He [Goren] concluded that someone had taken an old stone from somewhere else and carved an inscription on the front which had then been concealed under a new artificial patina. He could even see evidence that the carving was recent. And what of the ancient charcoal and traces of gold which had convinced earlier scientists? Goren concluded they had simply been added to the artificial patina applied to the front of the stone. ibid.
The he turned to the Brother of Jesus Ossuary. The bone-box itself appears to be genuine. The stone was covered by a chalky patina. Just what he’d expect if it had spent many years in an underground tomb. But the patina in the grooves of the inscription was different. Like the Jehoash Tablet it was not firmly bonded to the surface. It looked as if the engraver had cut through the original patina then filled in the grooves with a new material to make it look ancient. On June 18th 2003 the Israel Antiquities Authority goes public. Both objects are declared fake. It hits the headlines worldwide. Experts who authenticated the artefacts have the names dragged through the mud. ibid.
But more damning evidence comes to light when police and authority inspectors raid Oded Golan’s premises again. They find engraving tools, chemicals and soil samples taken from sites all over Israel together with scores of artefacts; many look freshly minted or half finished. ibid.
So it was inevitable that attention would return to that priceless object in the Israel Museum, the Ivory Pomegranate ... Experts have discovered it wasn’t actually made of elephant ivory, but came from a quite different beast ... Then he [Goren] turned his attention to the inscription ... He noticed that the grooves cut by the engraver appeared to stop short of the break. ibid.
Consider how this box of wood has outlived the flesh that made it and preserved it and venerated it. David and Bathsheba 1951 starring Gregory Peck & Susan Hayward & James Robinson Justice & Jayne Meadows & Raymond Massey & Kieron Moore et al, director Henry King, David
There never was an Ark of the Covenant. It’s fiction as the search for it by Indiana Jones in Raiders of The Lost Ark. As serious scholars we can all stop looking for that lost Ark of the Covenant and leave it to Hollywood. Because that’s where it belongs – in the realm of fantasy. Jordan Maxwell
Every single church in Ethiopia contains a replica of the Ark of the Covenant. Graham Hancock, author The Sign and the Seal
This Jewish community on the island of Elephantine literally vanishes from history ... There is no evidence of a massacre. Graham Hancock
The Biblical accounts states quite clearly that the cause of death was cancerous tumours. This is a very mysterious and puzzling thing. What kind of object could have these almost machine-like attributes, and cause deaths that sound like radiation sickness? Graham Hancock, author Fingerprints of the Gods
Hitler was obsessed with trying to find the Ark of the Covenant. It was far more important I think than just some religious belief. I think the Ark of the Covenant had a function – whatever it might have been. George Noory, radio host
What power the Ark held is the subject of wide speculation. But an even bigger mystery is what happened to the Ark, and where it might be located today. Ancient Aliens s1e4: Closer Encounters, History 2010
The Temple was said to house the Ark of the Covenant ... Could an advanced energy source within the Ark of the Covenant have allowed King Solomon to wield immense power? Ancient Aliens s3e3: Aliens and Sacred Places
A Biblical relic with incredible powers. The power to harm, the power to kill, even the power to talk to God. But was this mysterious gold chest really of divine origin? Or might its powers come from some other source? Ancient Aliens s6e10: Aliens and the Lost Ark
The throne of God himself. ibid.
So dangerous it couldn’t be touched or even looked at. ibid.
Suddenly it vanished. It is still unclear what happened to it. It may have been stolen or destroyed or deliberately hidden. ibid.
Eventually it was taken even further to the north. ibid.
Goliath crashed his way through the Israeli soldiers, ran over and scooped the Arc up on his shoulders ... and took the Ark back to the camp of Philistines. Professor Vendyl Jones
It was an object of unspeakable power ... The Ark was carried at the front of the army in virtually every battle, every battle that took place during the Israelite conquest of the land of Canaan. Professor Eric Cline
There is a possibility that the Ark of the Covenant with its contents has been hidden on Oak Island. Giorgio A Tsoukalos
The story of the Ark of the Covenant is one of the most fascinating and unexplored stories of the Bible. The Ark of the Covenant had some very mysterious powers. Giorgio A Tsoukalos
It was a storage container that housed some type of nuclear device. Giorgio A Tsoukalos
If the Ark does exist, Shimon Gibson says the Temple Mount is an obvious place to look. Ancient X Files s1e3: Philosopher’s Stone & Lost Ark, National Geographic 2010
An ark is a vessel built to protect something precious. The Ark of the Covenant was a box made of wood and covered in gold. It was built to hold two tablets engraved with the Ten Commandments. Mystery Investigator: Olly Steeds s1e1: Ark of the Covenant, Discovery 2010
The Ethiopian monks ... say they are safeguarding artefacts that arrived with the Ark of the Covenant two thousand years ago. ibid.
According to Ethiopian Christians the original Ark or the Covenant is here in a small chapel in the Cathedral of St Mary of Tsion. It’s watched over by one man called the Guardian. Whose sole purpose in life is to protect it. ibid.
There are numerous parallels in history, such as the Egyptian barque ... It becomes distinctly clear that it was in fact a close copy of the Egyptian portable barque. Philip Gardiner, The Ark, The Shroud & Mary, documentary & book
Several Hebrew Arks were in fact created over the course of time. ibid.
In all this time there would have some text somewhere about the Ark. But there was nothing. ibid.
Hundreds of authors have jumped on this tradition and claim that it must now point to the location of the Ark – hidden by Jeremiah in some magical cave. ibid.
The Kabbalah itself had some incredible links to the Ark. ibid.
We also have a distinct correlation between Mary as the Christ-carrier and the Ark as the carrier of God. ibid.
Firstly, at a feast day of Mary had been chosen in relationship to the veneration of the Shroud. And secondly, that the Odessa cloth itself had repeatedly been associated with her. Were the Ark, the Shroud and Mary all one and the same in symbolism? ibid.
There will be little surprise therefore to find elements of the original Ark in India. ibid.
According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it.
And they shall make an ark of shittim wood: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof.
And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, within and without shalt thou overlay it, and shalt make upon it a crown of gold round about.
And thou shalt cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in the four corners thereof; and two rings shall be in the one side of it, and two rings in the other side of it.
And thou shalt make staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold.
And thou shalt put the staves into the rings by the sides of the ark, that the ark may be borne with them.
The staves shall be in the rings of the ark: they shall not be taken from it.
And thou shalt put into the ark the testimony which I shall give thee.
And thou shalt make a mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof.
And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat.
And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end: even of the mercy seat shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof.
And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be.
And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee.
And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.
Thou shalt also make a table of shittim wood: two cubits shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof.