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There have been myriad theories developed over the years that the Ark
rests somewhere beyond Jerusalem. Contrary to the fictional plot of "Raiders,"
there's no evidence that Hitler despite his fascination with mysticism
ever sought to find it. But in 1936, a news report did surface
that a French insurance company had been approached by a mysterious group
from the Middle East, which claimed that the Ark was hidden in war-torn
Ethiopia and wanted to buy coverage for it in case it was damaged.

Courtyard and Entrance to Ark of the Covenant
Temple in Axum, Ethiopia.
The story was never substantiated, but it helped revive interest in 13th-century
folklore that the Ark had been smuggled out of Jerusalem prior to the
Babylonian conquest and subsequent pillaging of the first temple, and
spirited away by Solomon's son Melenik, the founder of the Ethiopian royal
dynasty. Melenik was supposed to have brought the Ark with him upon returning
to the Ethiopian homeland of his mother, the Queen of Sheba. Today, Ethiopian
Orthodox Christians believe that the Ark resides in the Church of Saint
Mary of Zion in Axum. This explanation is also endorsed by British journalist
Graham Hancock in his 1992 bestseller, The Sign and the Seal. The
sanctum where the Ark supposedly is kept, however, is guarded by a priest
and no outsider is allowed to enter, so the claim is impossible to substantiate.
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