What happened to the Ark of the Covenant?

Question: "What happened to the Ark of the Covenant?"

Answer: What happened to the Ark of the Covenant is a question that has fascinated theologians, Bible students, and archeologists for centuries. In the 18th year of his reign, King Josiah of Judah ordered the caretakers of the Ark of the Covenant to return it to the temple in Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 35:1-6; cf. 2 Kings 23:21-23). That is the last time the Ark is mentioned in the Scriptures. Forty years later, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon captured Jerusalem and raided the temple. Less than ten years after that, he returned, took what was left in the temple, and then burnt it and the city to the ground. So what happened to the Ark? Was it taken by Nebuchadnezzar? Was it destroyed with the city? Or was it removed and hidden away before all of this happened, as was evidently the case when Pharaoh Shishak of Egypt raided the temple during the reign of Solomon’s son King Rehoboam? (evidently because, if it was not hidden from Shishak and he had managed to take it as some have theorized—see the plot for the blockbuster movie “Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark” for example—why would Josiah have asked the Levites to return it so many years later if they didn’t have it in their possession in the first place?)

The non-canonical book of 2 Maccabees reports that just prior to the Babylonian invasion, Jeremiah, “following a divine revelation, ordered that the tabernacle and the Ark should accompany him and... he went off to the mountain which Moses climbed to see God's inheritance [i.e. Mt. Nebo; cf. Deuteronomy 31:1-4]. When Jeremiah arrived there, he found a room in a cave in which he put the tent, the Ark, and the altar of incense; then he blocked up the entrance” (2:4-5). However, “Some of those who followed him came up intending to mark the path, but they could not find it. When Jeremiah heard of this, he reproved them: ‘The place is to remain unknown until God gathers his people together again and shows them mercy. Then the Lord will disclose these things, and the glory of the Lord will be seen in the cloud, just as it appeared in the time of Moses and when Solomon prayed that the Temple might be gloriously sanctified’” (2:6-8). It is not known if this second-hand (see 2:1) account is accurate, but if it is we will not know until the Lord comes back, as it claims at the end.

Other theories concerning the whereabouts of the lost Ark include Rabbis Shlomo Goren and Yehuda Getz’s claim that it is hidden beneath the Temple Mount, having been buried there before Nebuchadnezzar could steal it away. Unfortunately, the Temple Mount is now home to the Dome of the Rock, an Islamic holy site, and the local Muslim community refuses to allow it to be excavated in search of the Ark. So we cannot know if Rabbis Goren and Getz are right.

Explorer Vendyl Jones, among others, believes that an artifact found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, the enigmatic “Copper Scroll” of Qumran Cave 3, is actually a treasure map of sorts detailing the location of a number of precious treasures taken from the Temple before the Babylonians arrived, among them being the lost Ark of the Covenant. Whether or not this is true remains to be seen as no one has yet been able to locate all of the necessary geographical landmarks listed on the scroll. Interestingly, some scholars speculate that the Copper Scroll may actually be the record referred to in 2 Maccabees 2:1 and 4 which describes Jeremiah hiding the Ark. While this is an interesting speculation, it remains unsubstantiated.

Former East African correspondent for “The Economist,” Graham Hancock, published a book in 1992 entitled The Sign and the Seal: The Quest for the Lost Ark of the Covenant, in which he argued that the Ark had been stowed away in the Saint Mary of Zion's Church in Aksum, an ancient city of Ethiopia. Explorer Robert Cornuke of the Colorado-based B.A.S.E. Institute, also believes the Ark may now reside in Aksum. However, no one has yet to find it there. Similarly, archaeologist Michael Sanders believes the Ark is hidden away in an ancient Egyptian temple in the Israeli village of Djaharya, but he has yet to actually find it there.

A doubtful Irish tradition maintains that the Ark is buried under the Hill of Tara in Ireland. Some scholars believe that this is the source of the Irish “pot of gold at the end of the rainbow” legend. Even less believable are the claims of Ron Wyatt and Crotser, Wyatt claiming to actually have seen the lost Ark of the Covenant buried under Mt. Calvary, and Crotser claiming to have seen it on Mt. Pisgah, near Mt. Nebo. Both of these men are held in low esteem by the archaeological community, and neither has been able to substantiate their wild claims with any evidence.

In the end, the Ark remains lost to all but God. Interesting theories like the ones presented above have been and continue to be offered as to where it might be, but no one has yet been able to find it. The writer of 2 Maccabees may very well be right; we might not find out what happened to the lost Ark of the Covenant until the Lord Himself returns.

Recommended Resource: Bible Answers for Almost all Your Questions by Elmer Towns.