If you were going to bring back the early adventure epics to the big screen, what better story than a roguish professor and archeologist searching for the greatest lost treasure in history?
The Ark of the Covenant was the most important artifact of biblical times – the repository of God’s words and laws engraved personally into blocks of stone, and held in a fabulous crate built to His exact specifications.
For anyone who hasn’t watched the 1956 movie The Ten Commandments, after the Israelites fled Egypt during the Exodus, they made camp at Sinai, where they stayed for two years. Yahweh (God) gave Moses two Tablets of the Law, on which he had inscribed his ten commandments, on Mount Sinai. Then He directed the tablets to be placed in a special chest for transport, the Ark of the Covenant.
It was to be made of acacia wood, 2.5 x 1.5 x 1.5 cubits in size (3.75 x 2.25 x 2.25 feet), with gold overlay inside and out. The box would be born with carrying poles also made out of acacia wood, inserted through four rings attached to each bottom corner. Inside, there would be the Tablets, a pot of manna, and the rod of Moses’ brother Aaron, which had miraculous powers.
Interesting specifications, aren’t they? Aaron’s staff, for example, must have been on the short side, for even if laid diagonally inside the Ark, it could only be a maximum of about 4.3 feet. If we assume that the tablets filled the space, they would have been quite large, but that’s speculation at best. And why a pot of manna?
Symbolic, presumably. As described by ancient writings, manna arrived with the night dew as “a fine, flake-like thing” like frost on the ground. It melted in the heat and had to be gathered before the sun came up. God’s consolation while he made the Israelites wander the desert for 40 years, it would only fall for six days, i.e. not on the Sabbath, and Friday’s portion was doubled.
Perhaps the manna was a reminder that God could giveth or taketh away, depending on how well pleased he was with his followers.
At any rate, the Ark was created with remarkable gravity. A man named Bezalel was chosen by God to build the it, “filled … with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills — to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of crafts.” (Exodus 31:3-5).
As you read further, about how lethal the Ark could be, God must have given Bezalel, and his assistant Oholiab, special protection during the construction.
Two cherubim (angels) were to be sculpted out of gold for the lid, and were to have “their wings spread upward, overshadowing the cover with them. The cherubim are to face each other, looking toward the cover.” (Exodus) The lid would serve as Yahweh’s throne, as he had told Moses: “There, above the cover between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the covenant law, I will meet with you and give you all my commands for the Israelites” (Exodus 25:22).
The Ark was to be placed within a shrine known as the Tabernacle, a tent with a curtain that prevented people from viewing the Ark inside it. The Tabernacle was also known as the Tent of the Congregation or Tent of Meeting, where God would appear when on Earth. It was fairly elaborate, with had an inner sanctuary, the Holy of Holies, to contain the Ark, four layers of curtains and several ritual instruments, including a menorah. An altar and incense burners were to be placed in front of the curtain.
A complex and costly incense was made from frankincense, galbanum (an aromatic resin with an intensely fresh, woody, and slightly balsamic scent), gum resin, and onycham (a rare, ancient aromatic ingredient used in holy incense, made from the dried shell of sea snails and renowned for its pungent, earthy and musk-like scent). It was to be burned twice a day, at morning and sunset, by Aaron, the brother of Moses, and his sons.
The Ark was so heavy that, according to some stories, it kept itself aloft (levitation?) so that the special bearers could move it from place to place.
There is a second story in the Book of Deuteronomy about the construction of the ark as a much simpler vessel for the tablets, made just of wood. Some scholars believe that multiple arks may have been constructed, used at the same time or different times, which would put an entirely different spin on things.
For the Ark of the Covenant was portrayed in writings as a fearsome thing, capable of great destruction. As it led the Israelites through the desert, it was often accompanied by a pillar of fire or smoke, and possibly emitted fire to burn away thorns, insects, and snakes in its path. Crikey!
It required strict handling and could be lethal to those not careful enough. The Law specifically prohibited directly touching the holy Ark, even by the Levites responsible for it. On a day when the Ark was on an ox cart being transported from Judah, the oxen stumbled and a man named Uzzah reached out to steady it. He died instantly, ‘struck down by God’s anger’.
It was said to be able to release blinding light and fire, and some kind of destructive energy that made it a formidable weapon, even bringing down the walls of Jericho. Yet somehow the Philistines managed to capture it and take it to the temple of the god Dagon in Ashdod. It was a bad move, as they were then afflicted with disease and had to return it to the Israelites.
All of these stories have led to speculation that the Ark was some form of energy battery, or perhaps even radioactive. Certainly the Ark of the Covenant was a very curious artifact, and its disappearance is shrouded in just as much mystery. The Ark vanished when the Babylonians conquered Jerusalem in 587 B.C.
The Ark moved around quite a bit, but eventually it was kept in Jerusalem, in the innermost chamber of the temple. Later it was thought to have been placed in the Temple of Solomon, and after that it vanished from historical record. Most scholars assume that it remained in the temple until the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 586 B.C., about 400 years, but it wasn’t mentioned in the list of spoils the Babylonians looted. So, there are theories that either:
a ) the Ark was taken from Jerusalem during the reign of Solomon’s son Rehoboam by Pharaoh Shishak during a part military campaign,
b) hidden in a cave on Mount Nebo by the prophet Jeremiah who said that this “place shall remain unknown until God gathers his people together again and shows his mercy” (2 Maccabees 2:7),
c) hidden some years before the Babylonian destruction of the First Temple by King Josiah, who foresaw the threat, or
d) taken to Ethiopia by the Queen of Sheba, who visited Solomon and had a son by him.
The Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion in Axum is adamant that they have the Ark, although only the Guardian of the Ark is allowed to view it. However, during World War II a scholar named Edward Ullendorff saw the Ark and said it wasn’t the original. But if there actually were more than one Ark..?
The Lemba people of South Africa and Zimbabwe claim that their ancestors have the Ark, and call it the ngoma lungundu “voice of God”. Their ancestors brought it south and hid it in a deep cave in the Dumghe mountains, their spiritual home.
There’s even a theory that the Ark fell into the hands of the enigmatic Knights Templar, who at one point set up headquarters in Jerusalem 30 years after the Crusaders seized the city, occupying the area near what’s today known as the Dome of the Rock. If they found the Ark, they may then have secretly taken it to England or France, and possibly hidden it beneath the cathedral of Chartres.
The Ark of the Covenant is shrouded in so much legend that finding it would eclipse any other discovery in history.
Assuming that it could be safely excavated and handled – not sure I’d want to risk it.
The Book of Revelation claims that the Ark won’t be seen again until the end times. Imbued with so much power, by the hand of God himself, perhaps that’s best after all.
(In the meantime, you can read about artifacts with special powers around the world in my Chaos Roads trilogy 😊)