The Purpose of the Old Testament Ark of the Covenant Revealed 0 8

Egyptologist David Falk has proposed a new theory about the origin and purpose of the Old Testament Ark of the Covenant. This was reported by the Daily Mail.

Falk claims that the Ark of the Covenant was created based on Egyptian ritual chests for statues of deities. In Ancient Egypt, these were adorned with images of uraei—stylized cobras spewing fire.

Unlike them, the Ark of the Covenant did not contain any statues. According to the scholar, this was meant to show that the presence of God does not require a physical embodiment.

Falk believes that the creators of the Ark borrowed this visual language but reinterpreted it. If the theory is correct, the design represented a deliberate theological innovation.

According to the Old Testament, Moses placed the tablets with the Ten Commandments in the Ark. The relic was kept in the Tabernacle—a portable sanctuary built after the Israelites' exodus from Egypt.

The Ark of the Covenant disappears from biblical narratives shortly before the looting of Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 586 BC. Where it went and whether it actually existed remains unknown. The search for the relic inspired Steven Spielberg's film "Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark." In the movie, the Ark possessed supernatural properties.