By Patrick J. Kiger

It is perhaps the most sacred object mentioned in the Bible — said to contain the stone tablets upon which the Ten Commandments were inscribed by the finger of God. It was believed to be the literal manifestation of God on Earth.

But the Ark of the Covenant is also one of the most frightening artifacts described in all of biblical history. A golden box with the power to strike men dead, to the ancient Hebrews, the Ark was both a divine manifestation and a talisman so powerful that they carried it with them into battle — a weapon of God. To their enemies, it was a treasure to be coveted — but once captured, a terrible punishment. It came to occupy the most revered spot in Jerusalem, the Holy of Holies at the Temple of Solomon, and then — six centuries before the birth of Christ — it mysteriously disappeared.


The Ark of the Covenant, transported on the shoulders of its bearers.

For the pop-culture-minded, the Ark of the Covenant is the prize sought by the intrepid Indiana Jones in the 1981 Steven Spielberg film, "Raiders of the Lost Ark." But in Judeo-Christian culture, the Ark has a far more profound significance.

Even today, men still search for it — pondering clues in ancient texts and clambering through dark caves, while others have journeyed to a small Ethiopian villiage to beg priests for a glimpse into the chamber where some believe it may be hidden. And there are those that search for scientific explanations of its miraculous powers. Could the Ark have been the technological vestige of lost knowledge, brought back into service by Moses to rally and defend the Israelites during their desert wanderings?

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