Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Patrick J. Emsweller" <patrick AT clubgraves.com>]

Image of the Egyptian Ark.

http://www.sacred-texts.com/egy/emec/img/03300.jpg

-patrick

-----Original Message-----
From: b-hebrew-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:b-hebrew-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Stephen Segall
Sent: Tuesday, August 02, 2005 6:06 PM
To: Brian Roberts
Cc: b-hebrew
Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Stone slab replacing the Ark of the Covenant

I have seen a picture of the image, but I do not have a copy. If anyone 
knows where a copy is available I would like to know.

On Tue, 2 Aug 2005, Brian Roberts wrote:

> Stephen;
>
> Can you provide us with an image of the Karnak inscription that you say 
> depicts the Ark of the Covenant?
>
>
> On Tuesday, August 2, 2005, at 03:21  PM, Stephen Segall wrote:
>
>> What happened to the Ark of the Covenant? After the death of King Solomon
>> his son Rehoboam became king. The 10 northern tribes revolted against
>> Rehoboam and formed their own separate kingdom. Rehoboam's troops refused
>> to fight against their fellow Israelites, so Rehoboam was left with a
>> small fraction of the population and a fraction of the land of Solomon's
>> original kingdom.
>> 
>> This was a tempting target for the king of Egypt who attacked and overran
>> the truncated Kingdom of Judah. To prevent a siege of Jerusalem, Rehoboam
>> agreed to let the Egyptians loot Jerusalem and leave without a fight.
This
>> Egyptian victory was commemorated on a temple wall at Karnak. The wall
>> carving shows Egyptian soldiers carrying away the Ark of the Covenant.
>> 
>> While some may argue that just because the ark being taken away by the
>> Egyptians exactly matches the Ark described in the Torah, it might just
be
>> a chest with carrying rails. This is highly unlikely, since the magnitude
>> of the Egyptian victory could best be demonstrated by showing that they
>> were carrying off the Judeans most prize possession. It is like saying
>> that the menorah being carried away by Roman soldiers on the arch of
Titus
>> could have been any menorah and not the one from the Second Temple.
>> 
>> Rehoboam and the Temple priests tried to hide the loss of the Ark from
the
>> population, since admitting the Egyptians had taken the Ark was
tantamount
>> to admitting that God had abandoned the Kingdom of Judah. The secret
could
>> be kept for generations since only the Hign Priest was allowed to enter
>> the Holy of Holies in the Temple.
>> 
>> The phrase in the Book of Kings about Josiah ordering the Levites to
>> return the Ark of the Covenant to the Temple appears to be an
>> embellishment to the story of the Passover celebration ordered by Josiah,
>> since no action was taken to execute this command.
>> 
>> On Tue, 2 Aug 2005, Alexander Oldernes wrote:
>> 
>>> Maybe your expertise can help me with this question...
>>> 
>>> I have read somewhere that when the curtain covering the entrance to the
>>> Most Holy was torn in two, in the first century CE, the Most Holy was
>>> exposed containing no Ark of the Covenant. In place of the Ark was a
stone
>>> slab upon which the high priest sprinkled the blood on the Day of 
>>> Atonement.
>>> 
>>> I know the last mention of the Ark of the Covenant is in 2. Chronicles 
>>> 35:5,
>>> saying:
>>> He said to the Levites, who instructed all Israel and who had been
>>> consecrated to YHWH: "Put the sacred ark in the temple that Solomon son
of
>>> David king of Israel built. It is not to be carried about on your
>>> shoulders."
>>> 
>>> This happened around 642 (?) BCE.
>>> 
>>> And now the question...
>>> Do we know that the Ark of the Covenant was replaced by a stone slab?
>>> 
>>> If so...
>>> Who writes about it?
>>> Do we know when this was done?
>>> Do we know what the stone slab looked like?
>>> 
>>> ----
>>> 
>>> Alexander Oldernes
>>> 
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> b-hebrew mailing list
>>> b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
>>> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/b-hebrew
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>> _______________________________________________
>> b-hebrew mailing list
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>> 
>> 
> Best Salaams,
>
> R. Brian Roberts
> Amateur Researcher in Biblical Archaeology
>
>
>
>
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