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.
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.)
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.
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
So you’re saying the Ark is in R’lyeh?
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.
Wait. Cthulhu was a leprechaun?
That changes everything. Now if I take the sixth letter on every sixth page of every sixth book…
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.
[del]What is a graven image?[/del]
Never mind. I discovered a wonderful thing called “google.” Sometime I’ll tell you all about it.
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.
I’m not the OP but…
2 + 3 = 5
Is that a reasonable sum?
Depends on the values set for 2 or 3.
Sorry. Sorry. So sorry.
Units! You forgot the Units!
Quatloos!
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 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 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.
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.
I think you mean we need a Green Martian.
[SDMB motto: Nitpickingly correct. The best kind of correct!]
[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]