Indiana Jones: Lost Ark of the Covenant 'traced to Ethiopia'

German archaeologists have claimed to have found one of the fabled resting places of the Ark of the Covenant, the chest holding the Ten Commandments which gave the ancient Israelites their power.

By UK foreign staff
Published: 11:08AM BST 13 May 2008

Hollywood's Indiana Jones set on a quest for the Ark Photo: AP

The University of Hamburg say its researchers have found the remains of the 10th century BC palace of the Queen of Sheba in Axum, Ethiopia, and an altar which at one time reputedly held the precious treasure. Archaeologist Helmut Ziegert, who is leading the dig said: "From the dating, its position and the details that we have found, I am sure that this is the palace."

Ethiopian legends holds that the Ark was taken to the palace of the Queen of Sheba by King Solomon, the king of the Jews, after they fell in love. After the Queen's death her son, Menelek, rebuilt the palace and dedicated it to the cult of Sirius, but kept the Ark in its resting place there.

The team said evidence at the site included Sirius symbols, the debris of sacrifices and the alignment of sacred buildings to the rising-point of Sirius, the brightest star in the sky. "The results we have suggest that a Cult of Sothis developed in Ethiopia with the arrival of Judaism and the Ark of the Covenant and continued until 600 AD," the university said. Sothis is the ancient Greek name for Sirius.

The German research, which began in 1999, is aimed at documenting the origins of the Ethiopian state and the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. The hunt for the Ark, which featured in the Indiana Jones film Raiders of the Lost Ark, has become almost as legendary as the artefact itself. The 1981 film has the artefact recovered by the Nazis from a resting place in the "Well of Souls" in Tanis, Egypt – not to be confused with the Well of Souls on Temple Mount, Jerusalem. The Nazi treasure hunters are later killed when the Ark is opened.

The Old Testament recounts that Moses, on leading the Israelites from Egypt, received the Ten Commandments from God on Mount Sinai. These Commandments, written on stone tablets, were later placed in a chest made from acacia wood, plated with gold and topped with two golden angels. This was the Ark of the Covenant.

The Ark was then kept in the Temple of Solomon Jerusalem for centuries, according to the Old Testament. After Jerusalem was conquered by the Babylonians in the 6th century BC, the Bible and it entered the realm of legend. Ethiopian tradition claims that the Ark was moved to Axum from Jerusalem in 10th century BC. A sect in Ethiopia maintains that the Ark is kept at the church of St Mary of Zion, but the site is defended by monks and only one guardian is allowed to see it, making the claim impossible to verify

Human Biology

Volume 75, Number 2, April 2003

E-ISSN: 1534-6617 Print ISSN: 0018-7143

DOI: 10.1353/hub.2003.0036

Scacchi, R.
De Stefano, G. F.
Ruggeri, M.
Corbo, R. M.
Genetic Variation at Apolipoprotein E Locus in Ethiopia: An E5 Variant Corresponds to Two Different Mutant Alleles: E*5 (Glu212Lys) and E*5 (Gln204Lys; Cys112Arg)
Human Biology - Volume 75, Number 2, April 2003, pp. 293-300

Wayne State University Press

A previous investigation on apolipoprotein E polymorphism in the Ethiopian population highlighted the presence of a further variant allele named E*5 in addition to the three common alleles. The variant is considered rare elsewhere but has a frequency of more than 1% in this population. Now characterized by gene sequencing and restriction isotyping in many members of the families of the original carriers, the variant isoform has actually been found to be determined by two different gene mutations. Effectively rare in Ethiopians, one of the two, E5 (Gln204Lys, Cys112Arg), has never been described before. The other, E5 (Glu212Lys), previously described in a subject of Turkish origin, is present at the polymorphic level only in the Ethiopian population. No subjects bearing these variants had anomalous lipid or apolipoprotein patterns. In the course of the present investigation both have been found to occur as rare variants in the southern Italian population as well. The occurrence of the two variants in the populations of Ethiopia and of the Mediterranean basin could be explained by taking into account the relevant Caucasoid contribution to the Ethiopian gene pool.

Keepers of The Lost Tabot

አክሱም ጺዩን በአንደበታቸው

በአለም ላይ ይህ እጅግ በጣም የሚፈራ እና ድንቅ ተአምራትን የሚሰራው ታቦተ ህግ ለብዙ ሺህ አመታት ተጠብቆ የሚገኘው አክሱም ጺዮን ውስጥ መሆኑን በልበ ሙሉነት የምትናገረው ኢትዩጵያ ብቻ ብትሆንም የቀድሞ ባለቤቶቿ ግን ፈጽሞ ሊዋጥላቸው አልቻልም በርግጥም ጺዮን ለምን ለኢትዩጵያ እና ለኢትዩጵያውያን እንደማይገባን ሲናገሩም አይደመጡም ?... አሁንም ባገኙት አጋጣሚ ሁሉ ታቦተ ጺዮንን ፍለጋ የማወጡት ተራራ የማይፈነቅሉት ድንጋይ የለም ። እንደ እነ ኢንዲያና ጆን የመሳሰሉ የሆሊውድ ተረቶችን ጨምሮ ልፋ ያለው …..

እንዴት ተደርጎ ወደ ኢትዩጵያ ውስጥ ይገባል፣ የማይሆን ነገር ነው፣ አፈ ታሪክ ነው፣ ሳባ አረብ ናት፣ቀዳማዊ ሚኒልክ የኢትዩጵያውያን ፈጠራ ነው ሲሉ ይቆዩኑና አይናቸውን በጨው አጥበው ደግሞ ትግራይ ነው ያለው፣ መጀመርያ ያረፈው ጣና ደሴት ላይ ነው አብረው የመጡትም እዛው ተቀብረዋል፣ ትክክልኛዋ ጺዩን እንዳትታወቅ 50000 ተመሳሳይ ጽላቶችን ሰርተዋል ፣ በደናግላን ነው የምትጠበቀው ይሉናል። እንደገና ይመለሱ እና እውን ታቦተ ጺዩን በኢትዩጵያውያን እጅ ከሆነች ለምን በድርቅ፣ በረሃብ፣ በበሽታ፣ብስደት፣በርስ በርስ ጦርነት፣በዘርኝነት፣በጎጥኝነት፣ በመልካም አስትዳደር እጦት ይሰቃያሉ ይላሉ ። ወዲያው ይመለሱ እና እንደ ኢትዩጵያውያን ጠላቶች መብዛት፣ እና እስካሁን እንደ ተሳተፉበት ጦርነት ቢሆን ኖሮ ካለ ታቦተ ጺዩን ጠባቂነት ኢትዩጵያ እንደ ሃገር እዚህ ምድር ላይ አትኖርም ነበር መሬት መንቀጥቀጥ አያውቁ፣ቶርኔቶ አያውቁ፣ሱናሚ አያውቁ፣ ብለው ይሉናል።

እንድገና ሌላ ጨዋታ ይጀምራሉ የጽላቱ ሃይል በምድር ላይ የሚያክለው የለም፣ በጦር ሜዳ ላይ በቅጽበት ድልን ያቀዳጃል፣ የዚህን ሀይል የሚለካ መሳሪያ የለንም፣ ከኒውክለር ይበልጣል ሲሉ ይቆዩና፣ ተመልሰው ጽላቱን በአይናችን እንየው፣ ብእጃችን እንንካው፣በአይናችን እንድናይ እስካልተፈቀደልን ድረስ ጽላቱ በኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ መኖሩን አንቀበልም አሁን ደግሞ ሙዝየም ውስጥ ይቀመጥልን እያሉ ባግኙት አጋጣሚ ሁሉ ይውተውታሉ ፣ አንዳንዴማ ጆሮ አይሰማው የለ አይን አያየው የለ እነዚህ ሰዎች በጤናቸው ነው ያስብላል።

ምናልባት ይህንን ሙሴ ከእግዚአብሔር በሲና ተራራ የተቀበለው ታቦተ ህግ በኢትዬጵያ አክሱም ጺዮን ውስጥ እንደሚገኝ በማስረጃ የተደገፈ ግኝት በተከታታይ አራት ክፍል ቀርቦ ሲመለከቱት ምናልባት ከተምታታበት ሃሳባቸውን ፈቅ ሊሉ ይችሉ ይሆናል እርሶም በጽሞና ይከታትሉት ።

ሙሴ ከእግዚአብሔር በሲና ተራራ የተቀበለው ታቦተ ህግ በኢትዬጵያ አክሱም ጺዮን ውስጥ እንደሚገኝ በማስረጃ የተደገፈ ግኝት በተከታታይ አራት ክፍል።