# So Where Is the Ark of the Covenant? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 16, 2002, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-where-is-the-ark-of-the-covenant/143003 "2002-12-16T02:59:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![APB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@APB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/APB)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2002, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-where-is-the-ark-of-the-covenant/143003/21 "2002-12-17T10:51:17Z")
The idea that whatever it is that is in the church at Aksum is the original Ark was pretty much debunked by two academic historians, Roderick Grierson and Stuart Munro-Hay, in their book, _The Ark of the Covenant_ (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1999). Definitely recommended reading if you’ve already read _The Sign and the Seal_. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2002, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-where-is-the-ark-of-the-covenant/143003/22 "2002-12-17T13:45:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by hajario \* > \*\*That prick Titus barely got it done with forces that were better armed and outnumbered the Jews by 10 to 1. I was hoping to take a leak on the arch when I visited Rome a few years ago but it is fenced off. I had to settle for hocking a loogie on it. \*\* Dude, it’s been close to 2000 years. Perhaps you should let it go? ---
**Author:** ![galen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecc23a/32.png) [@galen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2002, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-where-is-the-ark-of-the-covenant/143003/23 "2002-12-17T15:53:01Z")
What evidence do we have that the Ark actually existed? Real evidence, I mean, not references in the Bible or the Talmud. ---
**Author:** ![metroshane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aeb1de/32.png) [@metroshane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/metroshane)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2002, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-where-is-the-ark-of-the-covenant/143003/24 "2002-12-17T16:08:36Z")
Some interesting reading a little off the subject… [http://www.geocities.com/the\_ark\_solved/](http://www.geocities.com/the_ark_solved/) A possible explanation of the ark’s powers. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2002, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-where-is-the-ark-of-the-covenant/143003/25 "2002-12-17T16:11:28Z")
Whatever happened to Moses’ Ark?😃 ---
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2002, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-where-is-the-ark-of-the-covenant/143003/26 "2002-12-17T16:13:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by galen \* > \*\*What evidence do we have that the Ark actually existed? Real evidence, I mean, not references in the Bible or the Talmud. \*\* Well, since it was gone before the Biblical canon was closed, there would probably not be any direct evidence of a small portable object such as the Ark. Zev Steinhardt ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2002, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-where-is-the-ark-of-the-covenant/143003/27 "2002-12-17T16:24:02Z")
Iiiit’s in my garage. :smack: I’m really kind of embarassed about the whole thing. :o :o It happened in college. It must have started after the tequila shots… Anyway, when i woke up, I was charred, I had twigs in my hair, and I was covered in ducks (don’t ask). Well, when the hangover went away, I went to the garage to get a mop and bucket (don’t ask), and _there_ it was!:eek: Wrapped in a collectable “Tears For Fears” tea cozy (don’t ask)–The Ark Of The Covenant! And it’s been an immense pain in the #ss ever since. Just _try_ to get some sleep at night without having Divine Light creeping in under the doorframe. You get a tan–want it or not! Just _try_ to keep a set of the Franklin Mint’s Third Reich Vs the Allies Collectable Plates without getting the images burned off by Celestial Fire! Just _try_ to have some friends over for New Years without those guardian angels eating all the food, & stealing my liquor! Damn warrior angels, you can’t trust any of 'em! And every time Uncle Joe comes over, he starts speaking in tongues! He’s hard enough to understand as it is! I wish the Ark would wait long enough for him to put his teeth in! (Really don’t ask!) How can I get rid of this thing? I tried selling it on E-Bay, but I couldn’t establish provenance. I once got a suggestion that I could hide it in a vast government warehouse, but the storage rates are a killer! Any suggestions? ps–Sluggy fans take note: I hereby give credit where credit is due. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2002, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-where-is-the-ark-of-the-covenant/143003/28 "2002-12-17T17:13:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mjollnir \* > \*\*Whatever happened to Moses’ Ark?😃 \*\* I think Phaeros daughter had it made into a centerpiece for her dining room table. It was reeds and papyrus, after all. Noah’s Ark was used by Douglas Adams in the BBC production of their version of a very special _Blossom_. Then , the wood was sold to a farmer in Wales who built a rather large addition to his house. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2002, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-where-is-the-ark-of-the-covenant/143003/29 "2002-12-17T17:53:49Z")
Does the Bible contain any description of the appearance of the ark? Do we have even the vaguest notion of what it looks like? ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2002, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-where-is-the-ark-of-the-covenant/143003/30 "2002-12-17T18:00:20Z")
Exodus chapter 25 ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2002, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-where-is-the-ark-of-the-covenant/143003/31 "2002-12-17T18:04:26Z")
The first thing God gave Moses, when instructing him to build the tabernacle, was the pattern and design of the Ark, for indeed it was the central and paramount object of the tabernacle and the whole camp of Israel. The chest itself measured 2.5 cubits long, 1.5 cubits wide, and 1.5 cubits high (c. 111 × 67 × 67 cm; 44 × 26 × 26 in.). It was made of acacia wood, overlaid inside and out with pure gold. An artistic “border of gold” served as a crowning wreath “round about upon it.” The second section of the Ark, its cover, was made of solid gold, not just wood overlaid with gold, and was the full length and breadth of the chest. Mounted on this cover were two golden cherubs of hammered workmanship, one at each end of the cover facing each other, with heads bowed and wings extending upward and overspreading the Ark. This cover was also known as the “mercy seat” or “propitiatory cover.” Long poles were provided for carrying the Ark. They were also made of acacia wood covered with gold and were inserted through two rings of gold on each side of the chest. These poles were not to be removed from their rings; hence there was never a necessity for bearers of the Ark to touch it. There were four feet, “walking feet, feet bent as if for walking,” located at the corners to raise the Ark off the floor, but how high is not disclosed. The rings may have been mounted immediately above the feet, if not on the feet themselves. (Commentary on the Old Testament, by C. F. Keil and F. Delitzsch, 1973, Vol. 1, The Second Book of Moses, p. 167) ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2002, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-where-is-the-ark-of-the-covenant/143003/32 "2002-12-17T18:04:39Z")
Just remember that _cherubim_ were probably some kind of winged beasts, not the cute, cuddly chubby winged babies we’ve come to know and love. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2002, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-where-is-the-ark-of-the-covenant/143003/33 "2002-12-17T18:07:09Z")
It’s in the sub-basement of one of the older warehouses I lease to the government. They forgot about it after some soliders brought it back at the end of WWII to keep it out of the hands of the SS, but _I_ know where it is, right next to crate with the remains of the spear of destiny and the chalice from the last supper. It’s smaller than you’d think. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2002, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-where-is-the-ark-of-the-covenant/143003/34 "2002-12-17T18:17:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mjollnir \* > \*\*Just remember that _cherubim_ were probably some kind of winged beasts, not the cute, cuddly chubby winged babies we’ve come to know and love. \*\* Yes, see Ezekiel 1:5-24 and 10:15 for a Biblical description. ---
**Author:** ![Ficer67](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c57346/32.png) [@Ficer67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ficer67)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2002, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-where-is-the-ark-of-the-covenant/143003/35 "2002-12-17T21:56:56Z")
Guys, the arc is not hidden under any construction, and I doubt it is in ethiopia, for this one reason. All of the pyramids were built to house the fortunes of great kings. And they were all looted by people who built them. Anything artifact that is of any value has been stolen, or looted throughout the ages. Every tomb or vault or safe has either can be cracked, or has already been cracked. If it is in a temple in Ethiopia, then a person with an infrared camera or a radar camera would be able to locate it. ---
**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:** [December 17, 2002, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-where-is-the-ark-of-the-covenant/143003/36 "2002-12-17T22:07:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ficer67 \* > **Anything artifact that is of any value has been stolen, or looted throughout the ages. Every tomb or vault or safe has either can be cracked, or has already been cracked.** So you believe thqt all the tombs that ever existed in Egypt have been found, and that there will never be another discovery of an unlooted tomb, like that of Tutankhamen jn 1922? ---
**Author:** ![Waverly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/57b2e6/32.png) [@Waverly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waverly)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2002, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-where-is-the-ark-of-the-covenant/143003/37 "2002-12-17T22:13:30Z")
I just want to point out that Hancock is a bone fide looneytoon. If you read his book (as I have) not only will your brain leak out your ears, but you will realize that he decided where the ark was on page one, and then proceeds to beg the question and bend reality to his premise for the remainder of the book. He has also found Atlantis, in case you are interested in is other works. _Assuming there ever was an ark:_ There is no definitive answer, but the weight of evidence points to it being plundered when Jerusalem was sacked by the Babylonians. (see RedNaxela’s post for detail) ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2002, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-where-is-the-ark-of-the-covenant/143003/38 "2002-12-17T22:15:11Z")
You people have no respect for the classics whatsoever. It’s in a crate, in a huge warehouse, waiting to be studied by Top. Men. Duh.:smack: ---
**Author:** ![beajerry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@beajerry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beajerry)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2002, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-where-is-the-ark-of-the-covenant/143003/39 "2002-12-17T22:22:58Z")
The ten commandments were copped from Hannurabi’s Code from the Sumerian/Mesopotamian creation of the world’s first city/state. The myth of Moses and his tablets from the mountain is a theme that evolved to incorporate some of these laws into judeo/christian dogma. There are no tablets and no arc. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2002, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-where-is-the-ark-of-the-covenant/143003/40 "2002-12-17T22:51:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by beajerry \* > \*\*The ten commandments were copped from Hannurabi’s Code from the Sumerian/Mesopotamian creation of the world’s first city/state. > The myth of Moses and his tablets from the mountain is a theme that evolved to incorporate some of these laws into judeo/christian dogma. There are no tablets and no arc. \*\* Well, here we are in the 18th century again. Higher Criticism vs The Bible This stuff has been debated for _years_. Might be a good GD topic to open up. Again. (It’s a debate that neither side will win) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-where-is-the-ark-of-the-covenant/143003.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-where-is-the-ark-of-the-covenant/143003.md?page=3)