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Biblical Archaeology:
Where is the Ark of the Covenant?
The Hebrew name Shishak matches the Egyptian name of Sheshonq I in Egyptian history.
Sheshonq is the founder of the 22nd Dynasty of Egypt. Sheshonq I ruled from 945-924 BC. He was
from a Libyan tribe who became commander-in-chief, then King. He was a strong leader who
reunited Egypt. 2 Chronicles 12:3-4 says, "With 1200 chariots and 60,000 horsemen and the
innumerable troops of Libyans, Sukkites (mercenary Libyan soldiers) and Cushites (Upper Egypt)
that came with him from Egypt, he captured the fortified cities of Judah and came as far as
Jerusalem" (NIV). Note the many troops from Libya. Thutmose III nor Rameses II would not have
had an army composed of mainly outsiders, but Egyptians. There are inscriptions of Sheshonq's
campaign into Palestine on the wall of the temple of Amon in Karnak. ANET, 263; ANEP, 349; ANE
1, fig.94. It says that Sheshonq I went as far as Megiddo where a victory stele was erected. ANET
242-3 has a list the the cities he captured. For more information on the list see Handbook for the
Study of Egyptian Topographical Lists Relating to Western Asia by J. Simons, Leiden 1937 (pp.90-
101,178-186: see also Breasted, Ancient Records of Egypt, Vol. 4, paragraph 709). For more
information on Sheshonq see What evidence has been found of the Egyptian king, Shishak?
Sheshonq I established Tanis as the capitol of Egypt. If indeed all the treasures of the Temple were
taken by Sheshonq I, then the Ark was taken back to Tanis. Part of the loot was usually given to the
temples in Egypt especially the god the pharaoh worshipped in thanks for their great military victory.
There is a fragmentary inscription of Sheshonq delivering tribute from Palestine to the god Amon
(See Breasted, Vol.4, paragraph 723). Sometimes they would melt down the metals and remake
what they wanted. So the Ark of the Covenant may be somewhere in Egypt. In the movie Raiders of
the Lost Ark Indiana Jones looks for the Ark in Tanis. However, other legends say that the Jews hid
the Ark, and did not give it to Sheshonq I.
One legend says that Solomon had a son named Menelik by the Queen of Sheba who took the Ark
back to Ethiopia. Supposedly, King Solomon had this son by the Queen of Sheba when she came to
visit Solomon (I Kings 10:1-13; 2 Chronicles 9:1-12). When he grew up Menelik returned to
Jerusalem for a copy of the Ark of the Covenant which Solomon gave to him. But Menelik secretly
switched the real Ark with the replica. Menelik took the real Ark back to Ethiopia. Traditionally,
Sheba is located in Saudi Arabia not Ethiopia (more details about this below).
The Ark is mentioned later in the days of Josiah. 2 Chronicles 35:3 states, "He (Josiah) said to the
Levites, who instructed all Israel and who had been consecrated to the Lord: 'Put the sacred ark in
the temple that Solomon son of David king of Israel built. It is not to be carried about on your
shoulders" (NIV). The Book of the Law was found by Hilkiah the priest in the Temple. Josiah sets up
reforms.
The Fourth Book of Ezra 10:19-22 states, "So I spoke again to her, and said, 'Do not say that, but let
yourself be persuaded because of the troubles of Zion, and be consoled because of the sorrow of
Jerusalem. For you see that our sanctuary had been laid waste, our altar thrown down, our temple
destroyed; our harp had been laid low, our song has been silenced, and our rejoicing had been
ended; the light of our lampstand had been put out, the ark of our covenant has been plundered,
our holy things have been polluted, and the name by which we are called has been profaned; our
free men have suffered abuse, our priests have been burned to death, our Levites have gone into
captivity" (Charlesworth 1983, 546-7). According to the Fourth Book of Ezra the Ark of the Covenant
was taken to Babylon.
After Cyrus the Great conquered Babylon, he issued a decree for the temple at Jerusalem to be
rebuilt in 538 BC. The Jews could now return to Jerusalem. Ezra 1:7 says, "Moreover, King Cyrus
brought out the articles belonging to the temple of the LORD, which Nebuchadnezzar had carried
away from Jerusalem and had placed in the temple of his god" (NIV note: "It was the custom for
conquerors to carry off the images of the gods of conquered cities.). The inventory in Ezra 1:9-11
lists gold and silver dishes, silver pans, gold and silver bowls, and other articles for a total of 5,400
items. The Ark of the Covenant is not specifically listed.
About these temple vessels in Rome G. A. Williamson comments, "They were seized by the Vandals
and taken to North Africa in 455, recovered and removed to Constantinople, the capital of the
eastern empire in 534, and then, reputedly, sent to a church in Jerusalem, where they remained till
the seventh century. They disappeared at an unknown later date" (Ibid, 456). With the conquest of
Islam the vessels could have been taken any where under their control.
In Josephus' description of the Temple, there is no mention of the Ark of the Covenant. The Holy of
Holies was empty. Josephus states, "The innermost chamber measured 30 feet and was similarly
separated by a curtain from the outer part. Nothing at all was kept in it; it was unapproachable,
inviolable, and invisible to all, and was called the Holy of Holies" (Book V, Chp. V, 5; Williamson,
304). It seems that there was no Ark of the Covenant in the Second Temple.
Ron Wyatt claims to have found the Ark in a tunnel in a quarry in Mt. Moriah where Christ was
crucified, but there is no proof. He claims to have scraped the blood of Jesus off the mercy seat
which had dripped down through a crack in the rocks right under where Christ was crucified. He
claims the blood has only 24 chromosomes instead of the normal 46, but where are the laboratory
tests on the blood? He has no proof. His web site is at http://www.wyattarchaeology.com/ark.htm.
Some claim the ark is in a church in Axum, Ethiopia. This view has been popularized by Graham
Hancock's book The Sign and the Seal: The Quest for the Lost Ark of the Covenant. There was also
a special TV program about this, but there is no proof. If there is, it might be a replica from
Elephantine. There is suppose to be a replica of the ark in every Ethiopia church. The real Ark is
supposedly in the Sanctuary Chapel in Saint Mary of Zion's Church in Axum, Ethiopia.
Supposedly, King Solomon had a son by the Queen of Sheba named Menelik. When he grew up
Menelik returned to Jerusalem for a copy of the Ark of the Covenant which Solomon gave to him.
But Menelik secretly switched the real Ark with the replica. Menelik took the real Ark back to
Ethiopia. Traditionally, Sheba is located in Saudi Arabia not Ethiopia.
There was a Jewish community in Elephantine, Egypt that built a replica of the temple of the Lord
(Yaho). They requested help from Jerusalem to rebuild the temple because it was destroyed in the
14th year of Darius (410 BC). The Petition For Authorization To Rebuild the Temple of Yaho states,
"Nefayan thereupon led the Egyptians with other troops. Coming with their weapons to the fortress of
Elephantine, they entered the temple and razed it to the ground...As for the basins of gold and silver
and other articles that were in that temple, they carried all of them off and made them their own.-
Now, our forefathers built this temple in the fortress of Elephantine back in the days of the kingdom
of Egypt, and when Cambyses came to Egypt he found it built. They knocked down all the temples
of the gods of Egypt, but no one did any damage to this temple...Let a letter be sent from you to
them concerning the temple of the god Yaho to build it in the fortress of Elephantine as it was built
before; and the meal-offering, incense, and burnt offering will be offered in your name" (ANET, 492;
ANE vol.1, 279-281). The governors of Judah send a reply with permission to rebuild the temple
(ANET, 492; ANE vol.1, 281).
There is a temple of the Samaritans on Mt. Gerizum that may be a close replica of the temple in
Jerusalem. They may have had a replica of the Ark. According to Josephus during the Greek period
Manasseh, the brother of Jaddua the high priest had married Nicaso, a foreign woman. The priests
demanded that Manasseh divorce his wife or not approach the altar. Sanballat II (different from the
one mentioned in Nehemiah) his father-in-law told Manasseh that he would build him a temple on
Mount Gerizum just like the one at Jerusalem if he would not divorce his wife. Alexander the Great
gave Sanballat, a general in his army, permission to build the temple (Antiquities of the Jews Book
XI, 8:2-4). Some Two hundred years later Hyrcanus destroyed the temple on Mount Gerizum
(Antiquities of the Jews Book XIII, 9:1).
Vendyl Jones thinks he has found the resting place of the Ark in a cave by the Dead Sea near
Qumran. He claims the Copper Scroll tells the location of the Ark, but his translation of the Copper
Scroll is very questionable. Scholars translate it differently. When He dung in the cave, no Ark was
found.
Tom Croster claims he has found the Ark in a cave on Mt. Nebo where Jeremiah hid it. He was
guided by the work of Antonia Frederick Futterer who searched for the Ark in the 1920's. With
Futterer's sketch Tom Croster left for Jordan in October 1981. On Mt. Pisgah Tom found an opening
that led to a passageway that led to what he thinks was the Ark of the Covenant. He took pictures
which he refused to release. Siegfried H. Horn was invited to see the photos. Horn concluded, "I do
not know what the object is, but the pictures convinced me that it is not an ancient artifact but of
modern fabrication with machine-produced decorative strips and an underlying metal sheet" (Biblical
Archaeology Review May/June 1983, 66-69).
Michael Sanders believes that the Ark is in the village of Djaharya in Israel. There is suppose to be a
TV special on NBC soon about this. I think that his chronology and interpretation of Egyptian texts
are off. The location at Djaharya sounds similar to Egyptian words, but similar sounds do not mean
they are the same. I think Rohl in his books also assumes that similar sounding words must be the
same. Djahi is a general area for part of Palestine and Phoenicia (See A Concise Dictionary of
Middle Egyptian by Raymond O. Faulkner 1991, 319). I looked up all the occurrences of Djahi in
ANET, and they do not seem to fit the location of Djaharya. Pekanan is literally "the Canaan"
according to Breasted. The "Pe" is the article "the" plus "Canaan." (This is what I remember from
taking Egyptian Hieroglyphics) Djahi and Pekanan are two different Egyptian words, that are general
geographic terms, and should not be put together to form a new word Djahi Pakaanan. These two
words seem to be used in parallel. There were a number of Egyptian Temples in Canaan not just in
Djaharya. For more information see his Website at Ark of the Covenant - Part I, II & III.
Dr. Ralph Wilson thinks the Ark of the Covenant is actually a throne chair for God (I Samuel 4:4). He
has pictures of what cherubim probably look like at Near Eastern Thrones and the Ark of the
Covenant.
There are several carvings of what seems to be cherubim that have been found (BAR 21:4, pp.36-
41). See Below:
Ritmeyer believes the Ark of the Covenant sat on the large rock under the Dome of the Rock on the
Temple Mount. There is a rectangle carved into the rock that supposedly matches the
measurements of the Ark, but this is questionable. See Where has the lost Ark of the Covenant
been?
Have them make a chest of acacia wood-two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a
cubit and a half high. (Note m: 3 ¾ feet long by 2 ¼ feet wide and high.) Overlay it with pure gold,
both inside and out, and make a gold molding around it. Cast four gold rings for it and fasten them to
its four feet, with two rings on one side and two rings on the other. Then make poles of acacia wood
and overlay them with gold. Insert the poles into the rings on the sides of the chest to carry it. The
poles are to remain in the rings of this ark; they are not to be removed. Then put in the ark the
Testimony, which I will give you.
Make an atonement cover of pure gold-two and half cubits long and a cubit and a half wide. And
make two cherubim out of hammered gold at the ends of the cover. Make one cherub on one end
and the second cherub on the other; make the cherubim of one piece with the cover, at the two
ends. The cherubim are to have their wings spread upward, overshadowing the cover with them.
The cherubim are to face each other. Looking toward the cover. Place the cover on top of the ark
and put in the ark the Testimony, which I will give you. There, above the cover between the two
cherubim that are over the ark of the Testimony, I will meet with you and give you all my commands
for the Israelites" (NIV).
Conclusion
There may have been several replicas of the Ark of the Covenant made. We do not know for sure
where the real Ark of the Covenant is.