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Ark of the Covenant
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Status: |
Missing |
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Date: |
about 1480 BC |
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Artist: |
Bezalel, son of Uri, son of Hur of the tribe of Judah |
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Origin: |
Sinai desert, modern-day Egypt |
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Media: |
Acacia wood overlaid with gold |
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Measurements: |
About 45 inches long, 27 in. wide, 27 in. tall |
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Last Known: |
Solomon's Temple, Jerusalem, about 586 BC |
What is it?The wooden box, decorated with pure gold, that the Hebrew Bible describes as being built to hold the stone tablets bearing the Ten Commandments which Moses brought down from Mount Sinai.Why is it important?The Ark of the Covenant and its contents are among the most important objects described in the Bible and sacred to all Jews and Christians.Description:As described in the Old Testament the Ark is a box made of acacia wood and covered in pure gold. On its lid are two golden cherubim (angels) which face each other and whose wings form "the throne of God." On each side of the box are two rings, also covered in gold, where poles can be inserted for carrying it.History:According to the Bible book Exodus, Moses was commanded by God to have the Ark made in order to house the stone tablets bearing the Ten Commandments. The date for the Ark that we use here, about 1,480 BC, is only one of many guesses that have been made. In the Bible, God specifies that the Ark be made by Bezalel, son of Uri of the tribe of Judah and Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach of the Tribe of Dan.
The Ark is said to have been carried at the head of the Israelites' column in their march from the Sinai desert. Later it was carried before their armies into battles and was once captured by the Philistines who returned it after seven months because it caused plagues and disease in their lands wherever they took it.
In the time of Solomon the Ark was placed in the Temple in Jerusalem. The Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BC and the Ark disappeared at this time or shortly before.Clues:There are many theories as to what has become of the Ark of the Covenant. Many historians believe that it was destroyed along with the Temple of Solomon in 586 BC. Others believe that the Ark was taken from the Temple either before or during the Babylonian siege of the city and hidden. These latter theories place the Ark under the temple mount, in the desert outside of Jerusalem and even in Ethiopia..
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One of many recreations of the Ark of the Covenant
Another recreation of the Ark of the Covenant NOTE: Because the history of the Ark of the Covenant is extensively discussed elsewhere we have chosen to present only the most basic details here. As you do your own research understand that the history of the Ark and speculation about its fate are so tangled up in legend and religious faith that it is difficult to determine which stories are most historically accurate and what motives may lay behind each story told. Links and Sources"Ark of the Covenant." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 16 August 2007 11:20 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 20 August 2007 "Tales of the Ark of the Covenant." USBible.com. Ed. Raymond Hewitt. 27 August 2007 Other resources:Price, Randall. Searching for the Ark of the Covenant: Latest Discoveries and Research. Irvine, California: Harvest House Publishers, 2005 (Christian publisher) Munro-Hay, Stuart. The Quest for the Ark of the Covenant: The True History of the Tablets of Moses. London: I. B. Tauris, 2005 (secular publisher) LEARN MORE:Canaan & Ancient Israel at Penn Museum, University of Pennsylvania Christianity's First Centuries in Africa at the Metropolitan Museum of Art |
