Feb 14, 2013

Will the New Pope Be the One to Get the Ark of the Covenant Back from Ethiopia?

It was announced in late 2011 that the Ark, being held in Axum Ethiopia, was going to be brought to Rome and revealed to the world for the first time in over 2,000 years.  Then, the Pope said, "let's wait", and we still are waiting.  If this is indeed the last Pope, we might well expect the Ark to be returned during his reign.  The article below was from December 2011.

Will this be the first time the world sees the Ark of Covenant? Leaking roof in Ethiopian chapel 'will lead to relic being revealed'

  • Ark contains Ten Commandments God 'gave' to Moses on Mount Sinai
  • One holy monk is the only person allowed to see the holy box...
  • ...but he'll need a hand carrying metre long wooden structure to new home
By Rick Dewsbury
A very British problem of a leaky church roof could be about to give the world the chance to glimpse the legendary Ark of the Covenant.

That's because the claimed home of the iconic relic - a small chapel in Ethiopia - has sprung a leak and so the Ark could now be on the move.

The Ark - which The Bible says holds God's Ten Commandments given to Moses on Mount Sinai - is said to have been kept in Aksum, in the Chapel of the Tablet, adjacent to St Mary of Zion Church, since the 1960s.

According to the Old Testament, it was first kept in the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem for centuries until a Babylonian invasion in the 6th century BC.
The Chapel of the Tablet in Ethiopia that has the leaking roof. The St Mary of Zion church can be seen in the foreground
Leaking roof: The Chapel of the Tablet in Ethiopia that holds the Ten Commandments and has the water damage. The St Mary of Zion church, that originally held the tablet, can be seen in the foreground
 
Since then it's been the goal of many adventurers and archaeologists to find it. Most-famously, but also fictitiously, Indiana Jones was shown in the 1981 Steven Spielberg film Raiders of the Lost Ark.
There has also been a long-running claim from the Orthodox Christians of Ethiopia that they have had the Ark for centuries, and since the 1960s it has apparently been kept in the chapel.

This small and curiously-styled building is surrounded by spiked iron railings, and situated between two churches, the old and new, of St Mary of Zion in central Aksum.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2069765/Ark-Covenant-revealed-leaking-roof-Ethiopian-chapel.html#ixzz2Kr4PdWSi