The true story behind the real Ark of the Covenant from ‘Indiana Jones’
Throughout the Indiana Jones series, first conjured up by George Lucas back in the early 1980s, the titular archaeologist has come up against a variety of different mystical constructs that carefully toed the line between ancient folklore and utter fantasy. This was ruined by the release of Kingdom of the Crystal Skull in 2008, which flagrantly brought aliens into the cinematic universe, but before this, Lucas and Steven Spielberg toyed with legendary artefacts such as The Holy Grail and the Ark of the Covenant.
Terrifying children across the world, the mysterious Ark of the Covenant was the object of desire for the Nazis in the 1981 film Raiders of the Lost Ark. A real-life artefact that was believed to be the most sacred relic of the Israelites, the Ark was a wooden chest, covered with gold that featured an intricate lid. Inside the Ark was a stone tablet of the Ten Commandments, as well as Aaron’s rod, referring to a walking stick carried by Moses’s brother, Aaron.
So, aside from housing some pretty valuable tablets, why was the Ark so sought after? Well, the Ark wasn’t just an ordinary wooden box, according to the Old Testament, the relic was responsible for a number of miracles too. During the Exodus, it is told that the Ark helped to move obstacles and poisonous animals from the Israelites’ path, allowing them to walk through dangerous areas and even stop the flow of obstructing rivers.
But when the Babylonian Empire conquered the Israelites in 597 B.C, the Ark seemingly vanished from history, with no one knowing where the legendary artefact ended up. To this day, no one is sure whether the item was hidden away, destroyed or taken by another party, with the most popular claim being that the Ark resides in Ethiopia, in the St. Mary of Zion cathedral of Aksum in the North of the country.
According to the church, only one man is allowed to see and maintain the artefact, meaning that its authenticity has never been verified by an outside source. The church may indeed be in possession of an object they consider to be sacred, but even still, it would be difficult to definitively state that the relic is the same one referenced in the bible, especially after thousands of years.
One of the most fascinating aspects of the Ark of the Covenant is its fantastical properties, with Jewish and Christian traditions presenting the object as the physical manifestation of God’s presence. Carried by two religious Levites with a pair of wooden poles slotted through the Ark, as to touch the object would have resulted in instant death at the hands of God, the relic was considered utterly sacred, having the power to bring entire cities to their knees.
Thankfully, there are no written historical accounts of spirits being released from the Ark, like in the first Indiana Jones movie, nor are there any stories of people’s faces melting after being exposed to the power of god from within the box, even if the Old Testament details seventy men of Beth-shemesh, Israel, being struck down by the Lord after looking at the Ark.
Still, largely thanks to the success of Spielberg’s iconic movie, the mystery of the Ark of the Covenant remains a popular one, intriguing curious archaeologists and storytellers across the globe.
