'Ark' revelation: Can they dig it?
Bible buzz begins as hunters wait to view Ten
Commandments box
25 June, 2009 | By Chelsea Schilling
(World Net Daily)
Ark hunters and Bible enthusiasts are buzzing about a report that the
Ark of the Covenant, the ancient container that holds the Ten
Commandments, is expected to be unveiled in Rome today.
As WND reported, the patriarch of the Orthodox Church of Ethiopia
says he will announce to the world the unveiling of the Ark, which he
says has been hidden away in a church in his country for millennia,
according to the Italian news agency Adnkronos.
Abuna Pauolos, in Italy
for a meeting with Pope
Benedict XVI this week,
told the news agency,
"Soon the world will be
able to admire the Ark
of the Covenant
described in the Bible as
the container of the
tablets of the law that
God delivered to Moses
and the center of searches and studies for centuries."
According to the Italian news agency, the announcement is expected to
be made at 2 p.m. Italian time (8 a.m. Eastern) from the Hotel
Aldrovandi in Rome. Pauolos will reportedly be accompanied by Prince
Aklile Berhan Makonnen Haile Sellassie and Duke Amedeo D'Acosta.
"The Ark of the Covenant is in Ethiopia for many centuries," said
Pauolos. "As a patriarch I have seen it with my own eyes and only few
highly qualified persons could do the same, until now."
Bob Cornuke, biblical investigator, international explorer and best-selling
author, has participated in more than 27 expeditions around the world
searching for lost locations described in the Bible. A man some consider
a real-life Indiana Jones, he has written a book titled "Relic Quest" about
the Ark of the Covenant and participated in History Channel production
called "Digging for Truth."
Next week, Cornuke will travel to Ethiopia for the 13th time since he
began his search for the Ark. He told WND he believes this artifact may
be authentic.
"The Ark could have been taken out of the temple during the time of the
atrocities of Manasseh," he said. "We have kind of a bread crumb trail
that appears to go to Egypt, and it stayed on an island there for a couple
hundred years called Elephantine Island. The Ark then was transferred
over to Lake Tana in Ethiopia where it stayed on Tana Qirqos Island for
800 years. Then it was taken to Axum, where it is enshrined in a temple
today where they don't let anybody see it."
Cornuke said he traveled to Tana Qirqos Island and lived with monks
who remain there today.
"They unlocked this big, four-inch thick wood door," he said. "It
opened up to a treasure room, and they showed me meat forks and
bowls and things that they say are from Solomon's temple. When the
History Channel did this show, they said it was one of the largest
viewed shows. People were fascinated."
He said Ethiopians consider the Ark to be the ultimate holy object, and
the church guards the suspected artifact from the "eyes and pollution of
man."
"In Ethiopia, their whole culture is centered around worshipping this
object," Cornuke said. "Could they have the actual Ark? I think I could
make a case that they actually could."
Want to know more about the ancient box holding the Ten
Commandments? Get "Exploring the Ark of the Covenant" – a two-
DVD set!
However, he said reports about Friday's unveiling are somewhat
perplexing because Ethiopia has traditionally shielded it from public view.
"That's the surprise for me," Cornuke said. "I have always thought that
they would keep it under wraps."
He explained that a special guardian lives inside the church and never
leaves. Once a guardian is appointed, he stays until he dies and another
man replaces him.
"We know for a fact that there have been 30 guardians in history who
have never left that enclosure," Cornuke said. "I know the guardian.
When CNN and BBC went over there, he wouldn't see anybody but me.
So I went and talked to him, and he's getting very aged. He told me they
have the real Ark and he worships 13 hours a day in front of it. When
he gets through, he is covered in sweat and he's exhausted."
He said he met a 105-year-old man who claimed to have seen the Ark
50 years ago when he was training a replacement guardian.
"It frightened him to death when he got a glimpse of it."
Cornuke said he also met with the president of Ethiopia nearly nine
years ago and had a one-on-one conversation with him in his palace. He
asked if Ethiopia had the Ark of the Covenant.
According to Cornuke, the president responded: "Yes, we do. I am the
president, and I know. It's not a copy. It's the real thing."
However, Grant Jeffrey, host of TBN's Bible Prophecy Revealed and
well-known author of "Armageddon: Appointment With Destiny," does
not believe claims that the Ark is in Ethiopia. He told WND he has
spoken extensively with Robert Thompson, former adviser to former
Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie.
Jeffrey said Thompson told him the Ark of the Covenant had been taken
to Ethiopia by Menelik, purported son of the Queen of Sheba and King
Solomon. When Menelik became emperor, he claims royal priests
entrusted him with the Ark of the Covenant because King Solomon was
slipping into apostasy. A replica was then left behind in Israel.
"The Ethiopian royal chronicles suggest that for 3,000 years, they had
been guarding the ark, knowing that it had to go back to Israel
eventually," Jeffrey said.
He claims that after the Ethiopian civil war, Israel sent in a group of
commandos from the tribe of Levi and the carried the Ark onto a plane
and back to Israel in 1991.
"It is being held there secretly, waiting in the eyes of the religious
leaders of Israel, for a supernatural signal from God to rebuild the
temple," he said. "They are not going to do it before that. When that
happens, they will bring the Ark into that temple."
But author and Bible teacher Chuck Missler, founder of Koinonia House,
told WND the theory of Menelik obtaining the Ark is not biblical, though
he believes there is a possibility that the Ethiopians may have the real
deal.
"The fact that the Ethiopians may have been guarding the Ark of the
Bible is very possible," he said. "They cling to a belief that is clearly not
biblical in terms of how the Ark got down there. But that doesn't mean
they don't have it.
Missler said there is no biblical basis for the Menelik account, and he
believes there was a reason for that version of events.
"What everybody overlooks is that there's a reason that particular story
was cooked up in early times," he said. "It was to give their kings
Solomonic descent. There's reason why they would try to sell that. But
just because the official belief in how it got down there is not biblical,
doesn't mean they don't have it."
Tennessee historian and "Time is the Ally of Deceit" author Richard
Rives, searched for the Ark and participated in excavations beneath
Mount Moriah outside the walls of ancient Jerusalem. His group was
trying to verify claims by relic hunter Ron Wyatt that he actually saw
the Ark there several decades ago after tunneling through a small
passageway.
While they found Roman ruins from the first century, Rives told WND
they were unsuccessful in confirming Wyatt's account. Nonetheless,
Rives does not believe the story of Menelik obtaining the artifact or that
Ethiopia ever had the real Ark.
"God's presence was on the mercy seat. That was the throne of God,"
he said.
If the account were accurate, Rives said God would have been dwelling
on an Ark replica in Jerusalem.
"I just don't believe they could have persuaded him to sit on a fake Ark
of the Covenant," he said.
Many theories exist about the ultimate fate of the Ark, including that it
has been hidden in a still unknown location, it was destroyed by
enemies of the Israelites, taken by Egyptian invaders to Egypt or
removed by divine intervention.
The artifact received additional publicity in 1981 when actor Harrison
Ford searched for it in Steven Spielberg's "Raiders of the Lost Ark."
Cornuke said Ethiopians claim their purported Ark is kept in a large
stone sarcophagus lined in ornately hammered silver. The Ark itself is
made of acacia wood and laminated with a thin veneer of gold. The
mercy seat sits atop the Ark and is made of pure, hammered gold and
includes two cherubim facing one another.
Whether the artifact is real or simply a copy, Cornuke said unveiling
might leave the world with more questions than answers.
"We have only typology to go on," he said. "We could probably have
some people analyze the wood samples and come up with some kind of
dating protocol on it because it is acacia wood to see if that is it."
Rives said a close inspection of the Ten Commandments would be
necessary to ensure they are in accordance with true text and not in
accordance with later versions of the Ten Commandments.
Cornuke said experts would also need to determine whether the artifact
itself fits the biblical description and trace its path to Ethiopia.
"We are peeking behind the veil of history," he said. "We're taking a
glimpse of an artifact that could be a very holy object."
Courtesy
Bible buzz begins as hunters wait to view Ten
Commandments box
25 June, 2009 | By Chelsea Schilling
(World Net Daily)
Ark hunters and Bible enthusiasts are buzzing about a report that the
Ark of the Covenant, the ancient container that holds the Ten
Commandments, is expected to be unveiled in Rome today.
As WND reported, the patriarch of the Orthodox Church of Ethiopia
says he will announce to the world the unveiling of the Ark, which he
says has been hidden away in a church in his country for millennia,
according to the Italian news agency Adnkronos.
Abuna Pauolos, in Italy
for a meeting with Pope
Benedict XVI this week,
told the news agency,
"Soon the world will be
able to admire the Ark
of the Covenant
described in the Bible as
the container of the
tablets of the law that
God delivered to Moses
and the center of searches and studies for centuries."
According to the Italian news agency, the announcement is expected to
be made at 2 p.m. Italian time (8 a.m. Eastern) from the Hotel
Aldrovandi in Rome. Pauolos will reportedly be accompanied by Prince
Aklile Berhan Makonnen Haile Sellassie and Duke Amedeo D'Acosta.
"The Ark of the Covenant is in Ethiopia for many centuries," said
Pauolos. "As a patriarch I have seen it with my own eyes and only few
highly qualified persons could do the same, until now."
Bob Cornuke, biblical investigator, international explorer and best-selling
author, has participated in more than 27 expeditions around the world
searching for lost locations described in the Bible. A man some consider
a real-life Indiana Jones, he has written a book titled "Relic Quest" about
the Ark of the Covenant and participated in History Channel production
called "Digging for Truth."
Next week, Cornuke will travel to Ethiopia for the 13th time since he
began his search for the Ark. He told WND he believes this artifact may
be authentic.
- "They either have the Ark of
the Covenant or they have a
replica that they have believed
to be the Ark of the Covenant
for 2,000 years," he said.
- Cornuke said, if it is genuine,
there's a plausible explanation
of how the Ark may have
come to the Church of Our
Lady Mary of Zion in
Ethiopia.
"The Ark could have been taken out of the temple during the time of the
atrocities of Manasseh," he said. "We have kind of a bread crumb trail
that appears to go to Egypt, and it stayed on an island there for a couple
hundred years called Elephantine Island. The Ark then was transferred
over to Lake Tana in Ethiopia where it stayed on Tana Qirqos Island for
800 years. Then it was taken to Axum, where it is enshrined in a temple
today where they don't let anybody see it."
Cornuke said he traveled to Tana Qirqos Island and lived with monks
who remain there today.
"They unlocked this big, four-inch thick wood door," he said. "It
opened up to a treasure room, and they showed me meat forks and
bowls and things that they say are from Solomon's temple. When the
History Channel did this show, they said it was one of the largest
viewed shows. People were fascinated."
He said Ethiopians consider the Ark to be the ultimate holy object, and
the church guards the suspected artifact from the "eyes and pollution of
man."
"In Ethiopia, their whole culture is centered around worshipping this
object," Cornuke said. "Could they have the actual Ark? I think I could
make a case that they actually could."
Want to know more about the ancient box holding the Ten
Commandments? Get "Exploring the Ark of the Covenant" – a two-
DVD set!
However, he said reports about Friday's unveiling are somewhat
perplexing because Ethiopia has traditionally shielded it from public view.
"That's the surprise for me," Cornuke said. "I have always thought that
they would keep it under wraps."
He explained that a special guardian lives inside the church and never
leaves. Once a guardian is appointed, he stays until he dies and another
man replaces him.
"We know for a fact that there have been 30 guardians in history who
have never left that enclosure," Cornuke said. "I know the guardian.
When CNN and BBC went over there, he wouldn't see anybody but me.
So I went and talked to him, and he's getting very aged. He told me they
have the real Ark and he worships 13 hours a day in front of it. When
he gets through, he is covered in sweat and he's exhausted."
He said he met a 105-year-old man who claimed to have seen the Ark
50 years ago when he was training a replacement guardian.
"It frightened him to death when he got a glimpse of it."
Cornuke said he also met with the president of Ethiopia nearly nine
years ago and had a one-on-one conversation with him in his palace. He
asked if Ethiopia had the Ark of the Covenant.
According to Cornuke, the president responded: "Yes, we do. I am the
president, and I know. It's not a copy. It's the real thing."
However, Grant Jeffrey, host of TBN's Bible Prophecy Revealed and
well-known author of "Armageddon: Appointment With Destiny," does
not believe claims that the Ark is in Ethiopia. He told WND he has
spoken extensively with Robert Thompson, former adviser to former
Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie.
Jeffrey said Thompson told him the Ark of the Covenant had been taken
to Ethiopia by Menelik, purported son of the Queen of Sheba and King
Solomon. When Menelik became emperor, he claims royal priests
entrusted him with the Ark of the Covenant because King Solomon was
slipping into apostasy. A replica was then left behind in Israel.
"The Ethiopian royal chronicles suggest that for 3,000 years, they had
been guarding the ark, knowing that it had to go back to Israel
eventually," Jeffrey said.
He claims that after the Ethiopian civil war, Israel sent in a group of
commandos from the tribe of Levi and the carried the Ark onto a plane
and back to Israel in 1991.
"It is being held there secretly, waiting in the eyes of the religious
leaders of Israel, for a supernatural signal from God to rebuild the
temple," he said. "They are not going to do it before that. When that
happens, they will bring the Ark into that temple."
But author and Bible teacher Chuck Missler, founder of Koinonia House,
told WND the theory of Menelik obtaining the Ark is not biblical, though
he believes there is a possibility that the Ethiopians may have the real
deal.
"The fact that the Ethiopians may have been guarding the Ark of the
Bible is very possible," he said. "They cling to a belief that is clearly not
biblical in terms of how the Ark got down there. But that doesn't mean
they don't have it.
Missler said there is no biblical basis for the Menelik account, and he
believes there was a reason for that version of events.
"What everybody overlooks is that there's a reason that particular story
was cooked up in early times," he said. "It was to give their kings
Solomonic descent. There's reason why they would try to sell that. But
just because the official belief in how it got down there is not biblical,
doesn't mean they don't have it."
Tennessee historian and "Time is the Ally of Deceit" author Richard
Rives, searched for the Ark and participated in excavations beneath
Mount Moriah outside the walls of ancient Jerusalem. His group was
trying to verify claims by relic hunter Ron Wyatt that he actually saw
the Ark there several decades ago after tunneling through a small
passageway.
While they found Roman ruins from the first century, Rives told WND
they were unsuccessful in confirming Wyatt's account. Nonetheless,
Rives does not believe the story of Menelik obtaining the artifact or that
Ethiopia ever had the real Ark.
"God's presence was on the mercy seat. That was the throne of God,"
he said.
If the account were accurate, Rives said God would have been dwelling
on an Ark replica in Jerusalem.
"I just don't believe they could have persuaded him to sit on a fake Ark
of the Covenant," he said.
Many theories exist about the ultimate fate of the Ark, including that it
has been hidden in a still unknown location, it was destroyed by
enemies of the Israelites, taken by Egyptian invaders to Egypt or
removed by divine intervention.
The artifact received additional publicity in 1981 when actor Harrison
Ford searched for it in Steven Spielberg's "Raiders of the Lost Ark."
Cornuke said Ethiopians claim their purported Ark is kept in a large
stone sarcophagus lined in ornately hammered silver. The Ark itself is
made of acacia wood and laminated with a thin veneer of gold. The
mercy seat sits atop the Ark and is made of pure, hammered gold and
includes two cherubim facing one another.
Whether the artifact is real or simply a copy, Cornuke said unveiling
might leave the world with more questions than answers.
"We have only typology to go on," he said. "We could probably have
some people analyze the wood samples and come up with some kind of
dating protocol on it because it is acacia wood to see if that is it."
Rives said a close inspection of the Ten Commandments would be
necessary to ensure they are in accordance with true text and not in
accordance with later versions of the Ten Commandments.
Cornuke said experts would also need to determine whether the artifact
itself fits the biblical description and trace its path to Ethiopia.
"We are peeking behind the veil of history," he said. "We're taking a
glimpse of an artifact that could be a very holy object."
Courtesy
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| Ethio Quest News: For latest Ethiopian News, views, Reviews and More |
| Related Stories Holy Ark Announcement Due on Friday "Abuna Pauolos, Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, was in Rome this week to meet with Pope Benedict XVI. While there, he told reporters that the time had come to reveal before the world the Holy Ark. He said that the holy container has been in the custody of his church for hundreds of years." (Israel National News) 'Ark of the Covenant' about to be Unveiled? "Ethiopians believe it is destined to be delivered to the Messiah when He reigns on Mount Zion – the Temple Mount in Jerusalem." (World Net Daily) Keepers of the lost Ark By Paul Raffaele Ark of the Covenant The Ark of the Covenant (Hebrew: אָרוֹן הָבְרִית Ārōn Hāb’rīt [modern pron. Aron Habrit]; Arabic: تابوت العهد Tābūt Al-ʿahd) is the sacred container, wherein rested the Tablets of stone containing the Ten Commandments as well as Aaron's rod and manna. Wikipedia |
| A Glimpse of Mystic Ethiopia "..Like everyone else, I needed to thread both myth and history, in my effort to understand the present." More |
| Clashes of What? "..To be honest and precise the only big threat today is the clashes of extremists.” More |
| Ethiopia and Black Heritage In Jerusalem "..Ethiopian monastic presence in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher or Deir Sultan in Jerusalem, is the only Black presence in the holiest place on earth for Christians." More |
