The Ark of the Covenant
Where is the Ark of the Covenant located and what is it? One of the greatest religious symbols that ever existed.
It was entirely covered in gold, surmounted by two cherubim with golden wings and was said to contain the tablets of God's commandments, the golden vase with Manna and Aaron's staff.
Its history can be reconstructed by careful studying one of the most controversial texts on the planet: the Bible. Tradition has it that the Ark was built to contain, mainly, the tables of God's law. It was therefore the symbol of the Jews who, as we know, received the laws after their exodus from Egypt.
Nowadays it is believed that the real Ark is kept in the holy of holies of the church of Saint Mary of Zion in Axum. The guardian of the Ark watches over it day and night, not allowing anyone to see it. The goal is to guard the Ark for the rest of his days and his successor will be chosen when the guardian is at the point of death, renewing a 1600 year old tradition.
An overall look at the history of the Ark makes us immediately realize that there are three fundamental stages of the Ark: Jerusalem, Elephantine, Axum. In detail, it can be said that the Ark remained in the temple of Jerusalem until at least 700 BC. Between 700 BC and 620 BC its history seems, again, full of mysteries, as the trace of the Ark is lost. A rather popular theory believes that the Ark was moved during the time of Manasseh (around 687 BC), considered ruthless and prone to idol worship.
The Jews of Jerusalem feared, in fact, that such a sovereign could harm their safety and that of the Ark: in all likelihood they decided to emigrate... but where? It must be kept in mind that for the Jews the only place worthy of being able to keep the Ark was the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, in fact they considered all foreign territories impious, unless...
A group of German archaeologists while carrying out excavations on the island of Elephantine found a Jewish temple, most likely dating back to 650 BC (the time of the escape of the priests from the kingdom of Manasseh).
There was even more: the measurements of these remains corresponded more or less exactly with the measurements of the Temple in Jerusalem. But the mystery that seemed solved instead began to deepen again. Why was the Temple of Elephantine destroyed? Why were traces of the Jews lost on the island? How can an entire population disappear from an island without leaving any evidence of some massacre?
A light was made thanks to some discoveries made on a small island near Elephantine. On the island of Tana Kirkos, a legend circulates according to which the Ark stopped on the island for about 800 years on its journey to Ethiopia. In the 3rd century AD the Ark reappeared in Axum, Ethiopia, by King Ezana. If we subtract the 800 years spent on the island of Tana Kirkos from the 3rd century AD, we arrive at the 5th century BC, which is the era in which the temple of Elephantine was destroyed. Unfortunately, although it is possible to reconstruct the history of the Ark, we are not certain of its actual existence. Since it was built and passed down, only one person per generation has had the privilege and burden of looking after it.
Ron Wyatt claims to have taken photos of the Ark, but the film turned out to be strangely foggy. A history so full of mysteries, she was the mother of numerous legends that attribute strange powers to the Ark.
In fact, there are numerous passages in which inexplicable events linked in some way to the Ark are narrated in the Bible. In it, but also in other sources, the Ark is handed down as an object that burned with light and fire, capable of causing tumors and deep wounds in human beings, of demolishing mountains, diverting rivers and devastating armies. It is said in the Bible that when Aaron's sons entered the temple, they burned incense that the Lord had not ordered them to burn, flames came out of the Ark which immediately devoured them. It is also said that the two Cherubim that top the Ark suddenly begin to emanate flames that burn everything close to them. These legends seem to be supported in the famous Timkat procession. It is a festival held in Axum, which celebrates the arrival of the Ark in the city.
During this procession, whose festivities last for about two days, the Ark is carried in procession protected by a thick blue cloth... to protect the ark from curious people, or to protect the palanquin men and priests? There are numerous legends that tell of strange phenomena that had porters as protagonists. Some of them suffered serious burns, serious, at times, to the point of death.
Other times they were lifted from the ground together with the Ark and then rose several meters into the air, landing tens of meters away. Having said that, what do we have left? The story of a group of Jews who moved from Jerusalem to Elephantine, from here to Tana Kirkos and then to Axum has been traced. But were they alone or were they protecting the precious cargo of the Ark with their movements? And again, is the real Ark the one kept in Axum, or perhaps the real one has yet to be discovered? And is it still a deadly weapon or just a deliberately mystical and mysterious symbol?
So questions, just questions, which are not easy to answer.
