Ark of the Covenant
The Ark of the Covenant,[a] also known as the Ark of the Testimony[b] or the Ark of God,[c][1][2] is believed to have been the most sacred religious relic of the Israelites. It is described as a wooden chest coated in pure gold and topped off by an elaborate golden lid known as the mercy seat. According to the Book of Exodus[3] and First Book of Kings[4] in the Hebrew Bible and the Old Testament, the Ark contained the Tablets of the Law, by which God delivered the Ten Commandments to Moses at Mount Sinai. According to the Book of Exodus,[5] the Book of Numbers,[6] and the Epistle to the Hebrews[7] in the New Testament, it also contained Aaron's rod and a pot of manna.[8]
The biblical account relates that approximately one year after the Israelites' exodus from Egypt, the Ark was created according to the pattern that God gave to Moses when the Israelites were encamped at the foot of Mount Sinai. Thereafter, the gold-plated acacia chest's staves were lifted and carried by the Levites approximately 2,000 cubits (800 meters or 2,600 feet) in advance of the people while they marched.[9] God spoke with Moses "from between the two cherubim" on the Ark's cover.[10]
Contemporary archeologists disagree about the history of the Ark's movements around the Ancient Near East and the history and dating of the Ark narratives in the Bible.[11][12][13] There is additional scholarly debate over possible historical influences that led to the creation of the Ark. Thomas Romer, for example, sees possible Bedouin influence, while Scott Noegel regards Egyptian influence as more likely.[14][15]
Jewish tradition on location today[edit]
The Talmud in Yoma[90] suggests that the Ark was removed from the Temple towards the end of the First Temple era, and the Second Temple never housed it. According to one view, it was taken to Babylonia when Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem, exiling King Jeconiah along with the upper classes.[91]
Another perspective proposes that King Josiah hid the Ark, anticipating the Temple's destruction. Where it was hidden remains uncertain. One account in the Talmud[92][93][94] mentions a priest's suspicion of a tampered stone in a chamber designated for wood storage, hinting at the Ark's concealment.
Alternatively, it's suggested that the Ark remained hidden in the Holy of Holies, underground. Some of Chazal including the Radak and Maimonides propose that King Solomon designed tunnels beneath the Temple to safeguard the Ark, which Josiah later used. Attempts to excavate this area have yielded little due to political sensitivities.[95][96][97]
A final opinion, found in the Book of Maccabees II 2:4-10, asserts that the Prophet Jeremiah hid the Ark and other sacred items in a cave on Mount Nebo in present-day Jordan, anticipating Babylonian invasion.
Archaeology and Historical Context[edit]
Archaeological evidence shows strong cultic activity at Kiriath-Jearim in the 8th and 7th centuries BC, well after the ark was supposedly removed from there to Jerusalem. In particular, archaeologists found a large elevated podium, associated with the Northern Kingdom and not the Southern Kingdom, which may have been a shrine. Thomas Römer suggests that this may indicate that the ark was not moved to Jerusalem until much later, possibly during the reign of King Josiah (reigned c. 640–609 BCE). He notes that this might explain why the ark featured prominently in the history before Solomon, but not after. Additionally, 2 Chronicles 35:3[77] indicates that it was moved during King Josiah's reign.[11] However, Yigal Levin argues that there is no evidence that Kiriath-Jearim was a cultic center in the monarchical era or that it ever housed any "temple of the Ark".[13]: 52, 57
Some scholars believe the story of the Ark was written independently around the 8th century BC in a text referred to as the "Ark Narrative" and then incorporated into the main biblical narrative just before the Babylonian exile.[12]
Römer also suggests that the ark may have originally carried sacred stones "of the kind found in the chests of pre-Islamic Bedouins" and speculates that these may have been either a statue of Yahweh or a pair of statues depicting both Yahweh and his companion goddess Asherah.[14] In contrast, Scott Noegel has argued that the parallels between the ark and these practices "remain unconvincing" in part because the Bedouin objects lack the ark's distinctive structure, function, and mode of transportation. Specifically, unlike the ark, the Bedouin chests "contained no box, no lid, and no poles," they did not serve as the throne or footstool of a god, they were not overlaid with gold, did not have kerubim figures upon them, there were no restrictions on who could touch them, and they were transported on horses or camels.
Noegel suggests that the ancient Egyptian bark is a more plausible model for the Israelite ark, since Egyptian barks had all the features just mentioned. Noegel adds that the Egyptians also were known to place written covenants beneath the feet of statues, proving a further parallel to the placement of the covenantal tablets inside the ark.[15]
Yigal Levin holds that some biblical texts suggest that the Ark of the Covenant was only one among many other different arks at regional shrines prior to the centralization of worship in Jerusalem,[98] although other scholars disagree.[99] While one author has questioned whether the Ark ever existed,[100] other scholars have defended its historicity and antiquity based on significant parallels with similar artifacts from New Kingdom Egypt.[101][102]