| The Old Testament Go Back Main Page Updated 15 Feb 2008 Page 37 | |
Inside a Monastery on an island in Lake
Tana. Local legend has it that the Arc of
the covenant was kept here for a long time...
Above the progress of the excavation on the
Elephantine island in the river Nile. There are still visible the
foundation of a temple...
ST. Emmanuel, one of the most elegantly build
church in Lalibela! This monolithic Church is carved out of one rock and
Holy mass is performed everyday!
(More
pictures to come!)
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The conspiracy theory...
The
Old testament offers great reading and it is definitely a good source of
events happened at a very old age. At the same time though, as we read we
are looking for some clues! My personal interest was to trace the
Arc
of the covenant through the ages! Reading the
Bible carefully, the Arc
of the covenant is adequately described and its whereabouts well
documented in several chapters and from various
people but only until the reign of King Solomon 970 to 931 BC. After that you can not find even
a word mentioning the Arc anywhere in the Bible ! Isn't this
strange?
Just
before the
Jews start the journey back home after 52 years captivity in Babylon, around
the year 535 BC, a royal decree was issued from king Darious to locate a list of all looted
items from the Temple; the list was found and everything described
in it was given
back to the returning Jews! Surprisingly the Arc was not included in
this list
of the returned items and also there was no complain from any body,
nor was anything mentioned in any scripture about the missing Arc! Soon
after, a
new temple was build but without containing the Arc as it was missing
still without any complaint registered from any body... Strange isn't
it?
There
is no report that the Arc was stolen, destroyed or hidden somewhere
underground! Is
that not surprising for something so precious to the Jews to vanish
without a trace?
That
leaves us then to believe that sometime between king Solomon's reign
and the Assyrian invasion at 589 BC by king Nebuchadnezzar, the Arc of the
covenant was secretly hidden away, or more possible, taken to an
other land where it would be more safe! The High Priests in view of the eminent
Assyrian invasion were prepared and made a plan and they are obviously responsible
for the Arc's disappearance!
Reading about the findings of Joachim Krekler, the
German archeologist who excavated the remains of a Jewish settlement on
the
Elephantine island
near Aswan in the
river Nile,
we can easily see it
as the first clue as to what had happened!
There
is a suggestion that some 200 priests with their families in view of the eminent
Assyrian invasion, were
prepared and made a plan to leave the promised
land and somehow traveled to Elephantine island! This Jewish community
established there for about 200 years building a big Temple which the remains are excavated and
still visible! (see photo) The scholars think that there would not be a
need for a Jewish Temple if they did not have the Arc with them! Unfortunately their settlement was burned and they were
forced out presumably
after the departure of the Assyrian king Kambysis who occupyied Egypt at
that time! Kambysis had respected the
Jewish temple but he destroyed some Egyptian temples therefore creating hatred
between the locals and the Jewish new comers...
There
is an accurate account from the 'father of history'
Herodotus describing in detail how some Jews traveled from the
Elephantine island to Ethiopia!
In
the 'Gebra Negast' the old Ethiopian history book, there is the tale of
Menelik, Queen of Sheba and king Solomon's son, who on his visit to
Israel, he and some other youths took on his return back to Ethiopia the
Arc of the covenant!
Passages from the
Bible that Ethiopia is mentioned
Reading the passage below especially chapter 18.7 that prophet
Isaiah wrote, sometime between 716 to 687 BC we can easily see that he
got wind of the high priests intention, in view of the eminent
Assyrian invasion, to take the
Arc of the covenant in a more safe place and at the same time conceal the event from everybody else!
From the book of prophet Isaiah
Since the first Greek edition of our Bible,
in the Old Testament there is mention of Ethiopia in several
places!
The most interesting writing about
Ethiopia you will find in the book of prophet Isaiah ( 716 to 687 BC
) chapter 18 :
"1 Land of whirring wings beyond the rivers of Ethiopia, sending ambassadors on vessels of papyrus over the waters. Go swift messengers to a nation tall and smooth, to people feared near and far, a nation mighty and conquering, whose land the rivers divide". On verse 1 and 2, there is no doubt that prophet Isaiah is talking about Ethiopia! And he continues:3 "All inhabitants of the world you who live on the earth, when a signal is raised on the mountains, look! When a trumpet is blown listen! 4 For thus the lord said to me: I will quietly look from my dwelling like clear heat in the sunshine, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest. 5 For before the harvest, when the blossom is over and the flower becomes ripening grape, he will cut of the shoots with pruning hooks and the spreading branches he will hew away. 6 They shall all be left to the birds of prey of the mountains and to the animals of the earth. And the birds will summer on them and all the animals of the earth will winter on them! 7 At that time gifts will be brought to the Lord of hosts from a people tall and smooth from people feared near and far, a nation mighty and conquering , whose land the rivers divide, to Mount Zion the place of the name of the Lord of hosts." In the above we first read a warning in paragraph 4 & 6 and then in paragraph 7 there is a hidden message which is still puzzling me: He starts 'in time top come, Ethiopians will bring offerings to God' here he is clearly talking about Ethiopia as there is no other country in Africa with as many rivers and in the last sentence he is talking about the Arc of the Covenant (!) as the name was 'Zion' or 'mount Zion' also the Jews at that time believed that GOD did reside on the 'mercy seat' between the two cherubim on top of the Arc of the Covenant! Don't forget that this passage was written sometime between 716 to 687 BC and was labeled "An Oracle concerning Ethiopia". I strongly believe that this was not an 'oracle' but a report or a message for future generations... Most probably he had direct information from the high priests of the temple and he knew about their intension (plan) regarding the danger approaching from Babylon! In which case I understand that the priests, on the other hand, had advance knowledge about the Jews of Ethiopia and therefore the escape route was already planned! * Please take time and read for yourself in your own Bible passage 18 in the book of the prophet Isaiah!Other prophets mentioning Ethiopia in the past: Prophet Amos who lived between 783 to 743 BC in chapter 9:7 writes: "Are you and the Cushites (Ethiopians) all same to me sons of Israel? says the Lord" Prophet Zephaniah during the reign of king Josiah in Israel, sometime between 640 and 622 in chapter 3:10 writes: "From beyond the rivers of Cush (Ethiopia) my suppliants, even the daughters of the dispersed will bring me offerings" In the readings above there is no doubt that they are talking about Ethiopia and again there is mention of the people who defected in the land of the deserters... You should also read Herodotus (500 BC) accurate description the passage through and beyond Meroee! Other relevant chapters: The Babylonian captivity foretold: - Prophet Jeremiah chapter 18:23. King Zedekiah send Pashhur and the priest Zephaniah to prophet Jeremiah for consultancy. The prophet answer to them "Thus says the Lord: I will give king Zedekiah of Judah and his servants as well as the remaining people of this city into the hands of king Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon". In this chapter we clearly read Jeremiah's prophecy about the capture of Jerusalem well in advance and again on another paragraph he is telling us in advance that after 70 years of captivity all Jews taken hostage to Babylon will return home! Send your comments to: Forum@abyssinia-et.com
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| You can also read related subjects: Exodus What really happened! Elephantine island Joachim Krekler's excavations... Herodotus an accurate account... The Falashas The Jews of Ethiopia The Arc of the Covenant It vanished without any account in the Bible! The Queen of Sheba and king Solomon... | |
