# The Ark of the Covenant **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 9, 2004, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ark-of-the-covenant/268407 "2004-10-09T22:28:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2004, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ark-of-the-covenant/268407/21 "2004-10-10T10:49:45Z")
> [@poogas21](#): > > I saw a History Channel documentary on this very place that claimed a local legend states that anyone besides the one high priest who sees the Ark will instantly burst into flames. But that turned out to a ring of smugglers who were using the old legend to scare people away, which you may recall was pointed out by four helpful kids and a dog. They unmasked the high priest and he turned out to be … ---
**Author:** ![Scarf-Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Scarf-Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarf-Ace)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2004, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ark-of-the-covenant/268407/22 "2004-10-10T11:38:17Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > The Knights Templar thought it was the grail because they saw the grail-shaped lantern on the roof. Pardon me, but if you look closely you’ll see that it is in fact a satellite dish, no doubt so placed as to disrupt any attempts to scan the building. ---
**Author:** ![Erroneous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/71c47a/32.png) [@Erroneous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erroneous)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2004, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ark-of-the-covenant/268407/23 "2004-10-10T11:38:56Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > As for not letting anyone see it, think about this: what would happen if they let some scientists in there, and these scientists came out and said “Yep, there’s an ark in there, and it really is thousands of years old”? > > What would happen is that a zillion people would descend on that place in the biggest pilgrimage since the Crusades. Given the way crowds behave, they’d get into the shrine, and the Ark would probably get damaged or stolen. Whatever’s in there, the local Christian and Jewish populations believe very strongly, and in a very significant way, that it is the actual Ark of the Covenant between Man and God, built by Moses. It would be the most sacred physical object in the world to those people, by a wide margin. So the chances of anyone but the chosen priest being allowed to see it, let alone examine it, are essentially nil. But let’s assume for argument’s sake that there’s an open house. So the flipside to the above quoted situation would be that scientists end up saying “yeah, it’s an Ark, but we analysed the wood and metal and it’s clearly a replica from the 6th century AD [or whenever].” Bam, the foundation of the faith and rituals of the local people is shaken, just like that. Some degree of social chaos ensues. Also a very undesirable outcome. But in more direct reply to the OP’s question, no, there’s currently no public technology that would allow us to remotely peer through the roof or walls and get a useful picture of what’s inside. You MIGHT be able to set something up on the ground, along the lines of the cosmic-ray counter they’ve got set up in that pyramid in Mexico right now, but (a) you’d be driven away by the locals pretty quickly, and (b) even if you could use such a system, I don’t think the resolution of the images would tell you anything more than ‘yeah, there’s a box of some sort on an altar in there’, which is already a given. ---
**Author:** ![Crandolph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7cd45c/32.png) [@Crandolph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crandolph)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2004, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ark-of-the-covenant/268407/24 "2004-10-10T14:34:34Z")
> [@bibliophage](#): > > This Straight Dope Staff Report may be of interest: [url=“[http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/marc.html](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/marc.html)”]Hancock, best known for his Atlantis theorizing, is part of the lunatic fringe. I agree as far as his amateur (or… I guess not as he has sold some books on it… um, _unaccredited_) archaeology. But not throwing out the baby with the bath water, Hancock has written some insightful stuff on Third World development organizations (this appears to be how he got into travelling to so many exotic locales). I especially recommend his book _The Lords of Poverty_. I read that first, and have since happened across many of his tinfoil hat books in bookstores, which caught my eye because of his name. “Not every day you see an illustrated coffee table book on economics and development… odd cover! No, nothing about the World Bank here… uh-huh… Atlantis, riiiiiiiight…” [Puts book down, backs away] ---
**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:** [October 10, 2004, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ark-of-the-covenant/268407/25 "2004-10-10T14:44:37Z")
Hmmmm. I wasn’t actually suggesting going in there and turning it into a tourist site. You don’t see folks shrugging on the Shroud of Tourin to see how it looks, do you? I meant a careful, respectful scientific look. The idea that it might be a 1200 year old replica did not occur to me, for I did not know they had made acknowledged replicas. I suppose one would need to physically examine it and…well… I am not advocating a prolonged dissembly of whatever is in there. Were there a way to establish it, it’d be interesting to know. If it could be done in a very non-destructive fashion. ---
**Author:** ![InvidiousCourgette](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e47c2d/32.png) [@InvidiousCourgette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InvidiousCourgette)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2004, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ark-of-the-covenant/268407/26 "2004-10-10T14:46:54Z")
> [@Scarf-Ace](#): > > Pardon me, but if you look closely you’ll see that it is in fact a satellite dish, no doubt so placed as to disrupt any attempts to scan the building. It does look a lot like a satellite dish. No doubt it would have been difficult if not impossible for the Knights Templar to come to the same conclusion, hence the confusion with the holy grail. ---
**Author:** ![Scarf-Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Scarf-Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarf-Ace)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2004, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ark-of-the-covenant/268407/27 "2004-10-10T14:59:20Z")
> [@InvidiousCourgette](#): > > It does look a lot like a satellite dish. No doubt it would have been difficult if not impossible for the Knights Templar to come to the same conclusion, hence the confusion with the holy grail. Bad naughty Sky, installing all their confusing electronic equipment everywhere! ---
**Author:** ![rewindforward](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f19dbf/32.png) [@rewindforward](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rewindforward)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2004, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ark-of-the-covenant/268407/28 "2004-10-10T17:00:10Z")
don’t think anyone mentioned where the picture is from… looked it up on the net and I think it’s at St. Mary of Zion Church in Aksum… or spelt Axum. As for wondering what’s in there… doesn’t sound like there’s much security. Maybe you could gather some thug buddies and go down there and give them an old fashioned ass whooping… tranquilizer gun the monk guard then break and enter your way into the shed. ---
**Author:** ![Antonius\_Block](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/51bf81/32.png) [@Antonius\_Block](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antonius_Block)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2004, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ark-of-the-covenant/268407/29 "2004-10-10T19:56:48Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > I’d give the real Ark as follows; 49.98% the Priests ;j hid it in the caves near Jerusalem, 49% it was captured and melted down, and .01% the Copts have it, with the other .01% = 'anything goes". Since you’re being so precise with your numbers, where did the other 1% go? (49.98 + 49 + 0.01 + 0.01 =99) 😉 Or is the missing 1% to cover the likelihood that it’s in a wooden crate in some huge US Government warehouse? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2004, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ark-of-the-covenant/268407/30 "2004-10-10T19:58:43Z")
Yep, cood catch. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ark-of-the-covenant/268407.md?page=1)