Ethiopia tells the Pope they're going to reveal the Ark of the Covenant

Originally Posted by Partial_Mathers
http://www.worldnetdaily....eId=102119
The patriarch of the Orthodox Church of Ethiopia says he will announce to the world Friday the unveiling of the Ark of the Covenant, perhaps the world's most prized archaeological and spiritual artifact, 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."

The announcement is expected to be made at 2 p.m. Italian time 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."

According to Pauolos, the actual Ark has been kept in one church, but to defend the treasure, a copy was placed in every single church in Ethiopia.

He said a museum is being built in Axum, Ethiopia, where the Ark will be displayed. A foundation of D'Acosta will fund the project.

The Ark of the Covenant is the sacred container of the Ten Commandments as well as Aaron's rod and a sample of manna, the mysterious food that kept the Israelites alive while wandering in the wilderness during their journey to the promised land.

The Bible says the Ark was built to the specifications of God as He spoke to Moses. It was carried in advance of the people and their army by priests. It was also carried in a seven-day procession around the walled city of Jericho.


The idea that the Ark is presently in Ethiopia is a well-documented, albeit disputed, tradition dating back to at least 642 B.C. The tradition says it was moved to Elephantine Island in Egypt, then to Tana Kirkos Island in Ethiopia and finally to its present site at St. Mary's of Zion Church in Axum.

Ethiopians believe it is destined to be delivered to the Messiah when He reigns on Mount Zion – the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

Jeremiah 3:16 points to a time when the Ark will vanish not only physically, but from the minds of the people: "And it shall come to pass, when ye be multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith the LORD, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the LORD: neither shall it come to mind: neither shall they remember it; neither shall they visit it; neither shall that be done any more."

The Book of Revelation says the Ark is in the temple of God in heaven (Rev. 11:19). Muslim scholars say it will be found near the end of times by the Mahdi – a messianic figure in Islam.

I've heard about this and how they protect it to no end. I'm shocked they decided to reveal it. It will be interesting to see what is actually revealed.

Now that would be something. Perhaps I missed the explanation in the article, but I wonder why after all these years of keeping it under wraps they're revealing it.

if they really have it and are going to uncover it, lay it on us! that's exciting.
[Edited 7/8/09 10:01am]

morningsong said:

Let's take a look.....

Did you guys forget what happened at the end of Raiders?

Ark will not be shown
By Tsegaye Tadesse

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - The head of Ethiopia's Orthodox Church on Tuesday denied reports that he is about to unveil to the world the Ark of the Covenant that Moses is said to have stored the Ten Commandments tablets in.

Patriarch Abune Paulos said Italian media had incorrectly reported that he would place the Ark in a museum in the country's north.

Legend has it that the box-shaped Ark has been hidden from sight in Ethiopia since 642 BC.

"I am deeply disappointed that the Italian media misquoted me and disseminated false information about me unveiling the Ark of the Covenant to the world," he said at a news conference.

"It is a fabrication, disinformation."

Some Ethiopians believe that Prince Menelik I -- who is said to be the result of a union between Israel's King Solomon and the Ethiopia Queen of Sheba -- took the Ark from Jerusalem to Ethiopia while he was in power around 950 BC.

"I would like to confirm once again that the Ark of the Covenant and the sacred tablets containing the Ten Commandments that God delivered to Moses are in Ethiopia," Abune added.

Replicas of the Ark are in more than 50,000 Orthodox churches in the Horn of Africa country, the church says.

The Ethiopian Orthodox Church says it keeps the Ark in a holy shrine in the north of the country. Only a small number of priests can even go near the room where it is said to be kept.

© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
[Edited 7/8/09 10:32am]

Lammastide said:

oh for goodness sake!

Man. I was getting happy and then Lamm had to go and burst my bubble. I wish they would go on and reveal and put the nay-sayers to rest. I truly believe that the ark is there and that the Ethiopians are Hebrew descendents.
If any of you want to read a good book regarding the Ark, check out The Sign and the Seal.

the only error in the story is that Israel was still in existence under a Monarchy in 950BCE. Aside from a small problem of the Temple still in around and by law the Ark had to stay there it's a plausible story.

last year or the year before the History Channel did a documentary on the Lemba people of South Africa and that they may actually have what is left of it.

The Lost Ark of the Covenant


it's a great little film

ehuffnsd said:

illimack said:

ehuffnsd said:

Didn't Indiana Jones take care of this some 20+ years ago?

illimack said:

illimack said:

Man. I was getting happy and then Lamm had to go and burst my bubble. I wish they would go on and reveal and put the nay-sayers to rest. I truly believe that the ark is there and that the Ethiopians are Hebrew descendents.
If any of you want to read a good book regarding the Ark, check out The Sign and the Seal.

Lammastide said:

morningsong said:

Lammastide said:

morningsong said:

ehuffnsd said:

ehuffnsd said:

morningsong said:

ehuffnsd said:

that would mean Jesus was close to because me comes back in Islam as well.

I have no idea what that word means and I did the Word dictionary search and nothing came up, so I'm out of the loop. I could make an assumption, but I'd prefer somebody explain.

ehuffnsd said:

But I agree Menelik I was likely not the guy who got away with the Ark. If we trust the historical accuracy of the biblical account, the Ark was last mentioned as present in the Temple during Josiah's reign (2 Chronicles 35:3)... some 300 years after Menelik I.

Lammastide said:

ehuffnsd said:

all Jews whether there ancestors moved to Europe or stayed in the Holy Land have them.

Technically a person with First Temple-era Jewish ancestry could exist while not bearing the Cohanim gene. That DNA marker would only indicate a person specifically descendant of the tribe of Cohen, a subset of the Tribe of Levi.

Because Levites were not allocated a dedicated territory like the other tribes at the founding of ancient Israel, they were dispersed throughout the land and thoroughly absorbed. Levite (and Cohanim) genetic presence permeated Jewry -- so much so that now it has become a sort of test for the antiquity of one's Jewish ancestry -- but it is not 100-percent prevalent. (And, interestingly, the science shows it is possible, on the other hand, to have the gene and not be descendant of the Tribe of Cohen.)

But lost in all this is the important question: What makes one Jewish -- blood or fidelity to tradition(s)? Because the gene is patrilineal, it serves no purpose in naming someone Jewish from a religious standpoint, something done based on one's maternal lineage. Moreover, I have ethnic Jewish friends who wouldn't know a mitzvah if they tripped over one ; and I know converts to Judaism who deeply live by their faith. Which of them would be the "truer" Jews?

The question has no universally satisfying answer, and more than a few critics have observed that it unfortunately seems to be approached in varied ways based on ethnic/racial double standards.

Lammastide said:

morningsong said:

I have no idea what that word means and I did the Word dictionary search and nothing came up, so I'm out of the loop. I could make an assumption, but I'd prefer somebody explain.

Sorry. It means the end of the world as we know it.