Where did the Ark of the Covenant?

What happened to this shrine in the future - one of the biggest mysteries of history. It is known that in the Second Temple the ark was no longer.
In the same detail of his appearance: ... And he overlaid it with pure gold, within and without shalt it, and do at the top of his crown of gold circle ... 25:10-11 ).

Acacia tree, which mentions the Holy Scripture, - a very strong kind of acacia, which grows in the desert around the Red Sea.

The Ark was 2.5 cubits in length and 1.5 cubits in width and height ( a small Egyptian cubit is 44.4 cm, that is the size of the ark was 66.6 x 66.6 x 111 cm ).

Actually the biblical arks - boxes, caskets, which were kept the tablets of the Covenant - could be three, at least, as the Talmud tells. According to this source, the inner casket was made of gold. He stayed within a larger, wooden box, which in turn was placed inside the largest of the three golden box. Another view states that the ark was only one, but covered with gold inside and out. It is possible that the ark had four legs. He was transferred manually to the two special poles, also of acacia, attached to its side walls.

And put the lid on the top of the ark, the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I give thee ... 25:17-21 ).

On top of the cover were two images of the cast gold cherubim facing each other with outstretched covering the ark of their wings.

The ark was the most important biblical evidence - visible reminder of the Covenant - the union between God and the people of Israel. The Lord promised Moses to appear in the cloud above the mercy seat and talk between the two cherubim (Ex.. 25:22, Lev. 16:2 ). Above the ark of God spoke to Moses, telling him the commandments to the Israelites.
Inside the casket were the tablets of the Covenant, and it was believed that it contained the unpronounceable name of God. Next to the ark, and remained a Torah scroll written by Moses' hand. Nearby, in the holy of holies of the tabernacle, and later - the temple stood a vessel of manna falling from the sky during the wanderings of the Jews in the desert, and the budded rod of Aaron, brother of Moses. Closer to the ark was allowed only the high priest and only once a year, on Yom Kippur. Wrap it could only priests the Levites on their shoulders. The ark was safely sheltered from the eyes of the tissues of people look at it because it was dangerous for the average person. The people of Israel on their way to the Holy Land wandered in the desert from place to place, led by God. Before you hit the road and bring up the ark, Moses cried out: ... But when the people built ... 10:35, 36 cf. ps. 132:8 ).

When the Israelites entering the Promised Land Ark was transferred several times from one settlement to another: first, he was in the camp of the Jews at Mount Ebal, and later - in Bethel, and Shiloh. In the battle near the town of Mizpah Philistines captured the shrine. But the city in which they were transporting him comprehend God, and the Philistines had no choice but to return to where they took the ark, that is Jews. After the conquest of Jerusalem by King David decided to move the shrine to the new capital of Israel, but the first three months of the ark stood in the house of one of the Levites. King David in Jerusalem, built a new tent - a tent, which was placed the holy relics. For the Ark of the Covenant of Israel King David also planned the construction of the temple, but God did not permit him to do so. Temple built a son of David, King Solomon. And the ark was set into the inner sanctum of the temple built in Jerusalem. According to legend, Solomon agadicheskomu previously provided for a special hiding place in the basements of the Temple, which would be possible to hide the ark, and in this hiding place he had hidden the prophet Jeremiah.

The last evidence of the ark refers to the reign of Josiah king of Judah in the VII century BC. Before the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BC, the Ark of the Covenant disappeared. Among the treasures brought by the Babylonians captured Jerusalem from, it was not mentioned.
What happened to this shrine in the future - one of the biggest mysteries of history. It is known that in the Second Temple the ark was no longer.

Second Maccabees Bible gives evidence that the prophet Jeremiah, guided by the commandment of God, hid the Ark on Mount Nebo, ... Arriving there, Jeremiah found shelter in a cave and brought back the tabernacle and the ark and the altar of incense, and blocked up the entrance. Later, when some of the attendant came to notice in, we could not find it. When Jeremiah learned of these things, then, reproaching them, he said that this place will remain unknown until God moved with compassion, not the host of people will gather. And then the Lord will show him, and the glory of the Lord and the cloud, as was with Moses, as Solomon asked that particular holy place ... 2:4-8 ).
Mount Nebo - one of the most important places where biblical events unfolded. Mountain, which lies east of the northern tip of the Dead Sea, is situated at an altitude of 817 meters above sea level in Jordan. In the Old Testament Book of Deuteronomy describes the last day of the earthly life of Moses. By God's command Moses went up Mount Nebo to look at the Promised Land, which God did not allow him to enter. Ibid, at Mount Nebo, Moses died, ...
On the hill there are traces of later buildings, designed to preserve the memory of this event - the remains of a church built at the end of IV century, believed to be on the spot death of Moses, and the remains of the monastery IV-VI centuries.
Another place of localization of the ark tells us a book called Jewish oral Torah. The Talmud says that the Ark was hidden by the decree of King Josiah, a cornerstone of the universe, located in the inner sanctum of Solomon's temple or other place of the temple. There is another view - that the ark still got to Babylon, with the captive Israelis.
Another authoritative opinion - evidence of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, that the ark is preserved by priests of the Cathedral of the Holy Virgin Mary of Zion in Axum town. Copies of the relics found in every Ethiopian church. They are submitted each year during one of the holy days. About how the Ark came to Ethiopia, said the Ethiopian literary source of the XIV century ... According to this text, the son of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, Macedonia,.
It is easy to Bajnai, who later became king and founder of the dynasty of Menelik Ethiopian Negus, secretly moved the Ark to Ethiopia, one of the temples of the former capital, Axum. This is not the only version of how the Ark of the Covenant came to Ethiopia. It is believed that the shrine was carried out of the temple priests of the temple itself - kogeny. It happened in the reign of King Manasseh. Kogeny feared that the king might desecrate the shrine.
Was afraid of what king Manasseh fell into idolatry, idols set, mimicking the bloody cruel pagan cults of the Middle East, which included human sacrifice, departing from the clear and simple commandments of the Torah. He even set the altars of Baal and Astarte - the pagan deities, altars, and celestial bodies in the most holy place of Israel - in the Temple of the Lord.

It was quite too much for the patience of the priests of the one God, and they carried the ark of the church in the Fel Egypt, where he was on the island of Eve, better known as the Elephantine. There was built a new temple in which the ark was staying next two hundred years. However, this temple was destroyed. Over time, the Ark came to Ethiopia, on the island of Tana Kirkos. As ever, during the wanderings of the Jews in the desert, it was installed in the tent, and eight centuries served as a place of worship. After treatment of the Ethiopian king to Christianity, the ark was moved to the Cathedral of St. Mary of Zion in Axum.
According to another version, the ark was found and contained in a secret place, where it will remain until the restoration of the temple in Jerusalem.
In synagogues, the ark of the covenant symbolizes aron -ha- kodesh - a case that holds the Torah scrolls. In such a symbol of the Christian churches are the tabernacles of the ark, placed in the altar of the temple. In the holy tabernacle containing the gifts - the Body and Blood of Christ, as symbols of the New Covenant of God with man. In Biblical Revelation ( Apocalypse ) of John says about the return of the ark during the second coming of Jesus Christ: ... 11:16-19 ).
No less valuable information on the ark, we obtain from Islamic sources. The Quran also states that the ark were kept the stone tablets of the Covenant, as given by God, which Moses brought down from Mount Sinai, the rod of Moses ( Musa ) and miter ( headdress) Prophet Aaron ( Harun ). Muslims call ark ... The Quran tells us about how the ark was lost during the wars of Israel.
Muslims are aware of the campaign against the Jews of the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar, the conquest of them after a severe battle of Jerusalem, of its subsequent destruction and disposal of captured Jews, the return of the Jews forty years of the Babylonian Captivity. After the captivity of the Jews rebuilt the Temple, but the room where the Ark of the Covenant resided, remained empty.
Where he disappeared, according to the Muslims? . Sacred texts of the supporters of this religion are known to include not only the Quran, Hadith and - authentic sayings of the founder of Islam - Muhammad. According to the hadiths, the Ark is hidden.
in the city of Antakya, in the lands of modern Turkey, adjacent to the border with Syria. There he could get along with followers of other interesting religious movement - the Essenes. The Essenes - one of the Jewish communities abroad of our era, the opposition prevailed in Jerusalem, the Pharisees. The Essenes left Jerusalem shortly after capturing the city by the Romans in 70 BC and settled in the Qumran caves of the famous north- west coast of the Dead Sea. There they remained, and copied the Scriptures - the Torah, the texts were found in the middle of XX century. Another group of Essenes found refuge in the city of Antakya. They treasured brought to the greatest shrine, breaking all contact with the outside world. The area, where the Antakya, is rich with numerous caves, one of which the Essenes could safely hide the Ark. In the Quran, in Sura ... According to many experts on the Koran, the cave was in Antakya. Perhaps the Ark of the Covenant is kept in this cave, and to this day, waiting in the wings.
When, in the opinion of Muslims, it will be found? . This event will mean the closeness of the arrival of the Mahdi - the Messiah who will establish a just government on earth, the realm of morality and the precepts of the Lord.
... He finds Tabut ( Ark of the Covenant ) in a place called Antakya ...
I must say that the views of Muslims, in particular, and in this respect, remarkably similar to the views of Jews and Christians. Jews believe that the ark will be found with the arrival of the Messiah sent by God - the Messiah. Christians hold the view that the ark weekdays uncovered before the second coming of Jesus Christ.
What historical records say?.
The traces of the ark is lost after 70 BC. By that time, is the last mention of this shrine in the historical sources. According to these reports, the Roman emperor Titus, destroyed Jerusalem, and having burnt the temple of Solomon, found a secret room where the Ark was hidden, and took it along with other relics in the capital of his empire - Rome. Since then, the Ark of the Covenant undertaken searches were unsuccessful.
One of the important objectives Crusades, European knights in the Holy Land was the search for the Ark of the Covenant. As they conquered Jerusalem, was founded a secret order of the Knights of the Temple, better known as the Order of the Templars, the knights of which were engaged in such searches. Templars conducted excavations at the ancient capital of Judea, on the hill, where stood the Temple of Solomon. Searches were members of an order for several centuries.
XX century, with its scientific discoveries did find the Ark of the Covenant theme once again relevant.
The famous caves of Qumran, who had returned to the world the most important biblical texts, and gave hope to regain the lost ark. In 1952 a group of archaeologists led by Professor Gerald Har Ding excavated one of the caves of Qumran, which locals call ... It differed from all the scrolls found there that was made in an unusual material ( previously found hundreds of scrolls were made of parchment ), and the fact that the text was engraved on it in reverse order: started on the back side, and ended on the front. The find was sent to Manchester, where a scroll unfurled, and with difficulty through the efforts of many researchers read out the text. It was extremely difficult, as if specially confusing, and to understand it, it was necessary to have a considerable knowledge of Hebrew Language and Literature. The text consisted of a chaotic listing of names and descriptions of some areas. A preliminary version of the decrypted text was published for four years after the beginning of his research. Interpreted the text of the researcher by the name of Wendy Jones. According to scientists, the text contained information about the treasures of Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem, hidden in the recesses before the invasion of the Babylonians in 422 BC. One of the fragments of the text reads: ... From the entrance should go down to forty stone steps, and there is a silver casket covered with earth from the high priest's vestments, and was buried near the holy tabernacle with the priceless treasures of gold and silver ... The rest of the text are given guidance on areas in which you can find a cache of hidden treasure. However, as set Wendy Jones, these instructions can be used only with a special code that has not yet been detected.
It was then that researchers in the field of view of Rabbi Naftali got a treatise Elshanona Hertz, written by him in 1648 in Amsterdam. This treatise is remarkable in that it includes the full text of a lost Hebrew work, consisting of twelve chapters. It lists the vessels, chests and boxes of treasures that were hidden the prophet Jeremiah in secret locations in 429 BC, seven years before the Babylonian invasion. On the hidden treasure containers it comes in the first chapter, while the second refers to the writing on the copper scroll!.
As we remember, in the Talmud there is information on how to Jeremiah, with the gift of prophecy predicted the invasion of the Babylonians, hid the Ark of the Covenant, as well as a vessel of oil for anointing, Aaron's rod, and a casket of jewels, sent by the Philistines.
The story of the search for the Ark of the Covenant, as the name of the scientist, those engaged in the search, was the basis of the famous adventure film ... But the search for the great shrines of Jews, Christians and Muslims, with the discovery of which the believers of these religions relate the offensive end of time, has not yet completed.



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