# Where is the Ark of the covenant? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [September 21, 2013, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-ark-of-the-covenant/669374 "2013-09-21T11:05:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2013, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-ark-of-the-covenant/669374/21 "2013-09-23T18:12:30Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > I believe the only reports of the smiting of people who touched it are only in the Bible and in Jewish apocryphal tales. _If_ we had a report on a cuneaform tablet dug up elsewhere, and corroborated with an Egyptian report, then I might believe it was able to smite someone. There are no reference to the Ark anywhere but in christian and jewish writings. I was not seriously contemplating qualities of the Ark but noting for my own amusement, and ideally that of others, an inconsistency within the mythology of the thing. ---
**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:** [September 23, 2013, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-ark-of-the-covenant/669374/22 "2013-09-23T18:45:25Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > I’m curious how infidel invaders were able to strip the ark of its gold given the storied predilection of said holy object to smite anyone who touched it. To reason on this point from a Biblical POV… If God was so displeased to let even the Temple be destroyed, twice, perhaps he was pissed off enough to turn off the smite switch on the ark, making it just an acacia wood box covered in gold. (Look on this post as kind of like a Star Wars wank that we see all the time.) ---
**Author:** ![aNewLeaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2013, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-ark-of-the-covenant/669374/23 "2013-09-23T18:48:39Z")
> [@bup](#): > > All **Don Jackson** postulated was that the Ten Commandments tablets probably existed, not given by God. > > In fact, he thinks it’s more likely a sign of extraterrestrial visitation than dictation from God. If he comes back, I’d like his opinion on whether it’s more likely that people created it (and stories of supernatural creation later developed), than coming from aliens. > > Anyway, I wouldn’t be surprised if stone tablets that the Hebrews considered holy objects once existed. I think they probably were carved by Moses rather than Yahweh, but maybe aliens did it. I do tend to think there might have been actual tablets at one point, and if so then there might well have been an Ark for carrying them. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2013, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-ark-of-the-covenant/669374/24 "2013-09-23T21:43:09Z")
> [@Don\_Jackson](#): > > I don’t think the aliens from space theory is all that far-fetched. What is more far-fetched, that aliens from space spoke to the Hebrews through a microphone or that a three-in-one, omnipresent, omniscient creator of the big bang decided to speak to the Hebrews from out of the sky? In any case, reality is sometimes more far-fetched than we could ever imagine. I think that’s a false dichotomy right there. What if it’s neither? You can’t just say “Which is more likely: Leprechauns or Cthulu? - obviously not Leprechauns… therefore… Cthulu!”. ---
**Author:** ![Asympotically\_fat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e47c2d/32.png) [@Asympotically\_fat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asympotically_fat)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2013, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-ark-of-the-covenant/669374/25 "2013-09-23T23:03:51Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I think that’s a false dichotomy right there. What if it’s neither? > > You can’t just say “Which is more likely: Leprechauns or Cthulu? - obviously not Leprechauns… therefore… Cthulu!”. Yep, totally misses that it could well be leprechauns AND Cthulu ---
**Author:** ![dogbutler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dogbutler/32/428_2.png) [@dogbutler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dogbutler)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2013, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-ark-of-the-covenant/669374/26 "2013-09-23T23:12:21Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I think that’s a false dichotomy right there. What if it’s neither? > > You can’t just say “Which is more likely: Leprechauns or Cthulu? - obviously not Leprechauns… therefore… Cthulu!”. So you’re saying the Ark is in R’lyeh? ---
**Author:** ![busterpickle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@busterpickle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/busterpickle)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2013, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-ark-of-the-covenant/669374/27 "2013-09-24T03:14:12Z")
The Parfitt documentary was also on NoVA in the US and it is, IMHO, the best explanation so far. Mainly because there is a chain of custody and physical evidence to support it. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2013, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-ark-of-the-covenant/669374/28 "2013-09-24T03:17:28Z")
> [@Asympotically\_fat](#): > > Yep, totally misses that it could well be leprechauns AND Cthulu Wait. Cthulhu was a leprechaun? That changes everything. Now if I take the sixth letter on every sixth page of every sixth book… ---
**Author:** ![RiverRunner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/977dab/32.png) [@RiverRunner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RiverRunner)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2013, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-ark-of-the-covenant/669374/29 "2013-09-24T17:11:23Z")
> [@NoClueBoy](#): > > To reason on this point from a Biblical POV… > > If God was so displeased to let even the Temple be destroyed, twice, perhaps he was pissed off enough to turn off the smite switch on the ark, making it just an acacia wood box covered in gold. ``` That's fairly close to my understanding. The ark and its attendant cover -- the *mercy seat*, as it is called in many modern translations -- were associated with the presence of God; this is why it resided in the Holy of Holies, the innermost room of the Temple. Touching the Ark or entering the Holy of Holies by one who had not been ritually purified was fatal because it was (either literally or symbolically) the focal point of God's presence. Israel eventually fell so far out of favor that God withdrew His presence and His protection, at which point the Ark was just a box with some stuff in it and the Holy of Holies was just a room. ``` ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2013, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-ark-of-the-covenant/669374/30 "2013-09-24T17:27:28Z")
[del]What _is_ a graven image?[/del] Never mind. I discovered a wonderful thing called “google.” Sometime I’ll tell you all about it. ---
**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:** [September 24, 2013, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-ark-of-the-covenant/669374/31 "2013-09-24T17:41:13Z")
Google Earth shows the current location of the Ark. Both of them, actually. For a reasonable sum, I might let the OP in on my info. ---
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2013, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-ark-of-the-covenant/669374/32 "2013-09-24T21:41:01Z")
I’m not the OP but… 2 + 3 = 5 Is that a reasonable sum? ---
**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:** [September 24, 2013, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-ark-of-the-covenant/669374/33 "2013-09-24T22:24:13Z")
Depends on the values set for 2 or 3. Sorry. Sorry. So sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2013, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-ark-of-the-covenant/669374/34 "2013-09-25T21:40:03Z")
> [@Deeg](#): > > I’m not the OP but… > > 2 + 3 = 5 > > Is that a reasonable sum? Units! You forgot the Units! ---
**Author:** ![dogbutler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dogbutler/32/428_2.png) [@dogbutler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dogbutler)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2013, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-ark-of-the-covenant/669374/35 "2013-09-25T21:53:49Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > Units! You forgot the Units! Quatloos! ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-ark-of-the-covenant/669374/36 "2013-09-26T09:58:07Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > I believe the only reports of the smiting of people who touched it are only in the Bible and in Jewish apocryphal tales. _If_ we had a report on a cuneaform tablet dug up elsewhere, and corroborated with an Egyptian report, then I might believe it was able to smite someone. > > And as to it being hoiked off to Ethiopia, that would mean that Solomon had to give away a _major_ religious artifact to some broad from elsewhere he was shagging for a while. Um, not really going to happen - I believe all the priests would have something to say about that. > > I find it much easier to believe that it was stripped of gold and tossed on a fire somewhere, and the stone tablets dumped out on the ground, and perhaps used as building fill. Technically, the Ethiopia legend is that it wasn’t given by Solomon but was smuggled out by the faithful Priests who were appalled by Solomon’s apostasy & thought the Queen & her son by Solomon were more likely to give the Ark a proper Jewish home- maybe even because they foresaw how Solomon’s apostasy would snowball into the eventual destruction of the Temple in Divine judgement. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-ark-of-the-covenant/669374/37 "2013-09-26T14:25:28Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > Technically, the Ethiopia legend is that it wasn’t given by Solomon but was smuggled out by the faithful Priests who were appalled by Solomon’s apostasy & thought the Queen & her son by Solomon were more likely to give the Ark a proper Jewish home- maybe even because they foresaw how Solomon’s apostasy would snowball into the eventual destruction of the Temple in Divine judgement. I have seen both reported - smuggled or gifted. Since I doubt either happened, it is rather moot. I still think it was seized, stripped and melted down and the contents dumped somewhere and used as building material/rubble fill. The [Arch of Titus](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7d/Arch_of_Titus_Menorah.png) shows a rather large and probably golden and gaudy menorah taken from the temple being paraded. Please take note of the odd boxlike object with carry poles and some form of trumpet or horn attached in the parade carried in front of the menorah. Many historians take this as an indication that all the temple treasures were seized at this time. On the other hand, the Dead Sea Scrolls have this spiffy [copper scroll](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copper_Scroll) that mentions a treasure. This could be either that of the religious colony that stashed the scrolls or the Temple treasure. On the gripping hand, Josephus mentions that the Temple Treasure was still in the temple when it was seized. Need a fourth hand, so we need a Red Martian to show up - the Romans trashed the _Second_ temple, Nebuchanezzar trashed out the _First_ temple and the ark may have gone at that time. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-ark-of-the-covenant/669374/38 "2013-09-26T14:49:49Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > The [Arch of Titus](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7d/Arch_of_Titus_Menorah.png) shows a rather large and probably golden and gaudy menorah taken from the temple being paraded. Please take note of the odd boxlike object with carry poles and some form of trumpet or horn attached in the parade carried in front of the menorah. That menorah only has six arms! The whole thing’s a fraud! Soon, the SDMB was on a secret, dangerous archaeological adventure that found the secret panel \*inside \*the Arch of Titus, the scroll left inside the Sphinx’ tale, and then sent them on a scavenger hunt below Disney World. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-ark-of-the-covenant/669374/39 "2013-09-26T19:15:24Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > Need a fourth hand, so we need a Red Martian to show up I think you mean we need a Green Martian. [SDMB motto: Nitpickingly correct. The best kind of correct!] ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-ark-of-the-covenant/669374/40 "2013-09-26T20:36:58Z")
[pedantic Catholic hijack] The report says "The apocryphal book 2 Maccabbees ". for Catholics and Orthodox it isn’t apocryphal and even for protestants, while being part of the Apocrypha, it’s not in the same league as other apocryphal books. Go back to your scheduled programs and don’t forget to spay or neuter your pets. [/pedantic Catholic hijack] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-ark-of-the-covenant/669374.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-is-the-ark-of-the-covenant/669374.md?page=3)