-- THE LOST ARK OF THE COVENANT -- My Perspective of the Mystery --

History of The Ark of the Covenant
--Some facts, reasoning, overviews, references and links.

This page is part 2 of 2.

Click here for part 1 of 2.

References on this topic are located on the page of Ark links.

9. Archaeology, Ark-ology, dowsing and psychic connections

Most archaeologists shun any talk about "spirit" guidance because:
- Basic claim : good technical training, knowledge looks like intuition.
- No acknowledgement of how much is owed to unusual lucky coincidences.
- Plain ignorance of usefulness and acceptance of dowsing.
- Fear of label like "Treasure Hunter", "Pyramidiot", etc..
History note: Frederick Bligh Bond did archaeology at Glastonbury Abbey, England (1907-1922). He used automatic writing sucessfully for 10 years until the Church learned of it and stopped it.
History note: Saga of Montague Parker's dig in Jerusalem (1909-1911) based on information from " an Irish clairvoyant". Dig ended with riots under Dome of the Rock and Parker fleeing back to England.
- History replay: Rabbi Getz dig under Dome of the Rock in July 1981 also stopped with riots.
Extreme Claims of Ron Wyatt make many extremely skeptical;
- Found Noah's Ark, Sodom & Gemorah, Red Sea Crossing Point
- Saw Ark of Covenant, Table for Showbread, Scrolls by Moses
- And more claims of discovery.
For those not familiar with the basics of dowsing, see Letter To Robin on the web site of the American Society of Dowsers (ASD).

10. Is The Ark Hidden under the Temple Mount?

Many people speculate that under the Temple Mount, with all its caves and quarries, there is The Ark. You can get currently visit Zedekiah"s cave in Jerusalem (entrance opposite the bus stop in the old city) , " a small natural cave until the Second Temple Period when it was enlarged into a huge subterranean stone quarry extending under the houses of the Old City. This quarry supplied the stone for many magnificaent buildings in Jerusalem and according to common belie, was used to contruct the First Temple. Hence the nickname King Solomon"s Quarries." That cavern has a connection to a long, narrow natural cave (complete with brick walls and archery ports) rumored to extend down to the Dead Sea area.

All that speculation ignores one historical fact: the crusaders were in control of Jerusalem for a fair number of years, and would have looked in all the obvious spots. for "the holy grail", considered by some as a code for "The Ark of the Covenant".

There is an interesting tale of a search beneath the Temple Mount that nearly set off a religious war-- that occured almost 90 years ago. The story is found in "Digging for God & Country -- exploration, Arcaeology and the Secret Struggle for the Holy Land, 1799-1917," by Neil Asher Silberman, published by Alfred A. Knoff, 1982. Chapter 17 (p180-188) is the story of Captain Montague Brownslow Parker and his search in Jerusalem in 1909-1911.

The story of more recent efforts to search beneath the Temple Mount can be found in "The Lost Ark and the Last Days --In Search of Temple Treasures ," by Randall Price, Harvest House Publishers, 1994.

11. Searching around the Dead Sea!

The finding of the Dead Sea scrolls has put a lot of attention on the caves of that area. A good reference to that area is,"The Dead Sea -- Myth History and Politics" , by Barbara Kreiger, Brandeis University Press, 1988,1997.

The excavation work of Vendyl Jones at one of the Qumran caves is based on his interpretation of the copper scroll and his knowledge of the topology in that one area.

Of particular note is Vendyl Jone's web page Door of Hope . There you will find a Talmudic reference to the major holy objects missing from the second temple and that

" prophets Haggai, Zechariah and their companions ...did not return those Holy items."

Also, there is mention to the documentEmek Ha Melech written in 1648, which matches the Marble Tablets found in Lebanon except for the introduction which says,

"These records were written by five righteous men. They are Shimur HaLevi, Hizkiyah, Zidkiyah, Haggai the Prophet and Zechariah the son of Ido the Prophet. They hid and concealed the vessels of the Holy House and the wealth of the treasures that were in Jerusalem ...".

Oren P Purcell has an interesting claim to discovery in 1975 near Mount Nebo, Jordan on his web site

12. Cautions for today's Ark searchers

A small concern of all is that the searcher is considered very odd or just plain crazy. Searching itself requires caution. A larger concern is what happens if you do find something.

There are health risks to incautious meandering around the Dead Sea. Many caves have been used to shelter sheep and goats, whose dung may harbor various diseases. There are old minefields, from the various wars with still active mines, whose locations may have shifted in the infrequent but torrential rain.

The reality of that area of the Middle East is that there are people around, even in the desert. Nothing happens unobserved. For example, a local child watching a flock of goats knows that watching what a bunch of foreigners are doing is more interesting and potentially more profitable. And the story of treasure seekers he relates to his elders may be mythical, but believed. For example, an archaeologist advances the theory on a Discovery TV program that King Shishak got the ark, and points to a building in the Palestinian territories as a likely hiding spot. When the archaeologist and cameraman leave the area, what do you think happened?

Poor locals are always looking to find something they can sell for a lot on the antiquity market. They are more sophisticated than a hundred years ago when the Madaba stone was broken up looking for the hidden gold within. Metal detectors are illegal in most of that area, but do exist. Governments make promise of compensation for any archaeological find, but from past performance local people are very skeptical. Prosecution is more likely than compensation from proper disclosure.

A real concern is that good intentions can still lead to vandalism of historical and religious important sites. When the Copper scroll was discovered, its contents was immediately dismissed as fantasy, specifically to avoid setting off a treasure hunt. Some proponents of the theory that the ark ended buried with the Irish kings' tomb at Tara, Ireland want to have Tara ripped open.

Also, forget any idea that the Israeli government would jump at the opportunity to help discover important items from the First Temple, never mind the Ark of the Covenant. The reality of Israeli partisan politics is a strong desire not to risk upsetting the current status quo, a balance of domestic power between religious and non-religuous groups. Plus there are international power minefields to avoid. See the movie: The Body (2001) for some credible historical fiction about what could happen with religiously important finds.

13. To where does all this knowledge lead?

Assume that all elements of psychic power have left the Ark by now -- finding the Ark could still result in ( take your pick):

a) Peaceful, but commercial Disney-world-style "ark park". The husksters take over.
b) Religious denominations fights over ownership. The true believers move in, and claim it for their particular interpretation of what is valid faith.
c) Physical terrorism to destroy any increase in legitimacy of one religion.
d) Government(s) step in, and nothing happens for generations, except talk and courtroom appearances.

An alternate postulate is that some element of psychic energy is still guarding the location of the Ark.
In that case, we shall have to wait until the time, place, people are right to uncover it.

Much investigation can be done in promising areas around the Dead Sea.
E-mail me if you are interested in pursuing this subject.

View at exit of Wadi Mujib