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Arica Flores
Professor Thomson
History 134
23 June 2016
The Ark of the Covenant
The Ark of the Covenant is sacred artifact of the Old Testament of the Bible. It is a key
element of the Jewish faith. It is also surrounded in mystery and legend. Purported to hold the
power to kill anyone who touched it. It is not only the powers it holds that gives it the air of
mystery, but also its disappearance and where it might be. The Ark was such a thing of legend it
was the basis for the Raiders of the Lost Ark movie.
God gave very specific instructions as to how he wanted the Ark constructed. God gave
these instructions to Moses while he the Israelites were at Mount Sinai. It was to be made of
acacia wood 2 cubits long, 1 cubits high and 1 cubits wide. The Ark was to be overlaid
with pure gold both inside and out. There was to be four rings at the four corner. 2 rings on each
side fastened at the feet these rings are to slip the poles though. 2 poles were made to carry the
Ark from acacia wood over layered with gold and these poles were not to be removed. (Exodus
25: 10-22)
The top of the box was to be the mercy seat made of gold molding all the way around it.
It was created with very specific directions including 2 cherubim of hammered gold. Each was to
be a single piece of hammered gold. They were to face each other with their wingspread upward
covering the seat. This was said to be the place that held part of Gods spirit. Although Gods

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spirit was always with his chosen people this was something they could focus on. Gods people
seem to lose focus of him a lot and needed many reminders he was the one true God. (Exodus
25:10-22)
The ark was a box designed to hold things. Inside the box was Arrons rod, a golden pot
that had manna in it, and the Ten Commandments. These commandments were on stone tables
carved by Moses while he was on Mount Sinai speaking with the Lord. It is said that when he
came down the people were worshiping a golden calf and he dropped the tables and broke them.
These commandments were the rules from God to the people. (Hebrews 9:4)
The ark was built by Bezalel, who also built the portable temple, at the direction of
Moses. The ark was carried by the people of Israel during their 40 year journey in the desert. The
tribe of Levite were the priests and who had care of the ark as well as the temple. The ark was
carried 2000 cubits ahead of the people and covered by a veil made of skins and a blue cloth to
hide it from the peoples eyes. The Ark was carried ahead of the people to clear a path burning
snakes, scorpions, and thorns with two jets of flame. The ark is said to have led the people with a
pillar of cloud by day and fire by night. (Staff)
The Ark of the Covenant was carried ahead of the army when they the Israelites captured
the city of Jericho. They carried it once around the city walls each day for six days and on the
seventh day they carried it around seven times blowing the horns and the cities walls came
crumbling down. When not traveling the ark was kept in the Tabernacle which was the portable
temple, and then the Temple. It was kept in the Holy of Holies the inner area of the place of
worship and only visited once a year on Yom Kipper. The High Priest went into the inner area of
the temple under the shroud of incense to ask for forgiveness for himself and the people.

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The ark is so powerful it was said that on the journey to Jerusalem the Ark started to fall
over one of the men around it touched it to stabilize it and he was killed instantly. That is why
they tied a rope around the high priest when he went in to the Holy of Holies so they could pull
him out if something happened to him since they could not enter. There was time when the
Philistines captured the Ark after defeating the Israelite army 2 of the men were killed instantly.
The philistines kept the Ark in one of their temples and a statue of their God was destroyed and
then they had a Plague in all the cities they moved the Ark to. So they gave the Ark back along
with many gifts. (Staff)
It was in the first Temple of Davids son Solomon that the ark remained until the Temple
was destroyed at the hands of the Babylonians led by Nebuchadnezzar about 586BC. Even more
mysteries surround what happened to the Ark after the temple was destroyed. One of the theories
is it was buried before the invading army arrived. There are many who believe this to be true the
first Temple site in Jerusalem now home to Dome of the Rock a sacred place for the religion of
Islam. There is no way to test to see if the Ark is buried here even though there is a hill they
believe it is under due to the fact it is a significant religious place. (Hoffman)
Another theory is that it was taken by Menelik, the son of the Queen of Sheba and
Solomon, when he visited Solomon. It is said that when nothing happened to him or his men he
felt God had given him the right to have it. It is said he took it back to Ethiopia and it has
remained there until the present. It is said that it is in St Mary of Zion Cathedral and it is watched
over by monks .Lovett says We are talking about things at the crossroads between myth and
reality. I think its great to have stories like the Ark of the Covenant, but I do not believe, as a
field archeologist, that we can use scientific method to prove or disprove. (Hoffman)i

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However researcher Paul Raffaele did try to prove or disprove the story of the Arc at St Mary of
Zion Cathedral. He stayed in Ethiopia for several weeks and interviewed many people. He
visited St Marys a few times and hear about how the Ark is guarded by virgin monks who are
forbidden to set foot outside the chapel ground until they die. He even was fortunate enough to
meet the high priest but many of his questions went unanswered. So is this the place the Ark
ended up we will probably never know. (Raffael)

Bibliography
New International Version Biblica 2011 Bible gateway.com (Exodus 25:10-22,
Hebrews 9:4)
www.biblegateway.com/versions/New-International-Version-NIV-Bible/booklist
The bible is the religious book of the Christians. They believe it is the word of
God and that all
the stories in it to be a true history.
Hoffman, Richard A Lovett and Scott. "Ark of the Covenant: Many Legends, No
Evidence." n.d. National Geographic. Document. 22 June 2016.
This article gives examples of the myths surrounding the Ark of the Covenant.
It gives reasons
for how and why we may never get our answers.
Raffael, Paul. "Keepers of the Lost Ark?" Dec 2007. smithsonian.com. document. 22
June 2016.
Article highlighting the authors travel to Ethiopia in search of answer to the
location of the Ark of the covenant. It reflects on his findings and his lack of
answers.
Staff. "Ancient Jewel of History: Ark of the Covenant." n.d. Jewish Virtual Library.
Document. 23 June 2016.
<www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/ark>.
This article gives a good history of the Ark of the Covenant. It explains the
beliefs surrounding it
as well as when it disappeared and some of the theories
to where it might be.

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i Christian Answers.net Ark of the Covenant lost or found has other theories of what
may have happened to the Ark.