Ark buried in Japan?". pinktentacle.com. 21 Apr 2010. http://pinktentacle.com/2010/04/is-the-legendary-lost-ark-buried-in-japan/. Retrieved 2010-04-27. 

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