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What is the last known location of the Ark of the Covenant? I'm presuming it was already gone by the time the Romans sacked the temple in 70 A.D.
I thought it dissapeared shortly before or during the Roman sack of Jerusalem. I could be wrong here though, I am not a big expert on Holy Land history. But for some reason I keep thinking I read somewhere that one of the sects of zealots took the Ark to keep it out of the hands of the Romans and it was never heard from again.Maybe we should ask Dan Brown? 😀
Yeah, it's an interesting thing to think about, and I had not heard anything about the zealots possibly taking it. I am thinking that we would have heard about it had the Romans taken it back to Rome, but I have never heard that they did.Oh, and a side question regarding movie history: where was it located in Raiders of the Lost Ark? Wasn't it in Egypt? How did that happen?
I thought Jordan but maybe I am thinking that because of the Temple at Petra that was in one of the movies. Now that you mention it, I think they found it in the Valley of the Kings at some mysterious lost city. There was something about a city map, the Staff of Ra, and an equinox or solstice and the sunlight going through a gem on the staff pointed out where it was stashed in the lost city.
This is all very curious, and I would think that this has been the subject of much scholarly inquiry in the past. The funny thing is, when I did a search for the “Ark of the Covenant” in Google Books just now, I realized that it may be hard to distinguish actual history regarding it from conspiracy theories.http://www.google.com/search?q=ark+of+the+covenant&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a#q=ark+of+the+covenant&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbo=u&tbs=bks:1&source=og&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wp&fp=d9e9e341dd739fb5
I believe the Ark of the Covenant disappeared at the time of the Babylonian captivity. Circa 535 B.C. The Babylonians took the Jews to Babylon in three stages. They first took the king and the nobles installing a client king in his place. Next went artisans, followed by masses.Some Jews were allowed to remain behind, including the prophet Jeremiah (who had counseled submission to the Babylonians, instead of alliance with Egypt). Some of the remaining Jews assassinated the governor the Babylonians had installed and fled to Egypt. They took Jeremiah with them as a captive; he was put to death in Egypt. It's possible the Babylonians got their hands on the Ark of the Covenant when they conquered Jerusalem, but I think the Ark of Covenant made its way to Egypt for safe keeping. From there I think there might be some truth in the rumors that it then went to Ethiopia. The Ethiopians have long claimed to descend from union of Salomon and the Queen of Sheba, and they has a Judo-Christian history to support the claim.The temple the Romans was built after the Jews returned from the Babylonian captivity. Which is why I think the Ark of the Covenant disappeared when the Babylonians sacked Jerusalem and destroyed Salomon's temple.
I've heard Ethiopia.
I've also heard of it; the Ethiopian Orthodox Church claims to possess the Ark of the Covenant or "tabot" in Axum. The object is supposedly kept under guard in a treasury near the Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion, and used occasionally in ritual processions.http://www.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=Smithsonian+Magazine+|+People+%26+Places+|+Keepers+of+the+Lost+Ark%3F&expire=&urlID=25104449&fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.smithsonianmag.com%2Fpeople-places%2Fark-covenant-200712.html&partnerID=253162
