Map of the Travels of the Ark of the Covenant
The Ark of the Covenant refers to the box-similar container that held the tablets of the Law received by Moses on Mount Sinai. Tradition claimed that it contained 2 rock tablets, carved by God, listing the first ten commandments given to State of israel. The receipt of the tablets and the details of the construction of the Ark appear in the volume of Exodus.
After the Israelites escaped from Egypt, Moses led them to the mountain in Sinai where he had his starting time revelation from God. He left the people in the campsite and was on the mountain for forty days and nights. What Moses received was not but the traditional idea of 10 commandments but literally what would become the constitution for the nation of Israel.
By Jewish traditions, Moses received a bang-up deal of information while he was on the mount. Many of the details are independent in the books of Exodus, Leviticus (the priests' manual), Numbers (the time of the Hebrew wanderings in the wilderness), and Deuteronomy (a 2d source for the original legislation). Later on editors claimed that he received the blueprints for building Solomon'south Temple in Jerusalem (c. 900 BCE).
Over fourth dimension, the commandments became reduced to x words, with the Hebrew rendering in short statements: "Do not lie," "Practise not steal." In the Greek translation of the Jewish Scriptures, the Septuagint, they were dubbed the Decalogue. In terms of theology, the tablets were understood to be divided: the first five are elements related to the worship of the God of Israel, and the rest are related to man beliefs every bit a nation. Mod iconography of the tablets retains both the Hebrew letters and the later adoption of Roman numerals.
The Ark
For many historians, the precise detail in Exodus implies the reality of the Ark.
The term 'ark' comes from the Latin arca ("chest"). The Hebrew tevah most likely derived from the Babylonian word for boat. The Babylonians had an earlier story of a alluvion in the Epic of Gilgamesh, where the ark was a boat like Noah'south. The term 'ark' was imbued with theological significance, with the aforementioned word used for Noah's ship, the basket that was floated down the Nile with the babe Moses, and the box that eventually held the commandments. These three became understood every bit vessels of salvation.
The instructions for the creation of the Ark were included in the paraphernalia of what would go the 'tabernacle' or 'tent of meeting':
Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them ... Accept them make an Ark of acacia wood—two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a one-half wide, and a cubit and a one-half high [approximately 131×79×79 cm or 52×31×31 in]. Overlay it with pure aureate, both inside and out, and make a gold molding effectually information technology. Bandage four gold rings for it and fasten them to its iv feet, with ii rings on i side and 2 rings on the other. So make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gilt. Insert the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to acquit it ... Then put in the ark the tablets of the covenant law, which I will give you. Make an atonement cover of pure aureate—two and a half cubits long and a cubit and a half wide. And brand 2 cherubim out of hammered gold at the ends of the embrace. The cherubim are to accept their wings spread upward, overshadowing the cover with them. The cherubim are to face each other. Place the comprehend on top of the ark and put in the ark the tablets of the covenant law that I will give you. In that location, above the embrace betwixt the 2 cherubim that are over the ark of the covenant police force, I will encounter with you and requite you all my commands for the Israelites. (Exodus 25).
The "atonement encompass" of cloth was later depicted every bit the mercy seat of God. These details have become iconic in illustrations of the Ark. For many historians, the precise detail in Exodus implies the reality of the Ark. Subsequent references to the Ark in the Jewish Scriptures have the same details.
The Ark in the Wilderness
The 'tent of meeting' served equally a portable shrine during the years in the wilderness. Within the tent, at the heart, was the Ark of the Covenant, so zones of sacredness; priests, men, women in relation to sacred infinite. Only Moses and Aaron were permitted to enter the presence of the Ark. The starting time duty upon setting up a new camp was to erect the shrine, and information technology was the final matter taken downwards when they moved on. Those carrying the equipment were placed in the center of the migrations for protection equally they moved. The Ark was always carried by the tribe of Levities, the descendants of Moses and Aaron.
The Ark Passes Over the Jordan
Numbers ix:15 described the tabernacle of the Ark being covered in a cloud by day and fire at night, demonstrating God's presence amid them.
Whenever they set out, Moses would say: "Rise up, Lord! May your enemies exist scattered; may your foes abscond before yous." Whenever it came to rest, he said, "Return, Lord, to the countless thousands of State of israel." (Numbers 10:35-36)
Thus, the aboriginal tradition that the Ark held power to defeat State of israel's enemies. This was the premise in the blockbuster picture, Indiana Jones and Raiders of the Lost Ark.
The side by side several books of the Jewish Scriptures relate the stories of the Israelites settling in the land of Canaan and establishing a united monarchy. With the deaths of Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, it was up to Joshua (Moses' lieutenant) to bring the tribes into the land. Coming from the East, Joshua led the priests across the Jordan river carrying the Ark. The waters parted, in a replication of the crossing of the Red Sea. Attacking Jericho, the Ark was carried in circumnavigations around the city walls, until "the walls came crashing downwardly" (Hebrews xi:30). Once settled in the land, Joshua read the Law to the people standing on either side of the Ark at Mount Gerizim.
The Capture of the Ark past the Philistines
The Ark of the Covenant was placed in the very center of Solomon's Temple, in the "holy of holies".
The volume of Judges relates the time when Canaan was ruled by a confederation of the Twelve Tribes. To avoid tribal say-so and jealousy, the 'tent of coming together' was erected in tribal lands in rotation for specific periods of time. The invasion of the Philistines at the end of the Statuary Age (the Bounding main Peoples in other ancient texts) resulted in several defeats for the Israelites. i Samuel 4 related the decision past the priests of Shiloh (where the Ark was temporarily housed), to take the Ark into battle as insurance against the enemy. To slap-up dismay, the Ark was captured by the Philistines and set up in their temple to Dagon (their chief god) at Ashdod.
What followed was a list of problems for the Philistines. Each morning the statue of Dagon was found on the ground before the Ark. The Philistines were punished with tumors and boils (most likely bubonic plague), and a scourge of mice destroyed their grain. They put the Ark on a cart and sent it dorsum to the Israelites. It remained in the boondocks of Keriath-Jearim (Abu Gosh) for the next 20 years.
Solomon's Temple & Babylonian Invasion
David (c. g BCE) arose every bit a king over the other tribes in what became known every bit "the united monarchy." He conquered Jerusalem (the city of the Jebusite tribes) and made information technology the capital. David had plans to build a permanent business firm for God (a stone temple) and ordered the Ark to exist brought to the city. When the cart teetered forth the way, one of the drivers reached up to finish its falling and was struck dead. David and so had the Ark carried into the city by the Levites. David was not able to build the temple because he was a sinner, but his son Solomon accomplished this feat. The Ark of the Covenant was placed in the very heart of Solomon's Temple, in the "holy of holies". Just the high priest could enter the "holy of holies" on Yom Kippur.
Yom Kippur became an annual ritual, the Mean solar day of Amende (Leviticus xvi). The high priest sacrificed ii goats who symbolically carried the sins of the people. One was sent to the wilderness (the origin of "scapegoat") and the other sacrificed on the altar. The claret was sprinkled on the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant.
Solomon's Temple, Jerusalem
Later the death of Solomon, 1 Kings 14:25 recounts the story of Pharaoh Shishak of Egypt who conquered the region and sacked Jerusalem. Shishak has been identified as Shoshenq I of the 22nd Dynasty of Egypt (10th century BCE): "Shishak took away treasures of the Temple of Yahweh and the king's firm, equally well as shields of gilded which Solomon had made." Scholars debate if the spoils included the Ark.
The Ark next appears in ii Chronicles 35:1-half dozen, when King Josiah (640-609 BCE), a religious reformer, orders the Levities to "put the sacred Ark in the temple that Solomon son of rex David built." For some theorists, this assumes that information technology was subconscious during Shishak's invasion where it remained until the reign of Josiah.
In 587 BCE, the city of Jerusalem and Solomon's Temple were destroyed by the Babylonians. The afterward apocryphal text of 1 Esdras said they took the "vessels of the Ark of God", and the king's treasures forth with captives to Babylon but does non specify the Ark itself. The Jewish Scriptures which narrate the stories of life in Babylon and in Persia, make no mention of the Ark. It is from this moment in the chronology of the history of State of israel that scholars, archaeologists, and amateurs take been searching for the Ark of the Covenant in the last two centuries. Competing with the Holy Grail, the Ark remains 1 of the most coveted relics of ancient times. Theories concerning the Ark find elements culled from Jewish Hellenistic literature.
The books of the Maccabees recount the successful Jewish revolt confronting Greek rule under Antiochus Epiphanes in 167 BCE. This second book claimed that during the Babylonian invasion, the Prophet Jeremiah hid the sacred burn of the Temple, too as the Ark:
The records show that it was the prophet Jeremiah who ... prompted by a divine message ... gave orders that the Tent of Meeting and the ark should get with him. Then he went away to the mountain from the superlative of which Moses saw God'due south promised state [Mt. Nebo]. When he reached the mount, Jeremiah found a cave-dwelling; he carried the tent, the ark, and the incense-chantry into it, and then blocked up the entrance. Some of his companions came to marker out the way but were unable to find information technology. When Jeremiah learnt of this he reprimanded them. "The place shall remain unknown," he said, "until God finally gathers his people together and shows mercy to them. The Lord volition bring these things to calorie-free again, and the glory of the Lord will appear with the cloud, equally information technology was seen both in the time of Moses and when Solomon prayed that the shrine might exist worthily consecrated." (2 Maccabees 4-10)
Mount Nebo remains a popular place for illegal excavations, although the government of Jordan attempts to monitor these activities.
Josephus & the Ark of the Covenant
Flavius Josephus (36-100 CE) was a Jewish historian who described Pompey'southward (106-48 BCE) siege of Jerusalem of 63 BCE:
But there was zilch that affected the nation then much, in the calamities they were and so under, as that their holy place, which had been hitherto seen by none, should be laid open to strangers; for Pompey, and those that were virtually him, went into the temple itself, whither it was not lawful for any to enter but the high priest, and saw what was deposited there, the candlestick with its lamps, and the table, and the pouring vessels, and the censers, all made entirely of gold, as as well a peachy quantity of spices heaped together, with two k talents of sacred money. (The Wars of the Jews, 1. vii. 6.)
The about notable omission in the listing is the Ark of the Covenant. Josephus was also a witness to the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple circuitous by the Roman Empire in the twelvemonth 70 CE, in the war post-obit the Great Jewish Revolt of 66 CE. In a more ambiguous description of Roman emperor Titus' (r. 79-81) Roman triumph, Josephus listed the boodle:
Simply for those that were taken in the temple of Jerusalem, they fabricated the greatest effigy of them all; that is, the golden tabular array, of the weight of many talents; the candlestick also, that was fabricated of gilded . . . and the last of all in the spoils, was carried the law of the Jews" (Wars, Book 7:147-151).
Titus' triumphal arch stands today in the Roman Forum. The candlestick (menorah) is notable, just nix that resembles the Ark. The phrase "the police force of the Jews", however, contributed to later on (and ongoing) theories that the Ark remains hidden in Rome.
Temple of Solomon Treasure, Arch of Titus
Where is the Ark of the Covenant?
Amid the scrolls of the Essenes discovered at Qumran is a unique item known as the Copper Whorl. In this roll, the letters were hammered into sheets of copper. The Ringlet lists 64 places where gold and silver were subconscious. Like the other scrolls, the descriptions of the places and the contents are sometimes in coded language, and then that the specific sites are hard to unravel. Some theories claim that the Ark was hidden during the siege of Rome in the Jewish Revolt, and the Copper Scroll offers a clue.
The Ark is only mentioned twice in the New Testament. The Letter of the alphabet to the Hebrews (variously dated in the 80s or 90s CE) argues that Christ is the true high priest, with descriptions of a heavenly temple which include the Ark. In the visions of John of Patmos in the Volume of Revelation, he saw the Temple in sky "and the Ark of his covenant was seen within his Temple" (11:19).
Baruch is an apocalyptic text of the late 1st century CE written afterwards the devastation of the Temple. It relates the story of angels descending before the siege to save the Temple implements until the time of "restoration." The earth was ordered to "swallow them upward" (6:7).
In improver to searching Mountain Nebo and Rome, the Ark has been sought in other places. The Knights Templar, European knights dedicated to the Church, were organized during the Crusades to act equally body guards for pilgrims to the Holy State. There are stories that while camped on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, they discovered treasures which included both the Holy Grail besides equally the Ark of the Covenant. When the Knights were banned and executed in 1307, rumors of their survival and their treasures accept multiplied over the centuries. A pop theory is that their treasures were stored at Rennes-le-Château in southern France. From there to Scotland, and so to the Us, on the theory that the Templars became the Masonic Order.
Knights Templar
The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church remains ane of the more than famous claims, declaring that the Ark is housed in the Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion in the city of Axum. The story of the Ark's journey from Jerusalem to Federal democratic republic of ethiopia is contained in their sacred text, the Kebra Nagast. Menelik I (tenth century BCE) was the founder of the Ethiopian Empire. According to the merits, he was the son of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba who had visited Jerusalem. Raised as a Jew, Menelik visited the capital letter, and in a vision (of impending destruction), took the real Ark and left a replica.
Ethiopia did have a large customs of Jews, the remnants of which were airlifted to Israel during Operation Solomon in 1991. During the Middle Ages, still, the country was converted to the Orthodox Church. Only the Ethiopian Church building adopted the traditions; every church has a tabot (a box) that resembles the Ark. There is a yearly festival where the priests march in procession with tabots on their heads. One priest is selected to spend the rest of his life equally a guardian at the church in Axum. All efforts to see the Ark have been strenuously denied.
The Temple Mount & Synagogues Today
The original site of the Temple complex sits on bedrock, with many tunnels dug into the stone. However, the Temple Mount (with the shrine of the Dome of the Stone) was placed in charge of the Mufti (the Muslim authority) during the last days of the British mandate in 1948. The Muslim government preclude any archaeological excavation in and around the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. While digging a tunnel in 1981 from the Western Wall under the Muslim Quarter, a doorway into the complex was discovered. When this was leaked to the press, all excavations were halted. The Temple Mount remains one of the nigh sensitive areas for both Jews and Muslims.
Mosaic of Temple Facade with Torah Ark
Synagogues have a special niche or place for a symbolic Ark of the Covenant. This is where the Torah scrolls are kept which incorporate the teachings of Moses and the Prophets. Outside of Israel, the Ark faces Jerusalem. In Israel itself, Yom HaAliyah (Aliyah Day, or "going up" every bit in going up to Jerusalem), is a national holiday that celebrates Joshua's crossing of the Jordan River while carrying the Ark of the Covenant.
This article has been reviewed for accuracy, reliability and adherence to academic standards prior to publication.
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