Amazing info about Ark of the Covenant – ‘field of thunder’ that kills should you contact it

It was the spooky relic from the thrilling movie Raiders of the Lost Ark – but was it real and just what happened to it? The 1981 blockbuster, starring Harrison Ford as swashbuckling archaeologist Indiana Jones, sees the hero involved in a quest to find the legendary Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis.

Thousands of years old, the golden chest is said to have stored tablets inscribed with the Ten Commandments, as featured in the Bible…and to have contained awesome supernatural power.

But, as the original film heads back to UK cinemas to celebrate its 45 ^th anniversary, JAMES MOORE reveals the fascinating theories about what really happened to the artefact – and the secrets it may hide….

What was the Ark? According to Biblical tradition, the Ark was a 4ft long, 2ft wide wooden chest covered in gold, with two winged angels on the lid and gold rings on the corners to allow it to be carried with poles.

It was supposedly created after the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt over 3000 years ago and stored the stone tablets on which Moses had been given the Ten Commandments by the Almighty on Mount Sinai.

In the Biblical story the Israelites carried it into battle before them as a weapon against their enemies. It brought the walls Jericho tumbling down. Many historians believe the Ark did exist in some form, at least as a cultural object.

Looted or burned? The Ark was later housed in the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem. In 587BC Babylonian forces sacked the city and looted and burned the holy site. Though the Bible lists some of the treasures they stole, it doesn’t mention the Ark, of which little is heard in the records again.

Some believe it was stripped of its gold and then destroyed by the invaders – or spirited off to Babylon.

Hidden in a cave? But perhaps it had already gone! Some ancient religious texts suggest that King Josiah organised for it to be hidden in a secret chamber under the Temple Mount fearing invasion.

Others suggest that the prophet Jeremiah placed it in a cave on Mount Nebo, in modern day Jordan, for safekeeping. So far, archaeological investigations of the area have turned up nothing. But researchers have since speculated that one of the Dead Sea Scrolls may contain hidden clues to its location.

Guarded by a monk? In the movie, Indiana Jones discovers the Ark in a chamber under the Well of Souls in the ruined city of Tanis in Egypt. But some claim it never disappeared at all. One theory is that it was taken to the modern-day country of Ethiopia in Africa by Menelik, the son of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.

And according to the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, it’s still there, residing in a special chapel in the ancient city of Axum. Today it’s off limits and guarded by a single monk. Boffin Edward Ullendorff claimed to have examined it in 1941 and simply found an empty Medieval-era box.

Taken by a lost tribe? Another theory is that the Lemba people of Southern Africa, with DNA origins in the Middle East, brought the ark with them from Israel. They have a tradition around a drum called the ‘ngoma lungundu’ – a ‘box of thunder’ – which had special powers and which was used to store sacred objects, just like the Ark.

British historian Tudor Parfitt believes he found a replica of it in a Zimbabwe museum, built from parts of the original, saying: “There can be little doubt that what I found…is the last thing on earth in direct descent from the Ark of the Covenant.”

Plundered by Crusaders? Could the Ark have been taken to Europe by the Knights Templar? Researcher Louis Carpentier believes the shadowy warrior monks took it from Jerusalem during the 12the century Crusades.

He believes that it ended up in Chartres Cathedral, France, where carvings on the church pillars appear to show it being transported.

Others believe the Knights hid it in Scotland’s Rosslyn Chapel, while claims have also been made that it even ended up in Rome, Ireland or even Japan.

Did aliens make it? Never mind the Nazis – back in the 1980s, the CIA used a psychic who managed to ‘locate’ the Ark still hidden underground in dark, wet conditions somewhere in the Middle East and “protected by entities”.

Whatever its exact location some still people believe it has other-worldly powers. In the Bible it’s said that just touching it can strike a man dead or causes skin sores.

This has led to wacky theories that it was a nuclear or electrical device, perhaps with an alien origin. Cult author Erich von Daniken said: “What is the Ark of the Covenant? An extraterrestrial object.”

10 Raiders facts

1. Story writer George Lucas named Indiana after his Alaskan Malamute dog.

2. Tom Selleck was nearly Indy not Ford. Debra Winger was nearly Marion, not Karen Allen.

3. Harrison Ford improvised the scene where he shoots a swordsman.

4. Ford also ad-libbed the line: “It’s not the years, honey, it’s the mileage.”

5. Director Steven Spielberg was the only crew member not to fall ill on set.

6. Some 7000 snakes were found in pet shops for the Well of Souls scene.

7. A sheet of glass was put between Ford and the cobra to get that classic shot.

8. They got the monkey to do a Nazi ‘salute’ by dangling grapes above it.

9. A toilet cistern was used to get the sound of the Ark of the Covenant’s lid being removed.

10. Indy’s hat was made to look aged by crew members sitting on it.