# Raiders Of The Lost Ark Question **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 21, 2015, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raiders-of-the-lost-ark-question/710464 "2015-01-21T07:44:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2015, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raiders-of-the-lost-ark-question/710464/41 "2015-01-22T01:22:20Z")
You are all wrong. The iphone accidentally got wet so God put it in a container of sand to dry it out. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2015, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raiders-of-the-lost-ark-question/710464/42 "2015-01-22T01:30:11Z")
Of course, Indiana Jones is completely irrelevant to the conclusion of _Raiders of the Lost Ark_: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/kWE6M-rhh2U/hqdefault.jpg "The Big Bang Theory - Amy ruins the Indiana Jones franchise") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWE6M-rhh2U) ---
**Author:** ![OHS201](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/6de8d8/32.png) [@OHS201](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OHS201)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2015, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raiders-of-the-lost-ark-question/710464/43 "2015-01-22T01:31:22Z")
My assumption was that Belloq expected this to be a supernatural device but under human control. Like Dorothy’s ruby slippers or Aladdin’s lamp. He therefore dressed in the priestly garments and muttered the incantations – liie Dorothy clickng her heelsxor Aladdin rubbing the lamp. When he opened the ark, he didnt find what he expected (whole or broken tablets) and was taken aback. Why there would be sand is unclear, except that things were not as expected. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2015, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raiders-of-the-lost-ark-question/710464/44 "2015-01-22T01:52:26Z")
It might as well be sand. The iconography is Cecil B. DeMille at his finest. Two tablets, one hunk of stone really, with dual arched tops? Really? We need Mythbusters in here. I’ve carved stone. It’s heavy. You know. Like…stones are. Forget the fancy arches along the top. Look at the rough dimensions of the [Ten Commandments in the film of the same name.](http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2008/03_01/mosesHeston2703_468x611.jpg) Each of those would weigh in at what- 30 pounds? Your average adult male, climbing down a mountain with 60 pounds of cut stone? Bullshit. I think that Moses went up there, wrote out a moral code that he felt strongly enough to write out and propose to his flock as the word of the Lord ( with or without the help of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob ). And came down with a piece of lambskin with some ink on it. The rest is Hollywood. As for the OP, I always felt that the sand was there because God did not want anyone Not Worthy™ to touch the tablets. God replaced them with sand. ( No stone would have "turned to sand " after 5,000 years. It’s fucking stone. ) I suspect that if Indy had opened up the Ark, why there’d have been two tablets in place. Nary a scratch on 'em. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2015, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raiders-of-the-lost-ark-question/710464/45 "2015-01-22T03:46:35Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Of course, Indiana Jones is completely irrelevant to the conclusion of _Raiders of the Lost Ark_: > > [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWE6M-rhh2U](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWE6M-rhh2U) Of course I’ve heard that before, Wendell. But I’ve fanwanked it that he - and Marion - were necessary because there needed to be someone to witness the power of God as the Ark did it’s thing. God’s always been big on making sure someone was left to tell the tale when he got into the miracle business. Oh, and my take on the clip posted above is that Good Lord Karen Allen has beautiful eyes. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2015, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raiders-of-the-lost-ark-question/710464/46 "2015-01-22T04:14:16Z")
> [@](#): > > God’s always been big on making sure someone was left to tell the tale when he got into the miracle business. Always? Ever notice that you never hear from the shipwrecked sailors who were carried further out to sea by dolphins? Same deal here. But back to the sand in the ark: Was it even full of sand? Belloq opens it, expecting to find a great treasure. Instead, he finds its contents to be something that has no value whatsoever to him. What if he literally really did look upon the intact tablets, but because of his hubris and greed, was unable to see them as anything other than something worthless? ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2015, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raiders-of-the-lost-ark-question/710464/47 "2015-01-22T04:22:53Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > We have top men working on it right now. Top. Men. WHO? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2015, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raiders-of-the-lost-ark-question/710464/48 "2015-01-22T04:35:37Z")
> [@Cartooniverse](#): > > No stone would have "turned to sand " after 5,000 years. It’s fucking stone. Where do you think sand comes from? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Winkler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/82dd89/32.png) [@The\_Winkler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Winkler)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2015, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raiders-of-the-lost-ark-question/710464/49 "2015-01-22T04:36:44Z")
So it was the real ark but the tablets had been stored so poorly that they crumbled into sand. The fact that the tablets were just sand is what angered Belloq and the Nazis, even though the ark is real iand still had the power of God in it. But the destroyed tablets mattered most to Belloq and Hitler. Kind of anti-climatic. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2015, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raiders-of-the-lost-ark-question/710464/50 "2015-01-22T04:59:09Z")
> [@Critical1](#): > > I thought it did burn them off in the American warehouse…but maybe not. No, the U.S. Army stenciled the English wording on the new box and packed it off with no further divine burning that we see. At 1:25 here: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSJLGAtFyL4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSJLGAtFyL4) > [@Sampiro](#): > > I didn’t understand why he was wearing the priestly garments and breastplate. The ark was one of the crankiest artifacts in all scripture and only the high priest could get near it when it was in a mood, but there was more to being a high priest than dressing like one. Being Hebrew was probably kind of a deal breaker in fact. Did you mean, “_not_ being Hebrew”? ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2015, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raiders-of-the-lost-ark-question/710464/51 "2015-01-22T04:59:50Z")
> [@Cartooniverse](#): > > . . . Forget the fancy arches along the top. Look at the rough dimensions of the [Ten Commandments in the film of the same name.](http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2008/03_01/mosesHeston2703_468x611.jpg) . . . What language is that? It doesn’t look like Hebrew. Some variety of Egyptian? What does it say? Is it meaningfully translatable? ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2015, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raiders-of-the-lost-ark-question/710464/52 "2015-01-22T05:01:27Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > We’re supposed to believe that a professional archaeologist, who has a Ph.D. and everything, and who was hired by the German government specifically to find this artifact, was too stupid to have read the primary historical source of information on it? Even though this source is a scant few lines contained in the most printed book of all time? > > I’m not buying it. Either there is some other in-universe explanation for Belloq’s reaction, or this is a gaping plot hole. Why not? We have another Ph.D. archaeologist who finds a cave full of ancient, incredibly well-engineered, _fully functional_ booby traps, and completely ignores them in favor of stealing a golden statue - which, aside from still being sacred to the tribe, as witnessed by their genuflection when Bellocq holds it up, completely compromises the context and thus the archaeological importance of the artifact. Archaeology Ph.Ds must have come in Cracker Jack boxes in those days. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2015, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raiders-of-the-lost-ark-question/710464/53 "2015-01-22T05:07:28Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > The question should be what did Belloq expect to find inside the Ark? Fortune and glory, kid. Fortune and glory. ---
**Author:** ![sparky\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/77aa72/32.png) [@sparky\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sparky_1)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2015, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raiders-of-the-lost-ark-question/710464/54 "2015-01-22T10:34:44Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > What language is that? It doesn’t look like Hebrew. Some variety of Egyptian? > > What does it say? Is it meaningfully translatable? Something about Commies are bad, Gays are thieves and marijuana will turn you to murder. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2015, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raiders-of-the-lost-ark-question/710464/55 "2015-01-22T11:38:45Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > What language is that? It doesn’t look like Hebrew. Some variety of Egyptian? > > What does it say? Is it meaningfully translatable? Those are Phoenician letters, or variants. (Most of them look to be mirror images, though maybe that’s because the photo has been flipped horizontally…?) Phoenician’s a lost language, so it’s unlikely that the text on the tablets spells anything meaningful in Phoenician. Possibly it’s a transliterated message in English or some other language known to the filmmakers. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2015, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raiders-of-the-lost-ark-question/710464/56 "2015-01-22T12:37:25Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > Those are Phoenician letters, or variants. (Most of them look to be mirror images, though maybe that’s because the photo has been flipped horizontally…?) Phoenician’s a lost language, so it’s unlikely that the text on the tablets spells anything meaningful in Phoenician. Possibly it’s a transliterated message in English or some other language known to the filmmakers. Seeing as Phoenician and Hebrew were basically the same language, and that Phoenician letters were the basis for all Western alphabets, what else would the tablets be written in? ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2015, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raiders-of-the-lost-ark-question/710464/57 "2015-01-22T15:52:35Z")
> [@Cartooniverse](#): > > I suspect that if Indy had opened up the Ark, why there’d have been two tablets in place. Nary a scratch on 'em. _Indiana Cohen and the Lost Ark of the Covenant_ ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2015, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raiders-of-the-lost-ark-question/710464/58 "2015-01-22T17:31:01Z")
Touché. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2015, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raiders-of-the-lost-ark-question/710464/59 "2015-01-22T17:36:15Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Seeing as Phoenician and Hebrew were basically the same language, and that Phoenician letters were the basis for all Western alphabets, what else would the tablets be written in? Comic Sans? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2015, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raiders-of-the-lost-ark-question/710464/60 "2015-01-22T17:36:27Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > What it means is that Stephen Spielberg is Jewish. Or as [Roger Ebert wrote](http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-raiders-of-the-lost-ark-1981):And when a Nazi torturer grabs a sacred relic and it burns a stigmata into his hand. Well, to be fair, it had just been in a fire. Nothing supernatural there. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raiders-of-the-lost-ark-question/710464.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raiders-of-the-lost-ark-question/710464.md?page=4)