The Ark of the Covenant is the rare mystery with detailed specs. Per the Book of Exodus: acacia wood overlaid with pure gold, about 4 feet by 2.5 by 2.5, lid topped by two golden cherubim with outstretched wings. Solomon installed it in the Holy of Holies of the Jerusalem Temple, where only the High Priest saw it, once a year.

Then Babylon destroyed Jerusalem in 586 BCE—and here’s the detail that matters. The Book of Kings inventories the Temple objects hauled to Babylon. The Ark isn’t on the list. Hidden, destroyed, or moved before the conquest. Take your pick.

The theories: it’s in tunnels beneath the Temple Mount, which can’t be excavated for obvious reasons. Or Pharaoh Shishak took it to Egypt when he raided Jerusalem around 926 BCE. Or Jeremiah hid it on Mount Nebo. Or the Knights Templar found it during the Crusades. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church claims to hold it in a chapel in Aksum—and has never let anyone examine it.

None of these has archaeological support. I’ll say that plainly, because most treatments won’t.

The Ark plays a big role in my Area 51 series, of course. It’s found in Area 51: The Sphinx and opened in Area 51: The Grail. What comes out is my own answer to a 2,600-year-old question.

This is one of 100 entries in The Little Black Book of Ancient Mysteries. https://amzn.to/4pSLpH6