Reporters found evidence from a scientist who saw the ark with his own eyes.
In early December, the media spread the news that the Ark of the Covenant with the ten biblical commandments was allegedly kept in the Ethiopian Church of Mary of Zion in Axum. Nevertheless, Live Science reporters managed to find evidence of a person who was inside the church, saw the ark and came to the conclusion that it was a fake.
Edward Ullendorf, professor at the London School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), traveled there during World War II. Ullendorf died in 2011, but he told his colleague Tudor Parfitt about what he saw during his lifetime, and also gave an interview to the Los Angeles Times in 1992.
Ethiopia was captured by Italian troops during the 1935-1936 military campaign. In 1940, Italy declared war on Great Britain and in 1941 British forces invaded Ethiopia. Ullendorf was an army officer as well as a young scholar with an interest in Ethiopian history. He decided to take the opportunity and look at the legendary Ark of the Covenant.
Although the monks did not want to let him inside the church, he was able to enter it accompanied by soldiers. “What he saw there was no different from the copies of the ark in any Ethiopian church. The Ark was not ancient, and it certainly was not the original Ark of the Covenant,”says Parffith.
After the war, Ullendorf spent a lot of time in Ethiopia and even became friends with the emperor of the country, so he hardly shared his thoughts on the authenticity of the ark with anyone. According to him, Ullendorf greatly regretted the only interview in the Los Angeles Times where he said that the ark was made during the middle or late Middle Ages.
No one knows where the real Ark of the Covenant is hiding, or if it even exists. According to Scripture, a chest with tablets engraved with the Ten Commandments was originally located in the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem. However, in the 6th century BC, the army of the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II conquered Jerusalem and destroyed the temple. Since then, the location of the sacred chest has become a source of speculation.
Ethiopian legend claims that about 3000 years ago, the Ark of the Covenant was brought to the country by a man named Menelik, who was the son of the Queen of Sheba and King of Israel, Solomon. This version appears in written sources since 1400 AD.
Promotional video:
National Geographic recently published an article stating that the keepers of the ark in Ethiopia are "trained to kill with their bare hands" and that all but a few members of the Ethiopian Christian Church are not allowed to enter the chapel, making it impossible to verify the relic.