According to the Christian Old Testament, the Ark of the Covenant is a chest that held tablets engraved with the Ten Commandments.

The Ark was built by the people of Israel after they fled Egypt, according to the Hebrew Bible. There is a debate among scholars as to whether there ever was an exodus from Egypt, because the Hebrew Bible doesn't specify when. The Ark vanished when Jerusalem was conquered by the Babylonians.

According to the Hebrew Bible, the ark has a number of powers. The Jordan River stopped flowing in one story and a group of priests crossed it. The powers of the ark helped the Israelites defeat their enemies.

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The military efficacy of the ark in the Ark narrative, however, is initially called into question, as the Ark is captured by the Philistines and taken by them to the temple of the god Dagon in Ashdod.

After the ark was captured by the Philistines, they had to return it to the Israelites because of tumors and disease. Some stories say that death would come to anyone who touched the ark.

Where is the Ark of the Covenant?

According to the Hebrew Bible, the ark ended up in Jerusalem in the innermost chamber of the temple. There is a story about how it got there. Also in Ps. One of the few explicit mentions of the ark outside of Pentateuch and the historical books.

The Temple of Solomon was founded around 957 B.C. and is thought to have been where the ark was placed. The Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem in 586 B.C., but it is not mentioned in the list of the spoils they took from the temple.

The First Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians. The ark was hidden in a cave on Mount Nebo, according to the Book of Maccabees, and will remain unknown until God gathers his people together again and shows his mercy.

The Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion in Axum has a story about how the ark was brought to Ethiopia. The Guardian of the Ark is supposed to be the only one allowed to view the ark.

The Muslim version of events is based on a story in the Apocryphal second book of Maccabees, which relates that the biblical prophetJeremiah carried the Ark out of the wilderness. Some of the Prophet's followers tried to find the path that he had taken in order to find the Ark. Tudor Parfitt, a professor of religion at Florida International University, wrote in his book The Lost Ark of the Covenant that he rebuked them and said that the sign of his kinship would remain hidden until God gathered his people together at the end of time.

There are many other stories of the Ark's survival that Parfitt mentioned in his book. There are stories about how it is hidden in a number of places.

The Treatise of the Vessels says that the ark will not be revealed until the day of the Messiah.

God's temple in heaven was opened and the Ark of his Covenant was seen inside. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, and an earthquake.

What was the Ark made of?

Building of the Ark of the Covenant

The Israelites are supposed to have built the ark to very particular specifications, laid out by God after he gave Moses the Ten Commandments. (Image credit: BibleArtLibrary via Getty Images)

There are two stories about the ark. The most famous version is found in the Book of Exodus, which describes how a large amount of gold was used to build the Ark. The construction of an Ark made of wood is briefly described in the second version of the book.

The different accounts of the Ark make it difficult to understand them. Some scholars think that multiple arks may have been constructed at the same time.

The story of the construction of the ark told in the Book of Exodus describes how God told the people to build an ark out of wood and gold, with very precise instructions.

They should make an ark of the wood, consisting of two and a half cubits and a half wide, and a half high. Make a gold mold around it by covering it with pure gold inside and out.

The cherubim were to be sculpted out of gold and placed on the lid of the ark, and the ark was to be carried with poles made of acacia wood and gold. The cherubim are looking at the cover. The ark had tablets engraved with the Ten Commandments.

The Ark of the Covenant was supposed to be placed in a shrine known as the tabernacle. The Ark of the Covenant was not accessible to the public due to a curtain and altar being placed in front of it. The incense was made from gum, onycham, galbanum, and frankincense and was to be burned by the brothers of Moses.

Engraving depicting the Ark of the Covenant. Image shot 1885. Exact date unknown.

Engraving depicting the Ark of the Covenant. Image shot 1885. Exact date unknown. (Image credit: Alamy)

According to the Hebrew Bible, Bezalel was chosen by God to build the Ark of the Covenant and furnishings located within the tabernacle. The Hebrew Bible states that Oholiab was chosen by God to be Bezalel's assistant.

The First Temple, which is the holiest place in Judaism, was built in Jerusalem during the reign of King Solomon and the Ark of the Covenant was placed in an inner sanctuary covered in gold.

The story of the construction of the Ark of the Covenant is told in the Book of Deuteronomy. According to the book, the Israelis were worshiping a golden calf instead of God. The stone tablets engraved with the Ten Commandments were smashed by Moses. God ordered the creation of new tablets engraved with the Ten Commandments and a wooden ark that they could be placed in.

The first two stone tablets came up to me on the mountain. Make a wooden ark. You broke the first tablets, so I will write the words on them. They are to be put in the ark.

I chiseled out two stone tablets like the first ones, and I went up on the mountain with the two tablets in my hands. The Lord wrote the Ten Commandments on the tablets that he had written before. The tablets were put inside the ark.

Were there multiple Arks?

It is possible that multiple arks could have been used at the same time.

Before all the cultic affairs of the Israelites were concentrated in Jerusalem, there had been different types of arks.

Parfitt wrote that the early arks would have been simple wooden containers. The story of an elaborate Ark of the Covenant made of gold may have been told after Israeli worship became centralized in Jerusalem.

This bas-relief image showing the Ark of the Covenant being carried is from the Auch Cathedral in France. A newly translated Hebrew text claims to reveal the locations of treasures from King Solomon's Temple and discusses the fate of the Ark itself.

This bas-relief image showing the Ark of the Covenant being carried is from the Auch Cathedral in France. A newly translated Hebrew text claims to reveal the locations of treasures from King Solomon's Temple and discusses the fate of the Ark itself. (Image credit: Photo by I. Vassil, released into public domain through Wikimedia)

Additional resources and reading

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