Written by David Caldwell · 7 September 2025

The Search for the Ark of the Covenant: From Egypt to Ethiopia

Few relics in the history of religion have provoked as much fascination, speculation, and debate as the Ark of the Covenant. Said to contain the stone tablets of the Law given to Moses on Mount Sinai, the Ark is at once a symbol of divine presence, a talisman of power, and an enduring mystery. From the Nile temples of Egypt to the hills of Tara in Ireland, from Jerusalem’s subterranean vaults to the sanctuaries of Ethiopia, the Ark has been claimed, lost, rediscovered, and reimagined countless times. This article draws upon historical sources, biblical accounts, and press reports to trace the search for the Ark, highlighting details too often overlooked in popular retellings.

The Biblical Description of the Ark

The earliest and most detailed description of the Ark is found in the Book of Exodus (25:10–22). It was to be constructed of acacia wood, two and a half cubits long (about 3 ft 9 in), one and a half cubits wide (2 ft 3 in), and one and a half cubits high. It was overlaid with pure gold inside and out, crowned with a golden moulding, and fitted with four golden rings through which two poles of acacia wood, also overlaid with gold, would be inserted for carrying. Upon its lid rested two golden cherubim, with wings outstretched to cover the mercy seat. Between these cherubim, the Lord was said to appear and speak to Moses. The Ark contained the tablets of the Law, and according to later tradition, also Aaron’s rod that budded and a pot of manna.

The Ark was not a passive chest. It was treated as the throne of God, a physical locus of His presence among His people. During the wilderness wanderings, the Ark was carried before the Israelites, symbolising divine leadership. It parted the waters of the Jordan, toppled the walls of Jericho, and was central to the cult at Shiloh before its enthronement in the Temple of Solomon.

Egyptian Prototypes and Parallels

Nineteenth-century scholars were quick to note the striking parallels between the Ark of the Covenant and Egyptian ritual objects. Egyptian temples housed portable shrines or barques - gilded wooden chests mounted on poles, carried in procession by priests. These shrines often contained sacred emblems or effigies of the gods, while the poles ensured the divine presence could be moved without direct human touch. At Karnak, Edfu, and other sites, reliefs depict these barques borne aloft by attendants. The similarity to the Ark’s description is unmistakable.

Amelia B. Edwards, writing in the "Academy" (1883), observed that the Egyptian barques often displayed winged deities extending their pinions over the sacred chest - imagery mirrored in the cherubim of the Ark. While the Israelites’ Ark contained no image, only the tablets of the Law, its form bore the unmistakable imprint of Egyptian religious furniture. In this sense, the Ark may be understood as a reinterpreted Egyptian ark - a sacred chest stripped of idols, made the throne of an imageless God.

The Ark’s Journey in Israelite History

The Ark’s movements form a narrative thread through Israel’s early history. First constructed in the wilderness, it resided in the Tabernacle, a portable sanctuary. At the crossing of the Jordan, the Ark was carried by priests, the waters parting before it. At Jericho, its circuit of the city preceded the miraculous collapse of the walls. It was captured by the Philistines at Aphek, but plagues and misfortune compelled them to return it, setting it on an ox-cart that made its way back to Israelite territory. King David later brought the Ark to Jerusalem amid great rejoicing, establishing it as the centre of worship.

In Solomon’s Temple, the Ark was placed in the Holy of Holies, behind the veil, where only the High Priest could approach on the Day of Atonement. It was the holiest object in Israel, a national palladium as well as a religious symbol.

Disappearance and Theories After the Exile

The theory that the Ark was concealed beneath the Temple Mount inspired several archaeological expeditions in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Jewish tradition in the Mishnah suggested that King Josiah hid the Ark in secret chambers, and explorers sought to locate these vaults. In the late 19th century, the French traveller M. Raffray claimed to have penetrated the Holy of Holies and reported seeing a tabernacle that he believed contained the Ark, though his account was second-hand and contested.

In 1911, the Finnish scholar Dr. Valter Juvelius announced that he had deciphered a hidden code in the Book of Ezekiel, revealing that the Ark remained beneath Jerusalem. Backed by British financiers, he organised excavations that were widely reported in the press. The *Evening News* described underground passages, blocked doorways, and secret niches said to conceal treasures of the First Temple. Although nothing was ultimately found, the reports fuelled public fascination and reinforced the belief that the Ark was still buried beneath the city, awaiting rediscovery.

The fate of the Ark after the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem in 587 BCE remains one of the great mysteries of history. The biblical account of the Temple’s destruction makes no mention of the Ark among the treasures carried to Babylon. Jewish tradition in the Mishnah and Talmud suggests that King Josiah, foreseeing disaster, ordered the Levites to conceal the Ark in a secret chamber beneath the Temple Mount. Later legends held that it was hidden in caves, spirited away by angels, or taken to Babylon and lost.

A second moment of potential loss occurred with the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. The Arch of Titus in Rome shows Temple treasures carried in triumph - the golden Menorah, trumpets, and vessels - but not the Ark. This silence has fuelled speculation that it had already been removed or concealed centuries earlier.

The Ark at Tara Hill: Jeremiah in Ireland?

By the late 19th century, theories placing the Ark in Ireland gained popular attention. Excavations at Tara Hill in County Meath, seat of the High Kings, were undertaken by Mr. Bricoll, who believed the Ark had been brought there by the prophet Jeremiah. According to this legend, Jeremiah fled Jerusalem with the Ark after the Babylonian conquest, bringing it first to Egypt and then to Ireland, along with the Stone of Destiny (Lia Fáil). Press reports such as the "Cheltenham Chronicle" (1899) and "Lancashire Evening Post" (1902) described the excavations, which uncovered bones and chambers but no Ark. The project scandalised Irish antiquarians, who denounced it as destructive folly. Yet the legend endures, entwining biblical prophecy with Celtic myth.

Ethiopia’s Claim: Menelik and the Ark of Axum

The most enduring extra-biblical tradition locates the Ark in Ethiopia. The "Kebra Nagast", translated by Sir E. A. Wallis Budge in 1922, recounts how the Queen of Sheba bore Solomon a son, Menelik. When Menelik visited Jerusalem, he secretly carried away the Ark with the help of sympathetic priests. It was brought to Axum, where it was enshrined in the Church of St. Mary of Zion. Newspapers throughout the late 19th century repeated this tradition, often with embellishments. The "Evening Herald" (Dublin, 1896) reported that Emperor Menelik II promised European scholars access to the vaults of Axum, said to contain not only the Ark but also the tablets of the Law, Aaron’s rod, and ancient manuscripts. The "Lincolnshire Chronicle" (1896) described the Cathedral of Axum as built upon the remains of a heathen temple, housing treasures carried from Jerusalem after the sack by Shishak of Egypt.

To this day, the Ethiopian Church asserts that the Ark remains in Axum, guarded by a single monk who may never leave the chapel. The relic is paraded in festivals in the form of a tabot, a symbolic replica, but the true Ark is hidden from view. For Ethiopians, the Ark is not a lost relic but a living presence, central to national identity and religious life.

Other Theories and Modern Speculation

Beyond Ethiopia and Ireland, other theories abound. Some place the Ark in hidden caverns beneath the Temple Mount, awaiting discovery. Others claim it was taken by the Knights Templar during their excavations in Jerusalem, later hidden in Europe. In 2004, Graham Phillips suggested the Ark might be buried in Napton, Warwickshire, based on local legends and Templar associations. Popular imagination, fuelled by novels and films, has never ceased to relocate the Ark to new landscapes.

The Ark in the Press and Imagination

The Ark’s allure extended far beyond scholarship. Newspapers frequently carried debates, hoaxes, and letters from readers. The "Halifax Evening Courier" (1925) featured a witty correction distinguishing the Ark of the Covenant from Noah’s Ark, complete with measurements. The "National Reformer" (1872) hosted fiery debates between allegorists who denied the Ark’s material existence and literalists who defended it as real history. In 1896, the "Tablet" reported that at the Battle of Adowa, Ethiopian warriors invoked the Ark and their Solomonic descent as divine sanction for their victory over Italy. Such episodes show the Ark functioning as symbol, rallying point, and cultural metaphor, not merely as an archaeological puzzle.

Conclusion: Relic and Idea

Whether as Egyptian prototype, Israelite palladium, Irish treasure, or Ethiopian relic, the Ark of the Covenant has never ceased to captivate. Yet perhaps its greatest power lies not in physical recovery, but in its capacity to inspire belief, scholarship, and imagination. For Ethiopians, the Ark is a present reality; for historians, it is a vanished relic; for seekers, it is an eternal quest. Across cultures, it remains the supreme symbol of divine law, sacred kingship, and humanity’s longing to touch the transcendent. Its physical fate may remain unknown, but the Ark endures as a vessel - not of stone tablets alone, but of the stories humanity has poured into it for more than two thousand years.