The
fabled, sacred treasure was a source of miraculous power
The Ark
of the Covenant: Where is it Now?
by Brian Alan
Burhoe
A Speculative
Article.
The most
sacred object described in the Bible was the Ark of the Covenant.
Once kept in King Solomon's Temple, it has been hidden from history
for 2000 years. What happened to it? Where is it today?
There's a
renewed fascination today with the truths of the Bible and the
history and secrets of the Church. The success of Dan Brown's ANGELS
& DEMONS and THE DA VINCI CODE has been reflected by interest in THE
HOLY BLOOD AND THE HOLY GRAIL by Baigent, Leigh & Lincoln, THE HIRAM
KEY by Knight & Lomas, the re-discoveded JESUS: THE MAN AND HIS WORK
and the controversial FREEMASONRY INSIDE-OUT: A NEW ANGLE ON MASONIC
SECRETS by Hugh McFarland.
The Holy Grail
makes a fine story, and may even be real. But there is something
more sacred than the Grail, it really existed, and it is again the
source of modern day quests...
1. THE ARK OF
THE COVENANT
The Bible
called it the Ark of God, the Ark to Testimony and the Ark of the
Covenant. It was a large chest made of acacia wood and covered all
over with the purest gold. The "mercy seat" -- its upper surface or
lid -- was decorated with a rim of gold. On the sides were
gold-covered rings, through which carrying poles could be slid. Two
angels in beautifully carved wood kneeled at each end, their immense
wings spread out over the top of the Ark to touch each other.
What did this
Ark of the Covenant hold? The two tablets of stone which
demonstrated the testimony of God's Covenant with His people -- the
stone tablets that held the Ten Commandments.
The chest was
said to be a source of miraculous power -- or destructive power --
depending on the purity of the soul of the one who gazed upon it.
The Ark was
kept deep in the Temple of Solomon, on Mount Moriah, in the holy
city of Jerusalem. And there it sat for centuries, with other sacred
treasures gathered by the great King Solomon.
Today, the
Temple of Solomon is rubble.
Where is the
Ark of the Covenant?
2. MANY
BELIEFS
Ethiopian
Christians believe that the Ark lies hidden in a chapel in the
ancient town of Axum, close to the Red Sea.
Some
historians believe that it went to Rome. When the Roman Legions
razed Jerusalem in 70 AD, the Emperor's son Titus took the Temple of
Solomon treasure to Italy. When the barbarian Alaric sacked Rome in
410, the treasures were hidden outside the city.
One claim has
surfaced that the 19th Century Parisian journalist who called
himself Eliphas Levi, wrote about the "treasure of Solomon" in his
unpublished book (only handwritten copies are said to exist)
REVALATIONS OF APPOLONIUS. It was said to be kept by a Guardian in a
town called Genzano di Roma. But the treasure is described by Levi
as a "carved stone of strange power, ancient even when the
Phoenicians gave it to King Solomon." Part of the Temple treasure,
perhaps, but not the Ark of the Covenant.
The best
evidence is that it was uncoveded by the warrior-monks known as the
Knights Templar.
3. THE
TEMPLARS AND THE COVENANT
The dramatic
destruction of the Knights Templar was caused by a number of
factors. One, was the greed of the King of France for their massive
wealth. Another, was the belief by Pope Clement that the Order of
warrior-monks had uncovered secret knowledge forbidden by Rome.
These included information on the True Christ, as described by the
American author Wallace D Wattles in JESUS: THE MAN AND HIS WORK.
And secret artifacts including -- perhaps -- the Ark of the
Covenant?
The Temple of
Solomon was built in the middle of the 10th Century Before Christ.
The Bible relates in great detail how it was designed and built on
the summit of Mount Moriah. Solomon entered into contract with King
Hiram of Tyre to provide master stonemasons to build it. It took
thousands of laborers and skilled artisans to complete it. With its
massive walls of quarried stone, the temple consisted of the Oracle,
or "most holy place" and the "holy of holies" where the Ark of the
Covenant was safely kept. The temple was floored and wainscotted
with cedar. Its walls and floors were overlaid with gold. This
history of stonemasonry and temple design would become important to
the Templars and to the Freemasons, who would carry on their
secrets.
One of the
mysteries of the Templars is -- why did they name themselves after
the Temple of Solomon -- when that temple had been destroyed over a
thousand years earlier? The evidence is that they deliberately made
their headquarters in the buiding over the ruins of the temple. That
from their very inception, they and their backers in Europe had a
specific interest in that Temple. That they -- in secret -- began an
excavation that led to the discovery of that Temple's ancient and
sacred treasures. That they had gone to Jerusalem with knowledge of
the techniques of King Hiram's stonemasons that enabled them to go
beyond certain massive blocks of stone to a hidden room unknown for
two thousand years.
4. TEMPLAR
TREASURES
When the
Knights Templar disappeared from the world stage in 1307 (quite
literally, overnight!), they took with them their treasures,
including artifacts uncovered in the Holy Land.
Many settled
in Scotland, on the mainland and on the Western Isles. The large
number of Templar and Masonic graves there have attracted much
study.
As has Rosslyn
Chapel.
Built in the
village of Roslin, south of Edinburgh, this chapel seems to be built
to the same design as Solomon's Temple. Some investigators believe
that "something of Templar origin" is buried beneath the chapel's
floor. Even if nothing is found in Rosslyn Chapel, perhaps the
building itself is the important key. Although built no later than
1470 -- two decades before Christopher Columbus set foot on New
World soil, Rosslyn Chapel has stone carvings of American plants
such as maize and aloe cactus. This is just one indication that
ships of the Templar Fleet had crossed the Atlantic and explored the
coasts of Central and North America, and that the stonemasons who
built Rosslyn Chapel knew of them.
Across the
Atlantic from Scotland, just off the coast of Nova Scotia (New
Scotland) is an island covered with live oak trees. Oak trees are
not native to the Americas. They are European. Yet some of these oak
trees are older than Columbus's "discovery" of America. On this Oak
Island lies a mystery -- a deep, well-constructed tunnel -- a tunnel
that goes straight down into the earth. Discovered in 1795,
uncovering this tunnel has become a preoccupation of one treasure
hunter after another. Over the years, engineers and explorers have
tried to solve its riddle.
The tunnel is
13 feet across, with thick oak platforms at 10, 20 and 30 feet down.
Further digging has found more oak platforms sealed with putty and
coconut fiber. A cipher stone -- its markings as yet undeciphered.
And ingenious side-tunnels that go out to sea and keep the excavated
"pit" flooded. At least two chests seem to have been discovered so
far. But there is no true answer to who built this tunnel. Modern
engineers have been unable to solve its puzzle and uncover whatever
is buried at its bottom.
Is it the
pirate Captain Kidd's "Money Pit?" Did the British garrison in New
York hide their pay chests there in the 1770's? Or was it built
earlier -- by the Templars?
5. MORE
DISCOVERIES
This last
possibility has been enhanced by a more recent discovery. Oak Island
(the only island covered by oak trees along the North American
coast) lies at the end of the LaHave River, like a navigational
landmark. And inland, where the LaHave River begins, very old stone
walls have been discovered. The walls are built, and mortared, in
the style used by Medieval stonemasons...
When European
settlers first came to Nova Scotia, the native Micmaq people told
them stories of white-skinned medicine men they named Glouscap and
Ukchesakumou. These white men had taught the Micmaq many things,
including a philosophy that men must live together in peace, and had
healed the sick. "One day," the Micmaq concluded, "Glouscap got in
his big canoe and sailed away, never to come back."
Historians
have thought that these stories reflect memories of the earlier
Viking settlements. Vineland. But the Vikings would never have
preached a gospel of peace.
Did the
Knights Templar, the Knights of Christ, build a settlement up the
LaHave River? What lies in the earth with the Medieval stone walls?
To learn more
about the Templars, JESUS: THE MAN AND HIS WORK, FREEMASONRY
INSIDE-OUT, and more, Click on
MEDIEVAL CHRISTIAN MYSTICISM & MODERN DREAM INTERPRETATION
See more
Articles by Brian Alan Burhoe at PUPPY DOGS INFO:
http://www.puppy-dogs.info
About the
author: Brian Alan Burhoe is the author of many articles and short
stories. His Home Page is
ORN ITHANTHROPUS Science Fantasy by B Alan Burhoe. Many of his
animal-related articles can be found at
PUPPY DOGS INFO.
Or just do an Author Search at GoArticles!
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