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History of Soviet Russia and the Soviet Union (1917–27)
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Lenin and Stalin
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The history of Soviet Russia and the Soviet Union reflects a period of change for both Russia and the world. Though the terms Soviet Russia and Soviet Union are synonymous in everyday vocabulary, when we talk about the foundations of the Soviet Union, Soviet Russia refers to the few years after the abdication of the crown of the Russian Empire by Tsar Nicholas II (in 1917), but before the creation of the Soviet Union in 1922. Early in its conception, the Soviet Union strived to achieve harmony among all peoples of all countries. The original ideology of the state was primarily based on the works of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. In its essence, Marx's theory stated that economic and political systems went through an inevitable evolution in form, by which the current capitalist system would be replaced by a socialist state before achieving international cooperation and peace in a "Workers' Paradise," creating a system directed by what Marx called "Pure Communism."
Displeased by the relatively few changes made by the Tsar after the Revolution of 1905, Russia became a hotbed of anarchism, socialism and other radical political systems. The dominant socialist party, the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP), subscribed to Marxist ideology. Starting in 1903, a series of splits in the party between two main leaders was escalating: the Bolsheviks (meaning "majority") led by Vladimir Lenin, and the Mensheviks (meaning "minority") led by Julius Martov. Up until 1912, both groups continued to stay united under the name "RSDLP," but significant and irreconcilable differences between Lenin and Martov led the party to eventually split. A struggle for political dominance subsequently began between the Mensheviks and the Bolsheviks. Not only did these groups fight with each other, but they also had common enemies, notably, those trying to bring the Tsar back to power. Following the February Revolution in 1917, the Mensheviks gained control of Russia and established a provisional government, but this lasted only until the Bolsheviks took power in the October Revolution (also called the Bolshevik Revolution) later in the year. To distinguish themselves from other socialist parties, the Bolshevik party was renamed the Russian Communist Party (RCP).
Under the control of the party, all politics and attitudes that were not strictly RCP were suppressed, under the premise that the RCP represented the proletariat and all activities contrary to the party's beliefs were "counterrevolutionary" or "anti-socialist." During the years between 1917 and 1923, the Soviet Union achieved peace with the Central Powers, their enemies in World War I, but also fought the Russian Civil War against the White Army and foreign armies from the United States, the United Kingdom, and France, among others. This resulted in large territorial changes, albeit temporarily for some of these. Eventually crushing all opponents, the RCP spread Soviet style rule quickly and established itself through all of Russia. Following Lenin's death in 1924, Joseph Stalin, General Secretary of the RCP, became the de facto leader of the USSR.
Contents
[hide]
1 The Russian Revolution of 1917
2 The Russian Civil War
3 The Polish–Soviet War
4 Creation of the USSR
5 The New Economic Policy
6 The death of Lenin and the fate of the NEP
7 See also
8 References
9 Further reading
The Russian Revolution of 1917[edit]
Main article: Russian Revolution
During World War I, Tsarist Russia experienced famine and economic collapse. The demoralized Russian Army suffered severe military setbacks, and many captured soldiers deserted the front lines. Dissatisfaction with the monarchy and its policy of continuing the war grew among the Russian people. Tsar Nicholas II abdicated the throne following the February Revolution of 1917 (March 1917 N.S. See: Soviet calendar.), causing widespread rioting in Petrograd and other major Russian cities.
The Russian Provisional Government was installed immediately following the fall of the Tsar by the Provisional Committee of the State Duma in early March 1917 and received conditional support of the Mensheviks. Led first by Prince Georgy Lvov, then Alexander Kerensky the Provisional Government consisted mainly of the parliamentarians most recently elected to the State Duma of the Russian Empire, which had been overthrown alongside Tsar Nicholas II. The new Provisional Government maintained its commitment to the war, joining the Triple Entente which the Bolsheviks opposed. The Provisional Government also postponed the land reforms demanded by the Bolsheviks.
Lenin, embodying the Bolshevik ideology, viewed alliance with the capitalist countries of Western Europe and the United States as involuntary servitude of the proletariat, who was forced to fight the imperialists' war. As seen by Lenin, Russia was reverting to the rule of the Tsar, and it was the job of Marxist revolutionaries, who truly represented socialism and the proletariat, to oppose such counter-socialistic ideas and support socialist revolutions in other countries.
Within the military, mutiny and desertion were pervasive among conscripts, though being AWOL (Absent Without Leave) was not uncommon throughout all ranks. The intelligentsia was dissatisfied over the slow pace of social reforms; poverty was worsening, income disparities and inequality were becoming out of control while the Provisional Government grew increasingly autocratic and inefficient. The government appeared to be on the verge of succumbing to a military junta. Deserting soldiers returned to the cities and gave their weapons to angry, and extremely hostile, socialist factory workers. The deplorable and inhumane poverty and starvation of major Russian centers produced optimum conditions for revolutionaries.
During the months between February and October 1917, the power of the Provisional Government was consistently questioned by nearly all political parties. A system of 'dual power' emerged, in which the Provisional Government held nominal power, though increasingly opposed by the Petrograd Soviet, their chief adversary, controlled by the Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries (both democratic socialist parties politically to the right of the Bolsheviks). The Soviet chose not to force further changes in government due to the belief that the February Revolution was Russia's "crowing" overthrow of the bourgeois. The Soviet also believed that the new Provisional Government would be tasked with implementing democratic reforms and pave the way for a proletarian revolution. Though the creation of a government not based on the dictatorship of the proletariat in any form, was viewed as a "retrograde step" in Vladmir Lenin's April Theses. However, the Provisional Government still remained an overwhelmingly powerful governing body.
Failed military offensives in summer 1917 and large scale protesting and riots in major Russian cities (as advocated by Lenin in his Theses, known as the July Days) led to the deployment of troops in late August to restore order. The July Days were suppressed and blamed on the Bolsheviks, forcing Lenin into hiding. Still, rather than use force, many of the deployed soldiers and military personnel joined the rioters, disgracing the government and military at-large. It was during this time that support for the Bolsheviks grew and another of its leading figures, Leon Trotsky, was elected chair of the Petrograd Soviet, which had complete control over the defenses of the city, mainly, the city's military force. On October 24, in early days of the October Revolution, the Provisional Government moved against the Bolsheviks, arresting activists and destroying pro-Communist propaganda. The Bolsheviks were able to portray this as an attack against the People's Soviet and garnered support for the Red Guard of Petrograd to take over the Provisional Government. The administrative offices and government buildings were taken with little opposition or bloodshed. The generally accepted end of this transitional revolutionary period, which will lead to the creation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) lies with the assault and capture of the poorly defended Winter Palace (the traditional home and symbol of power of the Tsar) on the evening of October 26, 1917.
The Mensheviks and the right-wing of the Socialist Revolutionaries, outraged by the abusive and coercive acts carried out by the Red Guard and Bolsheviks, fled Petrograd, leaving control in the hands of the Bolsheviks and remaining Left Socialist Revolutionaries. On October 25, 1917, the Sovnarkom was established by the Russian Constitution of 1918 as the administrative arm of the All-Russian Congress of Soviets. By January 6, 1918, the VTsIK, supported by the Bolsheviks, ratified the dissolution of the Russian Constituent Assembly, which intended to establish the non-Bolshevik Russian Democratic Federative Republic as the permanent form of government established at its Petrograd session held January 5 and January 6, 1918.
The Russian Civil War[edit]
Main article: Russian Civil War
1919 poster, "Mount your horses, workers and peasants! The Red Cavalry is the pledge of victory."
Prior to the revolution, the Bolshevik doctrine of democratic centralism argued that only a tightly knit and secretive organization could successfully overthrow the government; after the revolution, they argued that only such an organization could prevail against foreign and domestic enemies. Fighting the civil war would actually force the party to put these principles into practice.
Arguing that the revolution needed not a mere parliamentary organization but a party of action which would function as a scientific body of direction, a vanguard of activists, and a central control organ, the Tenth Party Congress banned factions within the party, initially intending it only to be a temporary measure after the shock of the Kronstadt rebellion. It was also argued that the party should be an elite body of professional revolutionaries dedicating their lives to the cause and carrying out their decisions with iron discipline, thus moving toward putting loyal party activists in charge of new and old political institutions, army units, factories, hospitals, universities, and food suppliers. Against this backdrop, the nomenklatura system would evolve and become standard practice.
In theory, this system was to be democratic since all leading party organs would be elected from below, but also centralized since lower bodies would be accountable to higher organizations. In practice, "democratic centralism" was centralist, with decisions of higher organs binding on lower ones, and the composition of lower bodies largely determined by the members of higher ones. Over time, party cadres would grow increasingly careerist and professional. Party membership required exams, special courses, special camps, schools, and nominations by three existing members.
In December 1917, the Cheka was founded as the Bolshevik's first internal security force following the failed assassination attempt on Lenin's life. Later it changed names to GPU, OGPU, MVD, NKVD and finally KGB.
The Polish–Soviet War[edit]
Main article: Polish–Soviet War
The frontiers between Poland, which had established an unstable independent government following World War I, and the former Tsarist empire, were rendered chaotic by the repercussions of the Russian revolutions, the civil war and the winding down World War I. Poland's Józef Piłsudski envisioned a new federation (Międzymorze), forming a Polish-led East European bloc to form a bulwark against Russia and Germany, while the Russian SFSR considered carrying the revolution westward by force. When Piłsudski carried out a military thrust into Ukraine in 1920, he was met by a Red Army offensive that drove into Polish territory almost to Warsaw. However, Piłsudski halted the Soviet advance at the Battle of Warsaw and resumed the offensive. The "Peace of Riga" signed in early 1921 split the territory of Belarus and Ukraine between Poland and Soviet Russia.
Creation of the USSR[edit]
On December 29, 1922 a conference of plenipotentiary delegations from the Russian SFSR, the Transcaucasian SFSR, the Ukrainian SSR and the Byelorussian SSR approved the Treaty on the Creation of the USSR and the Declaration of the Creation of the USSR, forming the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. These two documents were confirmed by the 1st Congress of Soviets of the USSR and signed by heads of delegations[1] - Mikhail Kalinin, Mikhail Tskhakaya, Mikhail Frunze and Grigory Petrovsky, Alexander Chervyakov[2] respectively on December 30, 1922.
The New Economic Policy[edit]
Main article: New Economic Policy
Silver Rubel 1924
Gold Chervonetz (1979)
During the Civil War (1917–21), the Bolsheviks adopted War communism, which entailed the breakup of the landed estates and the forcible seizure of agricultural surpluses. In the cities there were intense food shortages and a breakdown in the money system (at the time many Bolsheviks argued that ending money's role as a transmitter of "value" was a sign of the rapidly approaching communist epoch). Many city dwellers fled to the countryside - often to tend the land that the Bolshevik breakup of the landed estates had transferred to the peasants. Even small scale "capitalist" production was suppressed.
The Kronstadt rebellion signaled the growing unpopularity of War Communism in the countryside: in March 1921, at the end of the civil war, disillusioned sailors, primarily peasants who initially had been stalwart supporters of the Bolsheviks under the provisional government, revolted against the new regime. Although the Red Army, commanded by Trotsky, crossed the ice over the frozen Baltic Sea to quickly crush the rebellion, this sign of growing discontent forced the party to foster a broad alliance of the working class and peasantry (80% of the population), despite left factions of the party which favored a regime solely representative of the interests of the revolutionary proletariat. At the Tenth Party Congress, it was decided to end War Communism and institute the New Economic Policy (NEP), in which the state allowed a limited market to exist. Small private businesses were allowed and restrictions on political activity were somewhat eased.
However, the key shift involved the status of agricultural surpluses. Rather than simply requisitioning agricultural surpluses in order to feed the urban population (the hallmark of War Communism), the NEP allowed peasants to sell their surplus yields on the open market. Meanwhile, the state still maintained state ownership of what Lenin deemed the "commanding heights" of the economy: heavy industry such as the coal, iron, and metallurgical sectors along with the banking and financial components of the economy. The "commanding heights" employed the majority of the workers in the urban areas. Under the NEP, such state industries would be largely free to make their own economic decisions.
In the cities and between the cities and the countryside, the NEP period saw a huge expansion of trade in the hands of full-time merchants - who were typically denounced as "speculators" by the leftists and also often resented by the public. The growth in trade, though, did generally coincide with rising living standards in both the city and the countryside (around 80% of Soviet citizens were in the countryside at this point).
The Soviet NEP (1921–29) was essentially a period of "market socialism" similar to the economic reform in China in 1978 in that both foresaw a role for private entrepreneurs and limited markets based on trade and pricing rather than fully centralized planning. As an interesting aside, during the first meeting in the early 1980s between Deng Xiaoping and Armand Hammer, a U.S. industrialist and prominent investor in Lenin's Soviet Union, Deng pressed Hammer for as much information on the NEP as possible.
During the NEP period, agricultural yields not only recovered to the levels attained before the Bolshevik Revolution, but greatly improved. The break-up of the quasi-feudal landed estates of the Tsarist-era countryside gave peasants their greatest incentives ever to maximize production. Now able to sell their surpluses on the open market, peasant spending gave a boost to the manufacturing sectors in the urban areas. As a result of the NEP, and the break-up of the landed estates while the Communist Party was strengthening power between 1917–1921, the Soviet Union became the world's greatest producer of grain.
Agriculture, however, would recover from civil war more rapidly than heavy industry. Factories, badly damaged by civil war and capital depreciation, were far less productive. In addition, the organization of enterprises into trusts or syndicates representing one particular sector of the economy would contribute to imbalances between supply and demand associated with monopolies. Due to the lack of incentives brought by market competition, and with little or no state controls on their internal policies, trusts were likely to sell their products at higher prices.
The slower recovery of industry would pose some problems for the peasantry, who accounted for 80% of the population. Since agriculture was relatively more productive, relative price indexes for industrial goods were higher than those of agricultural products. The outcome of this was what Trotsky deemed the "Scissors Crisis" because of the scissors-like shape of the graph representing shifts in relative price indexes. Simply put, peasants would have to produce more grain to purchase consumer goods from the urban areas. As a result, some peasants withheld agricultural surpluses in anticipation of higher prices, thus contributing to mild shortages in the cities. This, of course, is speculative market behavior, which was frowned upon by many Communist Party cadres, who considered it to be exploitative of urban consumers.
In the meantime, the party took constructive steps to offset the crisis, attempting to bring down prices for manufactured goods and stabilize inflation, by imposing price controls on essential industrial goods and breaking-up the trusts in order to increase economic efficiency.
The death of Lenin and the fate of the NEP[edit]
Following Lenin's third stroke, a troika made up of Stalin, Zinoviev and Kamenev emerged to take day to day leadership of the party and the country and try to block Trotsky from taking power. Lenin, however, had become increasingly anxious about Stalin and, following his December 1922 stroke, dictated a letter (known as Lenin's Testament) to the party criticizing him and urging his removal as general secretary, a position which was starting to arise as the most powerful in the party. Stalin was aware of Lenin's Testament and acted to keep Lenin in isolation for health reasons and increase his control over the party apparatus.
Zinoviev and Bukharin became concerned about Stalin's increasing power and proposed that the Orgburo which Stalin headed be abolished and that Zinoviev and Trotsky be added to the party secretariat thus diminishing Stalin's role as general secretary. Stalin reacted furiously and the Orgburo was retained but Bukharin, Trotsky and Zinoviev were added to the body.
Due to growing political differences with Trotsky and his Left Opposition in the fall of 1923, the troika of Stalin, Zinoviev and Kamenev reunited. At the Twelfth Party Congress in 1923, Trotsky failed to use Lenin's Testament as a tool against Stalin for fear of endangering the stability of the party.
Lenin died in January 1924 and in May his Testament was read aloud at the Central Committee but Zinoviev and Kamenev argued that Lenin's objections had proven groundless and that Stalin should remain General Secretary. The Central Committee decided not to publish the testament.
Meanwhile, the campaign against Trotsky intensified and he was removed from the position of People's Commissar of War before the end of the year. In 1925, Trotsky was denounced for his essay Lessons of October, which criticized Zinoviev and Kamenev for initially opposing Lenin's plans for an insurrection in 1917. Trotsky was also denounced for his theory of permanent revolution which contradicted Stalin's position that socialism could be built in one country, Russia, without a worldwide revolution. As the prospects for a revolution in Europe, particularly Germany, became increasingly dim through the 1920s, Trotsky's theoretical position began to look increasingly pessimistic as far as the success of Russian socialism was concerned.
With the resignation of Trotsky as War Commissar, the unity of the troika began to unravel. Zinoviev and Kamenev again began to fear Stalin's power and felt that their positions were threatened. Stalin moved to form an alliance with Bukharin and his allies on the right of the party who supported the New Economic Policy and encouraged a slowdown in industrialization efforts and a move towards encouraging the peasants to increase production via market incentives. Zinoviev and Kamenev criticized this policy as a return to capitalism. The conflict erupted at the Fourteenth Party Congress held in December 1925 with Zinoviev and Kamenev now protesting against the dictatorial policies of Stalin and trying to revive the issue of Lenin's Testament which they had previously buried. Stalin now used Trotsky's previous criticisms of Zinoviev and Kamenev to defeat and demote them and bring in allies like Vyacheslav Molotov, Kliment Voroshilov and Mikhail Kalinin. Trotsky was dropped from the politburo entirely in 1926. The Fourteenth Congress also saw the first developments of the Stalin's cult of personality with him being referred to as "leader" for the first time and becoming the subject of effusive praise from delegates.
Trotsky, Zinoviev and Kamenev formed a United Opposition against the policies of Stalin and Bukharin, but they had lost influence as a result of the inner party disputes and in October 1927, Trotsky, Zinoviev and Kamenev were expelled from the Central Committee. In November, prior to the Fifteenth Party Congress, Trotsky and Zinoviev were expelled from the Communist Party itself as Stalin sought to deny the Opposition any opportunity to make their struggle public. By the time, the Congress finally convened in December 1927. Zinoviev had capitulated to Stalin and denounced his previous adherence to the opposition as "anti-Leninist" and the few remaining members still loyal to the opposition were subjected to insults and humiliations. By early 1928, Trotsky and other leading members of the Left Opposition had been sentenced to internal exile.
Stalin now moved against Bukharin by appropriating Trotsky's criticisms of his right wing policies and he promoted a new general line of the party favoring collectivization of the peasantry and rapid industrialization of industry, forcing Bukharin and his supporters into a Right Opposition.
At the Central Committee meeting held in July 1928, Bukharin and his supporters argued that Stalin's new policies would cause a breach with the peasantry. Bukharin also alluded to Lenin's Testament. While he had support from the party organization in Moscow and the leadership of several commissariats, Stalin's control of the secretariat was decisive in that it allowed Stalin to manipulate elections to party posts throughout the country, giving him control over a large section of the Central Committee. The Right Opposition was defeated and Bukharin attempted to form an alliance with Kamenev and Zinoviev but it was too late.
See also[edit]
History of Russia
Timeline of Russian history
Historiography in the Soviet Union
Leninism
Politics of the Soviet Union
Political repression in the Soviet Union
References[edit]
Jump up ^ (in Russian)Voted Unanimously for the Union
Jump up ^ (in Russian)Creation of the USSR at Khronos.ru
Further reading[edit]
Acton, Edward, V. I͡U Cherni͡aev, and William G. Rosenberg, eds. Critical companion to the Russian Revolution, 1914-1921 (Indiana University Press, 1997), emphasis on historiography
Cohen, Stephen F. Rethinking the Soviet Experience: Politics and History since 1917. New York: Oxford University Press, 1985.
Daniels, Robert V. "The Soviet Union in Post‐Soviet Perspective" Journal of Modern History (2002) 74#2 pp: 381-391. in JSTOR
Fitzpatrick, Sheila. The Russian Revolution. New York: Oxford University Press, 1982, 208 pages. ISBN 0-19-280204-6
Hosking, Geoffrey. The First Socialist Society: A History of the Soviet Union from Within (2nd ed. Harvard UP 1992) 570pp
Gregory, Paul R. and Robert C. Stuart, Russian and Soviet Economic Performance and Structure (7th ed. 2001)
Kort, Michael. The Soviet Colossus: History and Aftermath (7th ed. 2010) 502pp
Kotkin, Stephen. Stalin: Paradoxes of Power, 1878–1928 (2014)
Lincoln, W. Bruce. Passage Through Armageddon: The Russians in War and Revolution, 1914-1918 (1986)
Lewin, Moshe. Russian Peasants and Soviet Power. (Northwestern University Press, 1968)
McCauley, Martin. The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union (2007), 522 pages.
Moss, Walter G. A History of Russia. Vol. 2: Since 1855. 2d ed. Anthem Press, 2005.
Nove, Alec. An Economic History of the USSR, 1917–1991. 3rd ed. London: Penguin Books, 1993. ISBN 0-14-015774-3.
Pipes, Richard. A Concise History of the Russian Revolution (1996)
Remington, Thomas. Building Socialism in Bolshevik Russia. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1984.
Service, Robert. A History of Twentieth-Century Russia. 2nd ed. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1999. ISBN 0-674-40348-7.
Service, Robert, Lenin: A Biography (2000)
Service, Robert. Stalin: A Biography (2004), along with Tucker the standard biography
Tucker, Robert C. Stalin as Revolutionary, 1879-1929 (1973); Stalin in Power: The Revolution from Above, 1929-1941. (1990) online edition with Service, a standard biography; online at ACLS e-books
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Ark of the Covenant
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Not to be confused with Noah's Ark.
This article is about the chest. For the Christian metal band, see Ark of the Covenant (band).
Joshua passing the River Jordan with the Ark of the Covenant by Benjamin West, 1800
The Ark of the Covenant (Hebrew: אָרוֹן הַבְּרִית, Modern Arōn Ha'brēt, Tiberian ʾĀrôn Habbərîṯ), also known as the Ark of the Testimony, is a gold-covered wooden chest with lid cover described in the Book of Exodus as containing the two stone tablets of the Ten Commandments. According to various texts within the Hebrew Bible, it also contained Aaron's rod and a pot of manna.[1]
The biblical account relates that, approximately one year after the Israelites' exodus from Egypt, the Ark was created according to the pattern given to Moses by God when the Israelites were encamped at the foot of biblical Mount Sinai. Thereafter, the gold-plated acacia chest was carried by its staves while en route by the Levites approximately 2,000 cubits (approximately 800 meters or 2,600 feet) in advance of the people when on the march or before the Israelite army, the host of fighting men.[2] When carried, the Ark was always hidden under a large veil made of skins and blue cloth, always carefully concealed, even from the eyes of the priests and the Levites who carried it. God was said to have spoken with Moses "from between the two cherubim" on the Ark's cover.[3] When at rest the tabernacle was set up and the holy Ark was placed under the veil of the covering the staves of it crossing the middle side bars to hold it up off the ground.
Beside the classic Ark of the Covenant made of wood and gold plated described in Exodus, there is a second and less known ark described only in Deuteronomy 10:3-5. This modest ark is made of acacia wood. Researchers do not know whether both arks belong to the same tradition, an older and a more recent, or belong to two different traditions.[citation needed]
Contents
[hide]
1 Biblical account
1.1 Construction and description
1.2 Mobile vanguard
1.3 Capture by the Philistines
1.4 In the days of King David
1.5 In Solomon's Temple
1.6 The Babylonian Conquest and aftermath
2 References in Scripture
2.1 Tanakh
2.2 Second Book of Maccabees
2.3 New Testament
2.4 The Ark in Islamic sources
3 Possible locations
3.1 Mount Nebo
3.2 Ethiopia
3.3 Southern Africa
3.4 Europe
3.4.1 Chartres Cathedral, France
3.4.2 Rennes-le-Château, then to the United States
3.4.3 Rome
3.4.4 United Kingdom
3.4.5 Ireland
3.5 Egypt
3.5.1 Tutankhamun's tomb
4 In popular culture
5 Yom HaAliyah
6 See also
7 References
8 Further reading
9 External links
Biblical account[edit]
The covered ark and seven priests with rams' horns, at the Battle of Jericho, in an eighteenth-century artist's depiction.
Construction and description[edit]
According to the Book of Exodus, God instructed Moses on Mount Sinai during his 40-day stay upon the mountain within the thick cloud and darkness where God was[4][5] and he was shown the pattern for the tabernacle and furnishings of the Ark to be made of shittim wood to house the Tablets of Stone. Moses instructed Bezalel and Oholiab to construct the Ark.[6][7] In Deuteronomy, however, the Ark is said to have been built specifically by Moses himself without reference of Bezalel or Oholiab.[8]
The Book of Exodus gives detailed instructions on how the Ark is to be constructed. It is to be 2½ cubits in length, 1½ in breadth, and 1½ in height (approximately 131×79×79 cm or 52×31×31 in). Then it is to be gilded entirely with gold, and a crown or molding of gold is to be put around it. Four rings of gold are to be attached to its four corners, two on each side—and through these rings staves of shittim-wood overlaid with gold for carrying the Ark are to be inserted; and these are not to be removed.[9] A golden lid, the kapporet (traditionally "mercy seat" in Christian translations) which is covered with 2 golden cherubim, is to be placed above the Ark. Instructions missing from the biblical account include the thickness of the mercy seat, but instruct that the cherubim cover be beaten out the ends of it and details concerning the cherubim except that they form the space that God will appear. The Ark is finally to be placed under the veil of the covering.
Mobile vanguard[edit]
Moses and Joshua bowing before the Ark, painting by James Tissot, c. 1900
The biblical account continues that, after its creation by Moses, the Ark was carried by the Israelites during their 40 years of wandering in the desert. Whenever the Israelites camped, the Ark was placed in a separate room in a sacred tent, called the Tabernacle.
When the Israelites, led by Joshua toward the Promised Land, arrived at the banks of the Jordan river, the Ark was carried in the lead preceding the people and was the signal for their advance (Joshua 3:3, 6). During the crossing, the river grew dry as soon as the feet of the priests carrying the Ark touched its waters, and remained so until the priests—with the Ark—left the river after the people had passed over (Josh. 3:15-17; 4:10, 11, 18). As memorials, twelve stones were taken from the Jordan at the place where the priests had stood (Josh. 4:1-9).
In the Battle of Jericho, the Ark was carried round the city once a day for seven days, preceded by the armed men and seven priests sounding seven trumpets of rams' horns (Josh. 6:4-15). On the seventh day, the seven priests sounding the seven trumpets of rams' horns before the Ark compassed the city seven times and, with a great shout, Jericho's wall fell down flat and the people took the city (Josh. 6:16-20). After the defeat at Ai, Joshua lamented before the Ark (Josh. 7:6-9). When Joshua read the Law to the people between Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal, they stood on each side of the Ark. We next hear of the Ark in Bethel where it was being cared for by the priest Phineas the grandson of Aaron (Judges 20:26f, where 'Bethel' is translated 'the House of God' in the King James Version). According to this verse it was consulted by the people of Israel when they were planning to attack the Benjaminites at the battle of Gibeah. Later, however, the Ark was kept at Shiloh, another religious centre some 10 miles north of Bethel, at the time of the prophet Samuel's apprenticeship (1 Samuel 3:3), where it was cared for by Hophni and Phinehas, two sons of Eli (1 Samuel 4:3f).
Capture by the Philistines[edit]
1728 illustration of the Ark at the erection of the Tabernacle and the sacred vessels, as in Exodus 40:17-19
Main article: Philistine captivity of the Ark
A few years later the elders of Israel decided to take the Ark out onto the battlefield to assist them against the Philistines, after being defeated at the battle of Eben-Ezer (1 Sam. 4:3-11). They were, however, heavily defeated with the loss of 30,000 men. The Ark was captured by the Philistines and Hophni and Phinehas were killed. The news of its capture was at once taken to Shiloh by a messenger "with his clothes rent, and with earth upon his head." The old priest, Eli, fell dead when he heard it; and his daughter-in-law, bearing a son at the time the news of the capture of the Ark was received, named him Ichabod — explained as "The glory has departed Israel" in reference to the loss of the Ark (1 Sam. 4:12-22). The mother of the child Ichabod died at his birth. (1 Sam. 4:20)
The Philistines took the Ark to several places in their country, and at each place misfortune befell them (1 Sam. 5:1-6). At Ashdod it was placed in the temple of Dagon. The next morning Dagon was found prostrate, bowed down, before it; and on being restored to his place, he was on the following morning again found prostrate and broken. The people of Ashdod were smitten with hemorrhoids; a plague of mice was sent over the land (1 Sam. 6:5). The affliction of boils was also visited upon the people of Gath and of Ekron, whither the Ark was successively removed (1 Sam. 5:8-12).
After the Ark had been among them for seven months, the Philistines, on the advice of their diviners, returned it to the Israelites, accompanying its return with an offering consisting of golden images of the tumors and mice wherewith they had been afflicted. The Ark was set up in the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite, and the Beth-shemites offered sacrifices and burnt offerings (1 Sam. 6:1-15). Out of curiosity the men of Beth-shemesh gazed at the Ark; and as a punishment, seventy of them (fifty thousand and seventy in some translations) were smitten by the Lord (1 Samuel 6:19). The Bethshemites sent to Kirjath-jearim, or Baal-Judah, to have the Ark removed (1 Samuel 6:21); and it was taken to the house of Abinadab, whose son Eleazar was sanctified to keep it. Kirjath-jearim remained the abode of the Ark for twenty years. Under Saul, the Ark was with the army before he first met the Philistines, but the king was too impatient to consult it before engaging in battle. In 1 Chronicles 13:3 it is stated that the people were not accustomed to consulting the Ark in the days of Saul.
In the days of King David[edit]
Illustration from the 13th century Morgan Bible of David bringing the Ark into Jerusalem (2 Samuel 6).
At the beginning of his reign over the United Monarchy, King David removed the Ark from Kirjath-jearim amid great rejoicing. On the way to Zion, Uzzah, one of the drivers of the cart that carried the Ark, put out his hand to steady the Ark, and was struck dead by God for touching it. The place was subsequently named "Perez-Uzzah", literally "Outburst Against Uzzah",[10] as a result. David, in fear, carried the Ark aside into the house of Obed-edom the Gittite, instead of carrying it on to Zion, and there it stayed three months (2 Samuel 6:1-11; 1 Chronicles 13:1-13).
On hearing that God had blessed Obed-edom because of the presence of the Ark in his house, David had the Ark brought to Zion by the Levites, while he himself, "girded with a linen ephod ... danced before the Lord with all his might" and in the sight of all the public gathered in Jerusalem - a performance that caused him to be scornfully rebuked by his first wife, Saul's daughter Michal (2 Sam. 6:12-16, 20-22; 1 Chron. 15). In Zion, David put the Ark in the tabernacle he had prepared for it, offered sacrifices, distributed food, and blessed the people and his own household (2 Sam. 6:17-20; 1 Chron. 16:1-3; 2 Chron. 1:4).
The Levites were appointed to minister before the Ark (1 Chron. 16:4). David's plan of building a temple for the Ark was stopped at the advice of God (2 Sam. 7:1-17; 1 Chron. 17:1-15; 28:2, 3). The Ark was with the army during the siege of Rabbah (2 Sam. 11:11); and when David fled from Jerusalem at the time of Absalom's conspiracy, the Ark was carried along with him until he ordered Zadok the priest to return it to Jerusalem (2 Sam. 15:24-29).
In Solomon's Temple[edit]
The Ark carried into the Temple from the early 15th century Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry
When Abiathar was dismissed from the priesthood by King Solomon for having taken part in Adonijah's conspiracy against David, his life was spared because he had formerly borne the Ark (1 Kings 2:26). Solomon worshipped before the Ark after his dream in which God promised him wisdom (1 Kings 3:15).
During the construction of Solomon's Temple, a special inner room, named Kodesh Hakodashim (Eng. Holy of Holies), was prepared to receive and house the Ark (1 Kings 6:19); and when the Temple was dedicated, the Ark—containing the original tablets of the Ten Commandments—was placed therein (1 Kings 8:6-9). When the priests emerged from the holy place after placing the Ark there, the Temple was filled with a cloud, "for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord" (1 Kings 8:10-11; 2 Chron. 5:13, 14).
When Solomon married Pharaoh's daughter, he caused her to dwell in a house outside Zion, as Zion was consecrated because of its containing the Ark (2 Chron. 8:11). King Josiah also had the Ark returned to the Temple (2 Chron. 35:3), from which it appears to have been removed by one of his predecessors (cf. 2 Chron. 33-34 and 2 Kings 21-23).
The Babylonian Conquest and aftermath[edit]
In 587 BC, the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and Solomon's Temple. There is no record of what became of the Ark in the Books of Kings and Chronicles. An ancient Greek version of the biblical third Book of Ezra, 1 Esdras, suggests that Babylonians took away the vessels of the ark of God, but does not mention taking away the Ark:
And they took all the holy vessels of the Lord, both great and small, with the vessels of the ark of God, and the king's treasures, and carried them away into Babylon
— 1 Esdras 1:54
In Rabbinic literature, the final disposition of the Ark is disputed. Some rabbis hold that it must have been carried off to Babylon, while others hold that it must have been hidden lest it be carried off into Babylon and never brought back.[11] A late 2nd-century rabbinic work known as the Tosefta states the opinions of these rabbis that Josiah, the king of Judah, stored away the Ark, along with the jar of manna, and a jar containing the holy anointing oil, the rod of Aaron which budded and a chest given to Israel by the Philistines.[12] This was said to have been done in order to prevent their being carried off into Babylon as had already happened to the other vessels. Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Shimon, in the same rabbinic work, state that the Ark was, in fact, taken into Babylon. Rabbi Yehudah, dissenting, says that the Ark was stored away in its own place, meaning, somewhere on the Temple Mount.
References in Scripture[edit]
Tanakh[edit]
The Ark is first mentioned in the Book of Exodus, and then numerous times in Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, I Samuel, II Samuel, I Kings, I Chronicles, II Chronicles, Psalms and Jeremiah.
In the Book of Jeremiah, it is referenced by Jeremiah, who, speaking in the days of Josiah (Jer. 3:16), prophesied a future time, possibly the end of days, when the Ark will no longer be talked about or be made again:
And it shall be that when you multiply and become fruitful in the land, in those days - the word of the LORD - they will no longer say, 'The Ark of the Covenant of the LORD' and it will not come to mind; they will not mention it, and will not recall it, and it will not be used any more.
Rashi comments on this verse that "The entire people will be so imbued with the spirit of sanctity that God's Presence will rest upon them collectively, as if the congregation itself was the Ark of the Covenant."[13]
Second Book of Maccabees[edit]
See also: 2 Maccabees
According to Second Maccabees, at the beginning of chapter 2:
The records show that it was the prophet Jeremiah who ... prompted by a divine message ... gave orders that the Tent of Meeting and the ark should go with him. Then he went away to the mountain from the top of which Moses saw God's promised land. When he reached the mountain, Jeremiah found a cave-dwelling; he carried the tent, the ark, and the incense-altar into it, then blocked up the entrance. Some of his companions came to mark out the way, but were unable to find it. When Jeremiah learnt of this he reprimanded them. "The place shall remain unknown", he said, "until God finally gathers his people together and shows mercy to them. The Lord will bring these things to light again, and the glory of the Lord will appear with the cloud, as it was seen both in the time of Moses and when Solomon prayed that the shrine might be worthily consecrated."
II Maccabees 2:4–8 (Douay-Rheims, 1899)
The "mountain from the top of which Moses saw God's promised land" would be Mount Nebo, located in what is now Jordan.
New Testament[edit]
Some of this section's listed sources may not be reliable. Please help this article by looking for better, more reliable sources. Unreliable citations may be challenged or deleted. (January 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)
Carrying the Ark of the Covenant: gilded bas-relief at Auch Cathedral
In the New Testament, the Ark is mentioned in the Letter to the Hebrews and the Revelation to St. John. Hebrews 9:4 states that the Ark contained "the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant." Revelation 11:19 says the prophet saw God's temple in heaven opened, "and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple."
Roman Catholic writers connect this verse with the Woman of the Apocalypse in Revelation 12:1, which immediately follows, and say that the Blessed Virgin Mary is the "Ark of the New Covenant."[14][15] Carrying the saviour of mankind within her, she herself became the Holy of Holies. This is the interpretation given in the third century by Gregory Thaumaturgus, and in the fourth century by Saint Ambrose, Saint Ephraem of Syria and Saint Augustine.[16] The Catholic Church teaches this in the Catechism of the Catholic Church: "Mary, in whom the Lord himself has just made his dwelling, is the daughter of Zion in person, the Ark of the Covenant, the place where the glory of the Lord dwells. She is ‘the dwelling of God . . . with men"[17]
In the Gospel of Luke, the author's accounts of the Annunciation and Visitation are constructed using eight points of literary parallelism to compare Mary to the Ark.[14][18]
It is believed by Roman Catholics that Athanasius the bishop of Alexandria wrote about the connections between the Ark and the Virgin Mary: "O noble Virgin, truly you are greater than any other greatness. For who is your equal in greatness, O dwelling place of God the Word? To whom among all creatures shall I compare you, O Virgin? You are greater than them all O (Ark of the) Covenant, clothed with purity instead of gold! You are the Ark in which is found the golden vessel containing the true manna, that is, the flesh in which Divinity resides" (Homily of the Papyrus of Turin).[14] However, some[who?] question the authenticity of this work and suggest it is an example of the writing of yet another Pseudo-Athanasius.[19][unreliable source?]
The Ark in Islamic sources[edit]
Chapter 2 (Sura 2) of the Quran (Verse 248), is believed to refer to the Ark:
And their prophet said to them, "Indeed, a sign of his kingship is that the chest (tābūt) will come to you in which is assurance (sakīnatun) from your Lord and a remnant of what the family of Moses (Mūsā) and the family of Aaron (Hārūn) had left, carried by the angels. Indeed in that is a sign for you, if you are believers."[20]
The Arabic word sakīna (variously translated "peace of reassurance" or "spirit of tranquility") is related to the post-Biblical Hebrew shekhinah, meaning "dwelling or presence of God".
The Islamic scholar Al Baidawi mentioned that the sakina could be Tawrat, the Books of Moses.[21] According to Al-Jalalan, the relics in the Ark were the fragments of the two tablets, rods, robes, shoes, mitres of Moses and the vase of manna.[21] Al-Tha'alibi, in Qisas Al-Anbiya (The Stories of the Prophets), has given an earlier and later history of the Ark.
According to Uri Rubin the Ark of the Covenant has a religious basis in Islam, and Islam gives it special significance.[22] A Shia sect of Muslims believes that it will be found by the Mahdi near the end of times from Lake Tiberias.[23]
Possible locations[edit]
Since its disappearance from the Biblical narrative, there have been a number of claims of having discovered or of having possession of the Ark, and several possible places have been suggested for its location.
Mount Nebo[edit]
2 Maccabees 2:4-10, written around 100 BC, says that the prophet Jeremiah, "being warned by God" before the Babylonian invasion, took the Ark, the Tabernacle, and the Altar of Incense, and buried them in a cave on Mount Nebo, informing those of his followers who wished to find the place that it should remain unknown "until the time that God should gather His people again together, and receive them unto mercy."[24] Mount Nebo is also described in the Bible (Deuteronomy 34) as the site from which Moses views the Promised Land, and apparently also is his final burial place. Mount Nebo is approximately 47 km (29 miles) slightly south of due east from Jerusalem, near the east bank of the Jordan River.
Ethiopia[edit]
The Chapel of the Tablet at the Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion in Axum allegedly houses the original Ark of the Covenant.
The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church claims to possess the Ark of the Covenant, or Tabot, in Axum. The object is currently kept under guard in a treasury near the Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion. Replicas of the Axum tabot are kept in every Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo church, each with its own dedication to a particular saint; the most popular of these include Mary, George and Michael.[25]
The Kebra Nagast was composed to legitimise the Solomonic dynasty, which ruled the Ethiopian Empire following its establishment in 1270. It narrates how the real Ark of the Covenant was brought to Ethiopia by Menelik I with divine assistance, while a forgery was left in the Temple in Jerusalem. Although the Kebra Nagast is the best-known account of this belief, it predates the document. Abu al-Makarim, writing in the last quarter of the twelfth century, makes one early reference to this belief that they possessed the Ark. "The Abyssinians possess also the Ark of the Covenant", he wrote, and, after a description of the object, describes how the liturgy is celebrated upon the Ark four times a year, "on the feast of the great nativity, on the feast of the glorious Baptism, on the feast of the holy Resurrection, and on the feast of the illuminating Cross."[26]
In his 1992 book The Sign and the Seal, British writer Graham Hancock suggests, contrary to the Kebra Nagast, that the ark spent several years in Egypt before it came to Ethiopia via the Nile River, where it was kept in the islands of Lake Tana for about four hundred years and finally taken to Axum.[27] Archaeologist John Holladay of the University of Toronto called Hancock's theory "garbage and hogwash," while Edward Ullendorff, a former Professor of Ethiopian Studies at the University of London, said he "wasted a lot of time reading it."[28]
On 25 June 2009, the patriarch of the Orthodox Church of Ethiopia, Abune Paulos, said he would announce to the world the next day the unveiling of the Ark of the Covenant, which he said had been kept safe and secure in a church in Axum, Ethiopia.[29] The following day, on 26 June 2009, the patriarch announced that he would not unveil the Ark after all, but that instead he could attest to its current status.[30]
Southern Africa[edit]
The Lemba people of South Africa and Zimbabwe have claimed that their ancestors carried the Ark south, calling it the ngoma lungundu or "voice of God", eventually hiding it in a deep cave in the Dumghe mountains, their spiritual home.[31][32]
On 14 April 2008, in a UK Channel 4 documentary, Tudor Parfitt, taking a literalist approach to the Biblical story, described his research into this claim. He says that the object described by the Lemba has attributes similar to the Ark. It was of similar size, was carried on poles by priests, was not allowed to touch the ground, was revered as a voice of their God, and was used as a weapon of great power, sweeping enemies aside.[33]
In his book The Lost Ark of the Covenant (2008), Parfitt also suggests that the Ark was taken to Arabia following the events depicted in the Second Book of Maccabees, and cites Arabic sources which maintain it was brought in distant times to Yemen. One Lemba clan, the Buba, which was supposed to have brought the Ark to Africa, have a genetic signature called the Cohen Modal Haplotype. This suggests a male Semitic link to the Levant. Lemba tradition maintains that the Ark spent some time in Sena in Yemen. Later, it was taken across the sea to East Africa and may have been taken inland at the time of the Great Zimbabwe civilization. According to their oral traditions, some time after the arrival of the Lemba with the Ark, it self-destructed. Using a core from the original, the Lemba priests constructed a new one. This replica was discovered in a cave by a Swedish German missionary named Harald von Sicard in the 1940s and eventually found its way to the Museum of Human Science in Harare.[32] Parfitt had this artifact radio-carbon dated to about 1350, which coincided with the sudden end of the Great Zimbabwe civilization.[34]
Europe[edit]
Chartres Cathedral, France[edit]
French author Louis Charpentier claimed that the Ark was taken to the Chartres Cathedral by the Knights Templar.[35][36]
Rennes-le-Château, then to the United States[edit]
One author has theorised that the Ark was taken from Jerusalem to the village of Rennes-le-Château in Southern France. Karen Ralls has cited Freemason Patrick Byrne, who believes the Ark was moved from Rennes-le-Château at the outbreak of World War I to the United States.[37]
Rome[edit]
The Ark of the Covenant was said to have been kept in the Basilica of St. John Lateran, surviving the pillages of Rome by Genseric and Alaric I but lost when the basilica burned.[38][39]
"Rabbi Eliezer ben José stated that he saw in Rome the mercy-seat of the temple. There was a bloodstain on it. On inquiry he was told that it was a stain from the blood which the high priest sprinkled thereon on the Day of Atonement."[40]
United Kingdom[edit]
In 2003, author Graham Phillips hypothetically concluded that the Ark was taken to Mount Sinai in the Valley of Edom by the Maccabees. Phillips claims it remained there until the 1180s, when Ralph de Sudeley, the leader of the Templars found the Maccabean treasure at Jebel al-Madhbah, and returned home to his estate at Herdewyke in Warwickshire, England taking the treasure with him.[41]
Ireland[edit]
During the turn of the 20th century British Israelites carried out some excavations of the Hill of Tara in Ireland looking for the Ark of the Covenant—the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland campaigned successfully to have them stopped before they destroyed the hill.[42]
Egypt[edit]
Tutankhamun's tomb[edit]
Main article: Exhibitions of artifacts from the tomb of Tutankhamun
1922 photograph of the tomb of Tutankhamun. Photograph by Harry Burton (1879-1940)
In 1922 in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt, the royal tomb of the Pharaoh Tutankhamun (KV62) was opened by Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon. Among the artifacts was a processional ark, listed as Shrine 261, the Anubis Shrine. Almost immediately after publication of the photographs[43] of this sensational archaeological find, some claimed that the Anubis Shrine could be the Ark of the Covenant. John M. Lundquist, author of The Temple of Jerusalem: Past, Present, and Future (2008), discounts this idea. The Anubis Shrine measures 95 centimetres (37 in) long, 37 centimetres (15 in) wide, and 54.3 centimetres (21.4 in) high in the shape of a pylon. The Biblical Ark of the Covenant is approximately 133 centimetres (52 in) long, 80 centimetres (31 in) wide, and 80 centimetres (31 in) high in the shape of a rectangular chest.
Lundquist observes that the Anubis Shrine is not strictly analogous to the Ark of the Covenant; it can only be said that the it is "ark-like", constructed of wood, gessoed and gilded, stored within a sacred tomb, "guarding" the treasury of the tomb (and not the primary focus of that environment), that it contains compartments within it that store and hold sacred objects, that it has a figure of Anubis on its lid, and that it was carried by two staves permanently inserted into rings at its base and borne by eight priests in the funerary procession to Tutankhamun's tomb. Its value is the insight it provides to the ancient culture of Egypt.[44]
In popular culture[edit]
The Ark of the Covenant is the main plot device in Steven Spielberg's 1981 adventure film Raiders of the Lost Ark, which depicts it as located by Indiana Jones in the Egyptian city of Tanis in 1936. It is mentioned briefly in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) and appears in a cameo in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008).[45]
In the Danish family film The Lost Treasure of the Knights Templar from 2006, the main part of the treasure found in the end is the Ark of the Covenant. The power of the Ark comes from charged static electricity from different metal plates like a giant battery.[46]
Yom HaAliyah[edit]
Yom HaAliyah (Aliyah Day) (Hebrew: יום העלייה) is an Israeli national holiday celebrated annually on the tenth of the Hebrew month of Nisan to commemorate the Israelites crossing the Jordan River into the Land of Israel while carrying the Ark of the Covenant.
See also[edit]
List of artifacts in biblical archaeology
The Exodus Decoded (television documentary)
Foucault's Pendulum
History of ancient Israel and Judah
Jewish symbolism
Lost history
Mikoshi
References[edit]
Jump up ^ Ackermann 2000, p. 102.
Jump up ^ Numbers 4:5-6
Jump up ^ Exodus 25:22
Jump up ^ Exodus 19:20
Jump up ^ Exodus 24:18
Jump up ^ Exodus 31
Jump up ^ Joseph Ponessa, Laurie Watson Manhardt, Moses and The Torah: Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, pages 85-86 (Emmaus Road Publishing, 2007). ISBN 978-1-931018-45-6
Jump up ^ "Deu 10:1-5 NIV - Tablets Like the First Ones - At that - Bible Gateway". Bible Gateway.
Jump up ^ ""Four feet"; see Exodus 25:12, majority of translations. "Four corners" in KJV". Biblestudytools.com. Retrieved 2012-08-17.
Jump up ^ 2 Samuel 6:8, footnote in NKJV
Jump up ^ "Ark of the Covenant". Jewish Encyclopedia. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
Jump up ^ Tosefta (Sotah 13:1); cf. Babylonian Talmud (Kereithot 5b)
Jump up ^ Jeremiah 3:16, Tanach. Brooklyn, New York: ArtScroll. p. 1078.
^ Jump up to: a b c Ray, Steve (October 2005). "Mary, the Ark of the New Covenant". This Rock. 16 (8). Archived from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 2 February 2011.
Jump up ^ David Michael Lindsey, The Woman and The Dragon: Apparitions of Mary, page 21 (Pelican Publishing Company, Inc., 2000) ISBN 1-56554-731-4
Jump up ^ Dwight Longenecker, David Gustafson, Mary: A Catholic Evangelical Debate, page 32 (Gracewing, 2003). ISBN 0-85244-582-2
Jump up ^ "CCC, 2676". Vatican.va. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
Jump up ^ https://stpaulcenter.com/studies/lesson/lesson-three-the-ark-of-the-new-covenant
Jump up ^ "Thoughts of Francis Turretin: Athanasius - "Homily of the Papyrus of Turin" - Pseudographic?". turretinfan.blogspot.com.es.
Jump up ^ Translation [1] Sahih International.
^ Jump up to: a b Hughes, Patrick; Hughes, Thomas Patrick (1995) [1885]. A Dictionary of Islam. New Delhi: Asian Educational Services. p. 624. ISBN 9788120606722. Retrieved April 12, 2017.
Jump up ^ Rubin, Uri (2001). "Traditions in Transformation: The Ark of the Covenant and the Golden Calf in Biblical and Islamic Historiography" (PDF). Retrieved 2016-11-17.
Jump up ^ Iqd al-Durar fi Akbar al-Imam al-Muntadhar, by Shaikh Jamaluddin Yusuf al Damishqi, p. 51-a
Jump up ^ Cf. Deuteronomy 34:1-3 and 2 Maccabees 2:4-8.
Jump up ^ Stuart Munro-Hay, 2005, The Quest for the Ark of the Covenant, Tauris (reviewed in Times Literary Supplement 19 August 2005 p. 36)
Jump up ^ B.T.A. Evetts (translator), The Churches and Monasteries of Egypt and Some Neighboring Countries attributed to Abu Salih, the Armenian, with added notes by Alfred J. Butler (Oxford, 1895), pp. 287f
Jump up ^ Hancock, Graham (1992). The Sign and the Seal: The Quest for the Lost Ark of the Covenant. New York: Crown. ISBN 0517578131.
Jump up ^ Hiltzik, Michael H. (June 9, 1992). "Does Trail to Ark of Covenant End Behind Aksum Curtain? A British author believes the long-lost religious object may actually be inside a stone chapel in Ethiopia". Los Angeles Times. p. 1.
Jump up ^ Fendel, Hillel (2009-06-25). "Holy Ark Announcement Due on Friday", Aruta Sheva (Israel International News). Retrieved on 2009-06-25
Jump up ^ IGN (2009-06-19). Ho visto l'Arca dell'Alleanza ed è in buone condizioni. Retrieved on 2009-06-26
Jump up ^ The Lost Ark of the Covenant by Tudor Parfitt, published by HarperCollins 2008.
^ Jump up to: a b A Lead on the Ark of the Covenant, by David Van Biema Thursday, Time.com, Feb. 21, 2008.
Jump up ^ "Debates & Controversies - Quest for the Lost Ark". Channel4.com. 2008-04-14. Archived from the original on May 13, 2008. Retrieved 2010-03-07.
Jump up ^ [2][dead link]
Jump up ^ Brian Haughton, Haunted Spaces, Sacred Places: A Field Guide to Stone Circles, Crop Circles, Ancient Tombs, and Supernatural Landscapes, page 142 (Career Press, Inc., 2008). ISBN 978-1-60163-000-1
Jump up ^ Louis Charpentier, Les Mystères de la Cathédrale de Chartres (Paris: Robert Laffont, 1966), translated as The Mysteries of Chartres Cathedral (London: Research Into Lost Knowledge Organisation, 1972).
Jump up ^ Karen Ralls, The Templars and The Grail: Knights of The Quest, page 99, pages 163-164 (Quest Books, Theosophical Publishing House, 2003). ISBN 0-8356-0807-7. Citing Patrick Byrne, Templar Gold: Discovering the Ark of the Covenant (Blue Dolphin Publishing, Inc., 2001). ISBN 1-57733-099-4
Jump up ^ J. Salmon, A Description of The Works of Art of Ancient and Modern Rome, Particularly In Architecture, Sculpture & Painting, Volume One, page 108 (London: J. Sammells, 1798).
Jump up ^ Debra J. Birch, Pilgrimage To Rome In The Middle Ages: Continuity and Change, page 111 (The Boydell Press, 1998). ISBN 0-85115-771-8
Jump up ^ Midrash Tanḥuma. p. 33. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
Jump up ^ Legend Hunters - Ark of the Covenant (FactualTV - Knights Templar Documentary)
Jump up ^ Ivan McAvinchey. "News 2006 (March 9)". Rsai.ie. Archived from the original on 2009-03-08. Retrieved 2010-03-07.
Jump up ^ Photographs by Harry Burton, The Griffith Institute, Tutankhamun: Anatomy of an Excavation: The Howard Carter Archives.
Jump up ^ Lundquist, John M. The Temple of Jerusalem: past, present, and future, Chapter 2 "The World of the First Temple", pp.66-67, © 2008 by John M. Lundquist, first published 2008, Praeger Publishers, 88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881 ISBN 978-0-275-98339-0 www.praeger.com.
Jump up ^ "Philip Kaufman". google.com.
Jump up ^ "Tempelriddernes Skat - Filmens Handling". filmcentralen.dk. 2013. Retrieved 2014-07-11.
Further reading[edit]
Ackerman, Susan (2000). "Ark of the Covenant". In Freedman, David Noel; Myers, Allen C. Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible. Eerdmans.
Carew, Mairead, Tara and the Ark of the Covenant: A Search for the Ark of the Covenant by British Israelites on the Hill of Tara, 1899-1902. Royal Irish Academy, 2003. ISBN 0-9543855-2-7
Cline, Eric H. (2007), From Eden to Exile: Unravelling Mysteries of the Bible, National Geographic Society, ISBN 978-1-4262-0084-7
Fisher, Milton C., The Ark of the Covenant: Alive and Well in Ethiopia?. Bible and Spade 8/3, pp. 65–72, 1995.
Foster, Charles, Tracking the Ark of the Covenant. Monarch, 2007.
Grierson, Roderick & Munro-Hay, Stuart, The Ark of the Covenant. Orion Books Ltd, 2000. ISBN 0-7538-1010-7
Hancock, Graham, The Sign and the Seal: The Quest for the Lost Ark of the Covenant. Touchstone Books, 1993. ISBN 0-671-86541-2
Haran, M., The Disappearance of the Ark, IEJ 13 (1963), 46-58
Hertz, J.H., The Pentateuch and Haftoras. Deuteronomy. Oxford University Press, 1936.
Hubbard, David (1956) The Literary Sources of the Kebra Nagast Ph.D. dissertation, St. Andrews University, Scotland
Munro-Hay, Stuart, The Quest For The Ark of The Covenant: The True History of The Tablets of Moses. L. B. Tauris & Co Ltd., 2006. ISBN 1-84511-248-2
Ritmeyer, L., The Ark of the Covenant: Where It Stood in Solomon's Temple. Biblical Archaeology Review 22/1: 46-55, 70-73, 1996.
Stolz, Fritz. "Ark of the Covenant." In The Encyclopedia of Christianity, edited by Erwin Fahlbusch and Geoffrey William Bromiley, 125. Vol. 1. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1999. ISBN 0802824137
External links[edit]
This section's use of external links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines. Please improve this article by removing excessive or inappropriate external links, and converting useful links where appropriate into footnote references. (February 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)
Wikibooks has more on the topic of: Ark of the Covenant
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ark of the Covenant.
Wikiquote has quotations related to: Ark of the Covenant
Portions of this article have been taken from the Jewish Encyclopedia of 1906. Ark of the Covenant
Initial text from Easton's Bible Dictionary, 1897. Ark of the Covenant
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume I. Ark of the Covenant
Shemot (Exodus) - Chapter 25
Smithsonian.com "Keepers of the Lost Ark?"
Derby, Josiah, "The Gold of The Ark", Jewish Bible Quarterly.
Havergal, William Henry. Six Lectures on The Ark of The Covenant (London: Hamilton, Adams And Co, 1867). Available on Google Books. [3]
Pendleton, Philip Y., A Brief Sketch of the Jewish Tabernacle. 1901. (International Sunday-school Lessons for 1902. Standard Eclectic Commentary comprising original and selected notes, explanatory, illustrative, practical. Embellished with maps, diagrams, chronological charts, tables, etc.)
Schatz, Elihu, "The Weight of The Ark of The Covenant", Jewish Bible Quarterly.
Shyovitz, David, The Lost Ark of the Covenant. Jewish Virtual Library.
[show]
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Ark of the Covenant topics
People
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Kehath
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Shiloh
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Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion
Related
The Sign and the Seal (1992 book)
[show]
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People and things in the Quran
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Characters
God in Islam (Allah)
Names of God found in the Quran
Angels
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Mentioned
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Dhabih Ullah
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Musa/Moses (Kalimullah)
Nuh/Noah
Saleh/Shelah?
Shuaib/Jethro
Sulayman/Solomon
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Yunus/Jonah (Dhul-Nun, Sahib al-Hut)
Yūsuf/Joseph
Zakariya/Zechariah
Implied
Ermia/Jeremiah
Samuel
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Good people
(before Islam)
Mentioned
Dhul-Qarnayn
Luqman
Maryam/Mary (mother of Isa)
Talut/Saul
Implicitly
mentioned
Asiyah bint Muzahim/Bithiah? (wife of Fir'aun)
Asif ibn Barkhiya
Bilquis (Queen of Saba/Sheba)
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Beniamin/Benjamin
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Khidr
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(before Islam)
Mentioned
Āzar (uncle of Ibrahim)
Fir'aun/Pharaoh
Haman
Jalut/Goliath
Qarun/Korah
Sāmiri
Implicitly
mentioned
Abraha
Bal'am/Balaam
Barṣīṣā
Nebuchadnezzar II
Nimrod
Potiphar (Al-Aziz)
Shaddad
Simeon (son of Ya'qub)
Slayers of Saleh's she-camel (Qaddar ibn Salif and Musda' ibn Dahr)
Valid ibn Rayyan (king of Egypt in the account of Yūsuf)
Zuleika (wife of al-Aziz)
Mentioned people
(after inception of Islam)
Abū Lahab
Zayd ibn Harithah
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Specified
good relatives
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[show]
Groups and tribes
Tribes and
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Mentioned
'Ād (people of Hud)
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Children of Israel/Israelites
Companions of the Rass
People of Saba'/Sheba
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Romans
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Implicitly
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Mentioned
Christian apostles
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Companions of Sabbath (Aşḥāb al-Sabt)
Companions of the Cave/Seven Sleepers and Companions of al-Raqaim
Companions of the Elephant
People of al-Ukhdūd
People of the City (People of Ya-Sin)
People of the Burned Garden (Aşḥāb al-Jannah)
Ulu'l azm prophets
Implicitly
mentioned
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[show]
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Door of Hittah
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Hunayn
Iram
Ka'bah/Kaaba (Bayt al-Harām/Sacred House, Bayt al-'Atīq/Ancient House)
Madyan/Midian
Madinah/Medina (formerly Yathrib)
Majma' al-Bahrain
Makkah/Mecca (Umm al-Qura, Balad al-Amin, Bakkah)
Maqām Ibrahim
Masjid al-Dirar
Masjid al-Haram
Mount Judi
Mu'tafikat (Sodom)
Rass
Saba'/Sheba
Al-Safa and Al-Marwah
Tur Sinā' /Mount Sinai and Jabal al-Tur
Egypt
Valley of Tuwa
Implicitly
mentioned
Antioch
Antakya
Ayla
Barrier of Dhul-Qarnayn
Bayt al-Muqaddas and 'Ariha
Black Stone (Al-Ḥajar al-Aswad) and Al-Hijr of Isma'il
Canaan
Cave of Hira and Cave of Thawr
Cave of Seven Sleepers
Dār al-Nadwa
Hudaybiyyah
Jordan River
Ma'rib Dam
Masjid al-Nabawi (Prophet's Mosque)
Mesopotamia
Nile River
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Palestine River
Paradise of Shaddad
Quba Mosque
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Ta'if
Religious locations
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Mihrab
Monastery
Mosque
Salat (Synagogue)
Non-human
physical
entities
Religious texts
Injil/Gospel
Quran
Suhuf-i Ibrahim (Scrolls of Abraham)
Tawrat/Torah, Suhuf-i-Musa (Scrolls of Moses) and Tablets of Stone
Zabur
Related animals
Cow of Israelites and Golden calf
Dog of Seven Sleepers
Fish of Yunis
Hoopoe of Sulayman
She-Camel of Saleh
Related objects
Forbidden fruit of Adam
Heavenly Food of Christian Apostles
Noah's Ark
Staff of Musa
Tabut al-Sakina (Casket of Shekhinah)
Throne of Bilqis
Trumpet of Israfil
Mentioned idols
(cult images)
Baal
Lāt, 'Uzza and Manāt
Wadd, Suwa', Yaghuth, Ya'uq and Nasr
(Jibt and Taghut
Ansāb)
Events
Battle of Badr
Battle of Hunayn
Battle of Khaybar
Battle of Tabouk
Battle of the Trench (Battle of the Confederates)
Battle of Uhud
Conquest of Mecca
Hadith of the pond of Khumm
Incident of Ifk
Layla al-Mabit
Mubahala
The Farewell Pilgrimage (Hujja al-Wada')
Treaty of Hudaybiyyah
Umrah al-Qaza
Yawm al-Dār
Note: The names are sorted alphabetically. Standard form: Islamic name / Biblical name (title or relationship)
[show]
v
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Temple in Jerusalem
Structures
Tabernacle
First Temple / Solomon's Temple
Second Temple / Ezra's Temple / Herod's Temple
Third Temple / Ezekiel's Temple
Elements
Altar
Ark of the Covenant
Shekhinah
Holy of Holies
Seven-branched candelabrum
Foundation Stone
Mercy seat
Solomon's Porch
Temple treasury
Boaz and Jachin
Western Wall
Warren's Gate
Western Stone
Wilson's Arch
The Sanctuary
Molten Sea
Urn for ashes of the Red Heifer
Priesthood
Priestly sash
Ephod
Holy anointing oil
Priestly breastplate
Priestly tunic
High Priest
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Shemen Afarsimon
Priestly crown
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History
Bar Kokhba revolt
Siege of Jerusalem
Tisha B'Av
Judaea Capta coinage
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City of David
See also
Replicas of the Jewish Temple
Navel of the World
Temple Denial
[show]
v
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Indiana Jones
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